ABSTRACT
Re-enactment, historical documentary, political fiction, ethnographic film, all these genres are evoked, at first glance, by Mueda, Memoria e Massacre (Mueda, Memory and Massacre), a 1979 Mozambican feature film directed by Ruy Guerra, one of Brazilian Cinema Novo's most important film directors, born in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo) in 1931. Mueda, Memoria e Massacre is generally considered to be the first fiction feature film of independent Mozambique. The historical issues at stake in Mueda, Memoria e Massacre point to a genealogy of Mozambican cinema that is interwoven with the country's political project. The production of Mueda, Memoria e Massacre between 1978 and 1979 was followed in 1985 by O Tempo dos Leopardos (The Time of the Leopard), a fiction feature co-produced with Yugoslavia and directed by Zdravko Velimirovic, then in 1987 by O Vento Sopra do Norte (The Wind Blows from the North), by Mozambican filmmaker Jose Cardoso, both produced by INC.
