In Sana Na N’Hada’s Nome, the veteran director from Guinea-Bissau revisits the years of his youth, and the turbulent struggle against the Portuguese colonial army from 1969 to the mid 1970s. His approach is minimal and stylised, yet bursting with lyrical beauty and spiritual mystery. The tale begins in a village far from the armed conflict, observing the daily life of Nome, his mother, and the woman he loves. Nome leaves home to join the guerrillas and becomes a heroic leader – but the personal relationships he has abandoned will return to haunt him during the complicated and confused post-revolutionary period. Nome probes the hopeful, utopian dimension of African revolutionary movements and confronts, with the wisdom of hindsight, the seeds of corruption and betrayal that always existed. But never embraces despair. A special feature of Nome is the archival footage from the time originally shot by Na N’Hada and his comrades. These images do much more than guarantee documentary authenticity – in their very fragility they allow the film to elevate the materiality of scratched, battered frames into a full-blown poetic language. – Adrian Martin