Cesária Évora
by Ana Sofia Fonseca
THE HUMAN BEHIND THE
LEGENDARY BAREFOOT DIVA
Ana Sofia Fonseca | Cap Verde, Portugal | 2022 | 94′ | OV (english subtitles)
Portrait of the Cape Verdean world music star Cesária Évora, who has always performed barefoot: Born still in Portuguese colonial times, the singer works her way out of bitter poverty with and in music to the status of one of the world’s most famous vocal artists, whereby the pursuit of freedom – also through material prosperity: her own house in the homeland – always had a special importance.
The film traces the various political and social contexts of Évora’s life, describing her great yearning for racial and gender equality. Numerous never-before-shown archival images and rare original sound recordings frame the film, as do unique eyewitness statements from people who knew the man behind the legend.
