“Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret” is an adaptation of Ondjaki’s novel, in which the author draws on his childhood memories to create a fantasy where reality and magic blend together, and History is rewritten through his stories. Everything takes place in a city beyond time and geography, in an unidentified neighborhood that thus takes on almost mythological contours. It is here that Jaki lives, in a house full of cousins, ruled with an iron hand by his grandmother Agnette and haunted by the mysterious figure of Grandma Catarina.
“Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret” is a novel with very peculiar characteristics: a blend of childhood memories and dreamlike fantasy, offering a perspective of a moment in History filled with small stories.
“Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret” is a novel with very peculiar characteristics: a blend of childhood memories and dreamlike fantasy, offering a perspective of a moment in History filled with small stories.
Our ultimate goal is to produce a film that appeals both adults and children, regardless of their background, education, history or experience. A film in which every age range will see different things, draw unique lessons, and enjoy it in a special way.
Dreaming is the essence of “Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret,” and what is cinema about if not that: a wonderful dream projected at 24 frames per second in a dark room. — João Ribeiro