Terra Sonâmbula

(Portugal/Germany/Mozambique, 2006, 100 minutes)

Two refugees from the Mozambique Civil War, an aging former train conductor and a young orphan boy, find the diaries of a dead man that traveled the land looking for his girlfriend's lost child. Bleak but sweetly affecting combination of road movie and magical realism adapting an acclaimed novel, using local non-professional actors; the strength of the story and of its impeccable adaptation overcomes amateurish performances and non-descript handling.

A Filmes de Fundo/Animatógrafo 2/ZDF—ARTE/Ébano Multimedia presentation/production; with financial support from ICAM, RTP, ZDF/ARTE and Instituto Camões. Starring Nick Lauro Teresa, Aladino Jasse, Hélio Fumo, Ilda Gonzalez. Directed by Teresa Prata; produced by Pandora da Cunha Telles, António da Cunha Telles; screenplay by Teresa Prata, from the novel Sleepwalking Land and the short story «The Girl with a Twisted Future» by Mia Couto; music by Alex Goretzki; director of photography (Tobis), Dominique Gentil; art director, Caroline Alder; costume designer, Isabel Peres; film editors, Paulo Rebelo, Jacques Witta.