Mabata Bata Film

This beautifully shot film centres around a restless spirit, Azarias, a young orphaned shepherd. Adapted from a short story ‘The Day Mabata Bata Exploded’ by Mozambican writer Mia Couto, the film follows Azarias who dreams to be a normal child and go to school, but is unable to as he has to take care of the oxen herd which is part of the traditional dowry of his uncle. Most importantly, he has to take care of Mabata Bata, the herd’s biggest ox. The war is ever present: the ox is killed by a landmine, the boy runs away, and a series of events is triggered that will end unpredictably. Meditative sounds punctuate the merging of time and space across different planes of reality in this magic realist tale set in rural Mozambique.