Li Ké Terra

Miguel Moreira and Ruben Furtado, born in Portugal of Cape Verdean immigrants, have reached the age of adulthood. But how can you build your life when the future is suspended, blocked by the long wait for regularisation? As they explain their situation to the Prefecture officials, an already heavy social and family past comes to light. Asked about his place of birth, Ruben replies “in Cape Verde” before correcting himself: “No, in Lisbon!” His Freudian slip shows to what extent this absurd status can trouble the developing psyche of an adolescent. Li ké terra (“It’s our land”, in Cape Verdean creole) captures the multiple repercussions of this confusing identity, even in the   detail of everyday events. The two boys behave totally differently during this long wait. While Ruben forces himself into inaction (legally, he is forbidden to work), Miguel is terrified of nothingness. Rap, cinema, swatting for his art history exam; over-active, he well knows what he’d do if he had his papers: “I’d buy a country”. The filmmakers, whose project began as neighbourhood work, have a quality of listening that allows them to perceive in these two dissimilar friends the same healthy gift of the gab: be it to determine God’s inexistence or distinguish between a “girl friend” and a “sweetheart”, Miguel and Ruben argue with incredible obstinacy. In this world, finding the exact phrase at least means possessing something certain.

Charlotte Garson