20/08/2001 - There
are only two miles of sea between the bay of Inhambane and the town of
Maxixe, usually dotted with dhows, the typical Swahili sail boats, but
the Cinemovel caravan is too big with its trucks and jeeps.
So we drive, 37 miles of jerks and bumps, even stopping for a piss is
a problem, the red and white bands at the road edges are a signal for
mined fields.
Chicuk is the name of the barrio we are directed to; there is some small problem as usual, for the earth road, but there is a rule that is to be respected: the movie must be screened.
This time the problem for the Cinemovel troupe was not the trucks, but the projector. The movie has just begun and the projector gets jammed up, maybe it's the lamp: too many jerks, too much dust, too much humidity. A moment of discomfort and then come on let's do something, Gafur turns the truck lights on, Andrea connects the lamps to the generator, Luca runs and takes the spare projector.
It's Chico Antonio who controls the situation. He takes his German flute out of his bag, slowly assembles it, stubs out his sigarette, drinks some beer, he starts blowing, a wry face, whispers. And then he plays, beautifully.
It's his turn tonight to fascinate the public, with his music, his beautiful face, so charming with his black hat pulled down on his rasta grey hair.
Ex menino da rua, grown up by the Fathers who
taught him the love for music, before he escaped away from the home for
orphans, urged by his longing for freedom, he is one of the most important
musicians of Mozambique, and he will follow the Cinemovel through Mozambique.