Fall 2023 MVA Projects 

Longing is Not Enough is an exploration of various types of Cape Verdean music through the lens of a word that lacks an English definition, “saudade”. In this documentary, Leonardo Nussenzveig, the filmmaker, recalls his experience with saudade while visiting his grandparents in Brazil, setting the stage for an individualized definition that is most closely translated as “missing someone.” However, he then poses the question of what saudade means when it is used by a people to express a communal identity reflected in their music. What is the historical significance of this word? How does it permeate  Cape Verdean identity and experience? How does it act as a cultural touchstone from which music can be made? The answers to these questions are juxtaposed with musical performances by singers and instrumentalists with a great breadth of knowledge of Cape Verdean music. Emotional, economic, and historical contexts prime the viewer for a deeper understanding of the music and of the festival showcased in the last quarter of the film: the Festa San Jon, a midsummer festival celebrated in Cape Verde on the Northernmost island of Santo Antao.

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Running time: 27 minutes