Italian sales agent Luminalia has taken on “Chapa 100”, an advanced-development feature by Mozambican writer-director Ique Langa, strengthening the project’s international backing ahead of Locarno’s Africa-focused Open Doors strand. The deal matters because it brings a prominent new Mozambican film into the international sales market while highlighting growing cross-border interest in sub-Saharan African cinema.

The project has also added Somali-Austrian filmmaker Mo Harawe as associate producer, Egyptian cinematographer Mostafa El Kashef and Mozambican company Better Films as partners. Produced by Lara Sousa’s Kulunga Filmes with Portugal’s Midas Filmes co-producing, the film follows an elderly flower seller whose spirit becomes attached to the minibus that kills him, blending Maputo-set social realism with magical realism. Luminalia is also representing Langa’s earlier film “The Prophet” and Mamadou Dia’s documentary “Atcha Atcha”.