Set against the backdrop of Guinea-Bissau’s twenty-year war of independence, Mortu Nega follows thirty-year-old Diminga, whose husband is fighting on the front line against the Portuguese colonists. The war is drawing to a close, but it soon becomes clear that, in many respects, the struggle has only just begun, and that the new burdens rest on the shoulders of the women. Mortu Nega (those who refuse death) bear the responsibility of reshaping the devastated country.
This political parable is the first feature film in independent Guinea-Bissau and also the first fictional film to depict the experiences of the war. Director Flora Gomes, in a subdued tone, weaves history with mythology in small stories that demonstrate how film served as an important weapon in the decolonial struggle.