Mozambique Love Story Chapa 100 Adds Italy Sales Agent and Acclaimed Producers for Locarno Open Doors Debut

Ique Langa’s magical realist romance “Chapa 100” has secured Italy-based sales agent Luminalia ahead of its anticipated showcase at the Locarno Film Festival’s Africa-focused Open Doors strand, which runs from August 5 to 10. The film, which won the 2025 Atlas Workshops Development Award, adds Mo Harawe as associate producer, bringing significant international credibility to the Mozambique-set production.

Harawe’s previous work “The Village Next to Paradise” screened in Cannes Festival’s 2024 Un Certain Regard section to enthusiastic reviews, with Variety describing it as “a quietly powerful film.” Egyptian cinematographer Mostafa El Kashef and Mozambique’s Better Films have also joined the production as partners, signaling growing industry interest in the project.

Written and directed by Mozambique filmmaker Ique Langa, “Chapa 100” marks his follow-up to feature debut “The Prophet” (“O Profeta”), which world premiered in main competition this year at the IFF Rotterdam and now forms part of Locarno’s Open Doors Screenings. The building momentum around both films demonstrates the rising profile of Mozambique cinema on the international festival circuit.

Production Team Anchored in Maputo

Filmmaker Lara Sousa leads production through Kulunga Filmes, based in Mozambique capital Maputo. The company previously produced “Nós, Povo das Ilhas,” directed by Elson Santos and Sousa. Pedro Borges at Portugal’s Midas Filmes, a past Kulunga partner, co-produces the advanced-development project.

“Chapa 100” begins with observational social realism before lifting into magical realist style, along the lines of Gabriel García Márquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” The approach speaks to the collective mindset and heart of Maputo dwellers and the illusions of individual characters, “celebrating the resilience, tenderness, and humanity found in the city’s everyday rhythms,” Langa and Sousa said in a statement.

Unlikely Romance Sparks Supernatural Journey

The narrative centers on Sitoé, an 80-year-old flower vendor who meets Valentina, a vegetable seller in her seventies. A simple flower sparks a quiet romance between the two elderly vendors. When a thief steals Valentina’s rented wig, Sitoé runs after him and is struck dead by a speeding chapa, a local minibus.

His spirit becomes tied to the vehicle that killed him, however, and flowers begin to bloom within it. The supernatural turn transforms the tragedy into a meditation on love, memory, and the invisible bonds that connect people to each other and to place. The chapa itself becomes a moving memorial, carrying Sitoé’s spirit through the streets he once walked.

“‘Chapa 100’ is my love letter to Maputo. I wanted to portray the city not simply through its streets, but through the people who give it its heartbeat. By bringing together professional actors and non-professional performers from the city itself, the film seeks to capture something truthful and deeply human,” Langa told Variety.

Open Doors Showcases African Cinema’s Range

“Chapa 100” appears as a potential standout at Locarno’s talent-deep, wide-ranging 2026 Africa-focused Open Doors program. The film moves from observational social realism to literally flowering magical realism, establishing it as one of several ambitious projects at the showcase. The carefully curated program provides a telling snapshot of the range of current upscale titles coming out of Africa plus their artistic and industrial trends.

Suzsi Bankuti, head of Open Doors, emphasizes authenticity as a defining characteristic. “The cohort of Open Doors 2026 is made up of projects and filmmakers that don’t compromise with authenticity,” she notes. Many titles prove redolently and proudly local, with “Chapa 100” exemplifying this commitment through its deep roots in Maputo’s daily life and cultural identity.

Blending Professional and Non-Professional Talent

Langa employs both professional actors and non-professional performers from Maputo itself, seeking to capture something truthful and deeply human about the city. This casting approach mirrors the film’s hybrid aesthetic, which balances documentary-style observation with supernatural poetry. The strategy reflects broader trends in African cinema toward authenticity and community engagement.

The production team describes the film as “ultimately a story about love, memory, and the invisible bonds that connect us” to each other and to place. This thematic focus resonates with the magical realist tradition while remaining firmly grounded in Maputo’s specific cultural landscape. The flowers blooming within the chapa serve as both literal supernatural event and metaphor for how love persists beyond death.

Women Filmmakers Dominate Program

Though light years from parity in Africa at large, women cineastes feature prominently at Open Doors 2026, dominating its producers, new Open Doors Connect and directors sections. Lead producer Lara Sousa represents this shift, bringing both creative and production expertise to “Chapa 100.” The program also includes Suzannah Mirghani’s Venice Critics’ Week premiere “Cotton Queen,” the first feature-length fiction film from Sudan written and directed by a woman.

Other Open Doors screenings pack particularly powerful punches, including “Crocodile,” a documentary-feature that won best film at Tribeca Film Festival and Youth Jury Prize at the U.K.’s Sheffield DocFest. Aymar Esse’s touching “My Father’s Kora” world premieres at Locarno, adding to the program’s diverse slate of African stories told through distinctive artistic voices.

The sales agreement with Luminalia positions “Chapa 100” for international distribution following its Open Doors debut. Combined with its award-winning development pedigree and growing team of acclaimed collaborators, the film enters Locarno with significant momentum. The magical realist romance promises to celebrate Maputo’s resilience while exploring universal themes of love transcending death through distinctly local imagery and sensibility.