Nayola (2022) Movie Script

I dreamed of a man running.
The man was naked,
...he was running
through the tall grasses.
I heard gunshots,
something was chasing him,
but I didn't know what.
He fell face down in the mud...
Then a tree began to grow
where the man had disappeared.
A mulemba,
a very, very tall mulemba.
Charge!
Why? Why did you do it?
Baby's heart pulling me one side...
...and his the other.
I tried, I tried
to keep mine beating in the middle.
But my heart always found a way
of going over to his side.
And one night, it didn't come back.
I'm baptising you
so you won't ever forget...
mines are for blowing up.
If you put our mission at risk again...
I'll burn you alive.
Yara will forgive me.
The diesel must have got
into her brains.
Duta, play my rap in your bus...
I want the people to feel me.
I can't girl, my boss won't let me.
Come on,
you're tiring me, just do it.
Cobelo, put everyone inside...
and get rid of this girl.
We have to go. Move!
Hey Cobelo, how's it going?
Did you get to hear my sound?
Ya sista, you can't imagine
the shit it got me in.
Yesterday the cops busted me.
They took all your CDs.
No way.
They beat me up
and took all the money.
So sorry, bro.
That wasn't my intention.
I just wanted to spread
my sound, that's all.
No sweat, sista.
They're scared of your music Yara.
But this shit is good.
Welcome to Angola
Where problems occur
We live off irony
And you all know what that is
Sex is a profession
Little kids are criminals
They are fights for survival
For days on end
We have to fight
To overcome
I don't change my ideas
To convince my parents.
The path lies ahead
We shouldn't look back
Come rain or shine
This shit has to end
Bro bro bro,
that was it, savage, man!
We have to make this demo now!
You're right Bola.
Tomorrow we're going to take our rap
and spread it to the people.
I just think it's safer to wait.
Because
with the excuse of Carnival...
the streets will
be crawling with cops.
They could bust us.
But Ginga...
you just think think,
you're never sure, are you?
- I think I am.
- Nah, nah, nah...
The streets will be crawling with cops
they could bust us.
Forget all that Ginga!
Yara, we're no good to
anyone in prison.
Ginga I prefer that prison
to being locked up...
at home like my grandmother.
But rap is guerrilla warfare.
You sing and run.
- You sing again and run again.
- Never!
You've definitely never heard
of David Z.
Bro, Carnival is our best and
only chance to spread our demo.
We go into all that confusion and
spread the whole scene bro.
I agree with you, Bola.
Ginga, do you know why
I agree with Bola?
Because they're scared
the people will rise up.
Because
change begins right here now...
with the beat of our rap, Ginga.
But Yara, you're a rapper not Rambo.
You sing and run.
That way they
never shut you up, get it?
Man, if you're into that, I'm out.
You can stay out...
because me and Bola
will take care of it.
Bola, give us our beat.
We live from begging
Counting the cost
For a handful of coins
Another kid is lost
Yeah, we're gonna spread this, okay.
Did you ever fight with a comrade...
with one green eye and one brown eye?
His name is Ekumbi.
Why do you want to know?
He's my husband.
They said he went missing in action.
I've been searching
for him for a year.
Did anyone see him?
What's his war name?
- War name?
- I don't know.
If you don't know
your husband's war name...
how are you
going to find him?
And who told you he was here?
He did.
He sent a message
through a wounded comrade.
- How long ago?
- 8 months ago.
You should ask the Shooter.
He's had more war
than all of us put together.
Don't let it get wet.
Spit it out, what's your problem?
Did you ever fight with a comrade...
with one green eye and
one brown eye?
I've fought with
comrades with eyes of every colour.
- His name is Ekumbi.
- He's my husband.
They said he went missing in action.
I've been searching for him
for a year.
Does this photo help?
If I remember anyone like that,
I'll tell you.
If you wanted to find someone
in this war...
how would you go
about it?
I'd keep myself alive, Nayola.
This here is
the house of the masked ones...
and no one ever leaves.
You've got a hard knot in here.
You'd better untie it
before it chokes you.
Han, yo... I don't conform to
Living in a country
Where the ones who should protect us
Become the agressors.
All because whoever thinks different
Doesn't deserve freedom of speech.
Han, and what about my rights?
Do they think I deserve punishment
For singing my reality.
My songs don't reach far They don't
play them on the radio or television
I am a human being
A living being, yo.
NEW COUNTRY
Mulemba, Mulemba...
I find myself...
in the comfort of your shade,
and in the firmness of
your roots,
we remain lovers.
Here time doesn't exist...
and we are happy,
the soul is still in shade,
the presence that sustains
the earth...
and makes us survive
any war.
That's pretty.
Who taught it you?
I learnt it from my mother.
She sang it a lot before
my father died.
When the war's over,
you'll be a singer.
No.
I like writing better.
Writing what?
My stories, my dreams.
Those with beautiful dreams
fight better.
Weapons also kill dreams.
It was in an operation in the north,
...in the area of Soyo,
in the oil fields.
Our unit was surrounded,
after heavy fighting all through
the night.
And there were some wounded.
The sun was coming up
and breaking up
the mist that was protecting us.
There was a fighter called Venga.
He put down his weapon,
took off his uniform and smiled,
he looked like a crazy man,
that son of a bitch,
he had a beautiful smile.
He set off running into the jungle.
The enemy went after him
and we managed to escape.
In my mind...
in my head...
I can still see that look...
This Venga, is it my Ekumbi?
Nayola...
forget that Ekumbi on your photo!
If you want to find your husband
search with your heart.
But, how?!
That story, when did it happen?
Do you think he deserted?
- Did he go south?
- Did he go east?
Tell me! Where is he?!
Stay back!
Shooter!
Take the bazooka.
Go on!
Go on Nayola.
Point it at the front of the plane.
Shoot.
Shoot!
What a fury girl.
What time do you call this?
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.
Having fixed hours
is like having lice, Mama.
You have to pick the hours out...
And pick them
before they suck the life out of you.
That's why I like this clock so much.
You're tired of hearing
it was your mother that gave it me.
What happened to your T-shirt?
It got caught on a nail, Mama.
I don't have a nice man to hold me
so a rusty nail will have to do.
God help us!
God's had other things
on his mind lately.
You open your mouth again...
and I'll lock you in the house until
you learn some sense.
That was a Kalashnikov!
- They're rockets, Mama.
- It's Carnival.
But what are they celebrating?
They're celebrating life.
Life with gunshots?
Mama, I want to talk about something.
Get on and eat your soup.
Why did you push my father
into going to war?
Your father wanted to change
the conditions of our people.
I was on his side.
Against my mother.
You don't clip the wings
of a falcon.
You give it raw meat,
to make it strong.
Raw meat didn't work
for either of them,
else they'd be here with me now.
See you tomorrow, Mama.
See you tomorrow, granddaughter.
Mama...
I don't believe your parents
are still alive.
The war ended 8 years and
12 days ago.
They've had a long time to find
their way home.
You know, sometimes I dream a lot...
I also dream a lot about your mother.
It's not my mother I dream about.
It's my father.
That jackal has been circling us
since sundown.
When I die, it'll come to get me.
My husband's war name is Venga.
Venga disappeared in Soyo.
People don't disappear like that...
They are alive or dead,
but they are always somewhere.
Here people disappear very slowly.
Sometimes, even before they die.
Nephew?
Uncle?
What are you doing here?
I'm fighting for the people.
I'm fighting for my country.
We are children of Angola.
You should be studying!
Does your mother know you're here?
No, Uncle.
She doesn't know.
I came here to honour
my father's name.
Honour your father's name?
You're on the wrong side, Uncle.
What do you know about
the wrong side?
What i know about the wrong side...
is that it's the side
my father fought for...
and died for this country.
Your father was my brother...
...and died on
the wrong side.
Wrong side for those who
fought for independence...
...and the unity of the
Angolan people.
This is also my fight!
But it's the fight of
the wrong side.
Again the wrong side conversation?
You're coming home with me
right now.
Just stay calm...
what do you want?
Let's talk...
Talk?!
Talking doesn't kill hunger.
I'll turn my back, like this.
Hello everyone!
Let's stop the music for a bit,
we'll continue later.
But now a moment for our Lotte.
Who will honour us with a song.
Madame, if you please.
Give me that sac!
The war is over.
We killed so much and
we died so much.
There aren't many left
to tell how it was.
I suffered so much too.
In the War of Independence...
the Portuguese killed my man.
I fled from the south to here.
Then...
in the Civil War...
I lost my son-in-law
and right after that...
my...
my daughter.
As you can see...
I only have war in my life.
I just came to get water, Mama.
I didn't know you had company.
Who is this joker, Mama?
A neighbour from the old times.
I like your jackal mask!
This is us.
Ya, I get you.
I think everyone
should wear a mask...
to show who we really are.
Me, for example...
I'd wear a Medusa mask.
It looks like I'm made of
water and light...
but if you try to hold onto me,
I'll burn you.
But my grandma
she'd wear a hyena mask...
Careful, with the glass.
- What happened to her mother?
- She abandoned me.
No, she didn't.
She disappeared during the war.
She might still come back.
- Just a second.
- I'm going to get something to show you.
Please, just go.
I'm going to tell you a big truth
about my mother...
Just like your mask.
What foolishness, Yara!
You can't do that!
We'd like that.
I dreamed of a man running.
The man was naked,
he was running through the tall grasses.
I heard gunshots...
He fell face down in the mud...
sunk, and disappeared.
It was raining...
I heard more shots...
then soldiers went by.
Then a tree began to grow...
where the man had
disappeared.
A mulemba...
a very, very tall mulemba.
You know?
It's good you're here listening.
It's almost like we were a family.
Is that the end?
Hey girl...
...you can't stay there.
It's dangerous!
The war's over,
the train's about to come.
Do you work here, uncle?
I do...
my father worked here...
my grandfather worked here...
and I continue to work here.
Where does this go?
Oh, it goes way over there...
to the city of Luanda.
The wind is changing.
Peace is coming for the others...
those who haven't been
bitten by the war.
Peace.
Peace, peace, peace!
This here is the house
of the masked ones...
and no one ever leaves!
But why are you going that way?
That doesn't go anywhere.
That way you end up
at the River Okavango...
the river that dies in the desert.
What a beautiful death...
a death full of life.
Be careful!
The war's over
the train's about to come.
Peace, peace, peace peace!
Yesterday
I walked through the city,
dragging my pregnant belly
with me.
People looked at me with pity.
I don't want anyone's sympathy.
Tell me...
would you leave your
two year old daughter behind...
to go looking for your wife?
Can I see?
- Who is this man, Mama?
- He's a thief!
Did that creep threaten you?
It's time to show him who's boss.
Don't, Yara...
he might kill us!
- Don't worry, Mama.
- Trust me.
The police are after us.
So you'd better escape
through the window.
I'll show you.
Come on.
No way!
My mother's journal stays with me!
Wait Mama...
who is this man?
Are you...
are you my father?
What foolishness Yara!
Alright.
Take whatever you want, and go.
Stop, Yara.
Don't do anything stupid.
Out of my way, Mama!
Oh, oh, no, no don't!
Let us go.
It's best for all of us.
Quiet!
Or I'll break you into pieces!
Mama, open the door...
and shout to those cops
to come quick.
And what if it's you they're after?
Her?
Shut up!
What did you do,
to make them come after you?
I sang my songs, my truths.
Please Yara...
go to the hiding place.
The journal
doesn't leave this house.
You'll give the journal back,
won't you?
You, sit down at the table...
take off your mask...
and if they ask,
say you're her visitor.
Don't take your eyes off him, Mama.
If anything happens...
I'll come after you as far as hell.
I recognised you by your fingers.
Let me see you.
Open up!
Who's knocking on the door?
- Open up!
- It's the police.
Good evening.
Do you know this girl
from the neighborhood?
No.
Are you sure?
Look carefully, madam.
Are you still angry with me?
- I needed...
- I needed to see Yara.
And your mother?
Yara is strong.
Full of fight...
and ideals.
Just like her father.
That little girl
has given me some grief.
One day,
she took the photograph of you...
that happened to be
the only one I had.
That girl took a bottle of varnish...
and started painting the photo.
She painted the lips, nose, two eyes,
and also the eyebrows.
She said she wanted
to make her mother beautiful.
She accidentally spilt the varnish
on the photo
and everything was covered in red.
Why are you talking in Kimbundo?
What is it you want that
I'm not getting?
Go back to the hiding place, girl.
Are you crazy?
Stay here with us.
Your daughter needs you.
Come back to us...
leave all that misery.
No one comes back from the war,
Mama.
Open up!
It's the police!
Open up!
I'll break down the door!
I advise you to open!
Police, open up!
Drop the weapon!
Stop right there!
- Keep calm!
- Don't move!
Don't move or i'll shoot!
- I'm warning you!
- I will shoot!
I will shoot!
I will shoot!
Let's go.
Did you know that man, Mama?
I have to disappear for a while.
Will you be alright on your own?
Attention! I'm in mortal danger
And I've already warned you
She will stay here
and I will go
This child of mine
Evil people are after her
This child of mine
On a tide of misfortune