Ico Costa: Balane 3

Brilliant film, full of life, observing and arranging, lots of music, the end credits invite you to dance, young people, well read the intro from the catalogue to know where we are in the world:

“There is a lot of talking in ‘Balane 3’. About politics, friendships, love and sex – and sex especially. We are in Inhambane, a medium-sized city in the south of Mozambique. Here we meet the young inhabitants in their own element. They work, hang out, go out dancing – and then they talk. 

‘Balane 3’ is a social film. A panoramic snapshot of life as a young African right now, in this particular place (the film is named after the neighborhood where it was shot). In other words, there’s a lot going on, and Ico Costa’s spinning analog camera is always at eye level with the young participants.

Costa has made a number of films in Mozambique across documentary and fiction, about and with the country’s young generation, and has developed a method based on co-creation, relationships and trust, where all participants actively contribute – not just to tell their own story, but to transcend the narrative itself.”

I would call it a situational documentary, scene follow scene – one of them you see in the photo: The young girl is having her birthday celebration, her mother cuts the cake, who is to have to the first piece she asks the daughter, who gives it to mother, after that to grandmother and birthday song is there as well, of course. You enjoy the situation as they do.

Many scenes give you an impression of the culture, gender questions are constantly being raised or rather the girls/young women talk about the young men, and the other way around (one young man to another: why don´t you like to jerk off… I am ashamed, he answers), and there are pretty daring public dance scenes and one long scene at the end with a dancer, amazing. Documentaries can take us to places, where we can’t go ourselves, in this case it is obvious that the director has the trust of his wonderful protagonists. Full of joy and yet there is a graffiti on the wall: Our survival stopped us from living. A social film it is written above, yes, but also a film that says Life is beautiful.

Portugal, France, 98 mins.