“Cesária Évora, the barefoot diva”, prophet in her small country – Citazine

In 1992, the whole world discovered the title Soda. A gentle lament that highlights a 51-year-old woman from Cape Verde who has neither the style nor the age required to become a star. And yet… Long a bar singer, Cesária Évora, defied the music industry and became an important figure in the genre then labeled world music. Ana Sofia Fonseca’s documentary looks back on the improbable destiny of the woman her loved ones call Cize through numerous new images unearthed from friends and members of her family.

Alongside the history of Cape Verde, Cesária Évora, the barefoot diva traces the struggles, excesses and successes of a free and generous woman who popularized morna internationally despite all commercial logic. From her difficult childhood to decades of poverty, haunted by the specter of alcohol and depression, the documentary takes a tender look at this destiny as improbable as it is touching, celebrating the singer’s iconic status on her native island, and well beyond.

Never seen

Portuguese journalist and director, Ana Sofia Fonseca has a house in Cape Verde close to the one where Cesária Évora lived. A few days after her disappearance, the filmmaker said to herself that the singer deserved a film about her extraordinary life, without imagining that she would one day be the author. Ana Sofia Fonseca went in search of recordings to tell the incredible destiny of the Diva who invariably performed barefoot on stage, a symbol of freedom as much as a need to relieve her bruised feet.

Initially, however, the project seemed compromised. The archives seem rare or even non-existent. However, the filmmaker gradually discovers a precious mine of photos and especially videos of Cesária Évora entrusted by those close to her. The now obsolete video formats – Super 8, U-Matic, Betacam, Hi8 or even mini DV – follow one another on the screen, traces of a career spanning several decades with its unexpected lows and highs.

Behind the scenes

To better focus on the woman she was, Cesária Évora, the barefoot diva voluntarily sets aside the archives of his rarely seen stage performances. Beginning with rehearsals for the recording of a piece in the studio and a close-up of her famous bare feet, the documentary imposes its focus: behind the scenes of an unexpected late celebrity but above all the trajectory of a free woman whose Home videos capture intimacy.

The film’s common thread is Cesária’s voice accompanied by those of her loved ones who intervene without appearing on screen. A way to maintain a form of intimacy with the Cape Verdean diva. Resolutely personal, the documentary is a cocoon which collects confidences to better understand who this extraordinary character was, with a fascinating voice and complex character.

This exploration of the life of Cesária Évora takes place in parallel with the political and social context of Cape Verde. An essential environment to understand the tortuous journey of this bar singer who became an international singing icon world. Because to try to understand what animated Cesária, born in Cape Verde still included in the Portuguese colonial Empire, we must delve into the heart of this country that she loved so much.

Crazy success

Cello player to feed his family, the father of Stranger died when she was only seven years old. Her mother then entrusted her to an orphanage where she remained until the age of 13. There, she learned to sing and joined a choir. A singer on Portuguese warships and in bars from the age of 16, Cesária Évora owes her worldwide fame to a very close friend, José da Silva. A Franco-Cape Verdean railway worker living in France, he believes in Cesária so much that he turns his life upside down to become her manager. He imposes it on a music industry which does not really know how to “sell” to the public this woman starting a career at almost 50 years old.

Without a marketing plan, the magic of Cesária Évora’s hoarse and inimitable voice nevertheless works. The documentary returns to this sudden explosion of the singer who then benefits from a very strong interest in world music in the early 90s. The Cape Verdean singer of morna and coladeira, her dancing version, then introduced her culture to the whole world. In France in particular, the success was total: his third album Miss Perfumed sold more than 300,000 copies.

However, Cesária Évora’s explosion as an internationally renowned star is not at the center of the documentary and even less so is its conclusion. Despite the financial comfort brought by the recognition of her talent, Cesária Évora has surprisingly kept her famous bare feet on the ground. And more precisely on Cape Verdean soil. Cesária Évora, the barefoot diva is also a love story, that of a woman with her country and her people who have given her so much back.

The voice is free

Born on August 27, 1941 in Mindelo on the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde, Cesária Évora is inseparable from this Little country, a title celebrating his archipelago which has become essential in his repertoire. No matter where her career takes her, she always returns to recharge her batteries in Cape Verde, the home of her soul. With her first substantial paycheck, she dreams of buying a house, a real home that is not in danger of collapsing on her and her loved ones. A dream that will have to wait a bit because the money is quickly squandered in bars with friends.

But, once the residence was built, the numerous personal archives in the documentary show its status as a refuge. Cesária Évora’s house is resolutely open to the outside and welcoming inside. Faithful to her journey, Cesária Évora made her home a place that welcomes the most deprived, prostitutes… In this villa called Cafè Atlantico where she receives friends and family, those who are otherwise rejected can eat their fill. The gap between the international star and the accessibility of Stranger is barely believable.

This generosity echoes the unconditional freedom of Cesária Évora which hovers over the documentary. Despite all the many obstacles, the Diva led her boat as she wanted, weathering the storms as best she could. Cesária Évora stands out a posteriori as a fine example of female emancipation although the term was not part of her vocabulary. Through her trajectory and her character, she offered the model of an emancipated femininity celebrated by the documentary.

Soda

More than a hit, Soda, the song that made the singer known internationally is emblematic of the singer’s career. Coming from the English verb “to mourn”, meaning to cry or deplore, saudade is a difficult concept to explain. There is no exact term to translate it into French; to try to understand it you have to juggle with the terms melancholy, nostalgia and hope.

Impossible to define in words, this perfectly sums up the beauty and magic that the music and especially the voice of Cesária Évora inspire. The morna, a tropical variation of the Portuguese saudade close to the blues, symbolizes the fascinating complexity of the woman who interpreted it so magnificently. This repertoire takes us back to this haunting melancholy which becomes poignant when the singer suddenly decides to remain silent. Although she was just over 30 years old, Cize lived as a recluse at home for 10 years and plunged into alcohol and solitude.

Silence fatal

From album to album, Cesária Évora traces her path, without ever losing sight of her native Cape Verde, a true refuge among the succession of tours. She will be overtaken by this incurable spleen in full glory but it is fatal news that will get the better of her. In September 2011, the ax fell. After several alerts, her heart was no longer able to support her during the exhausting tours. Cesária Évora must face the facts and, unthinkably, admit defeat.

In the columns of Le Monde, she regretfully bids farewell to the public with these words full of gratitude and lucidity: “life goes on, I came to you, I did my best, I had a career that many would like to have.” The documentary relates the tragedy of this silence imposed as a condemnation for the singer. Three months later, reduced to a despairing silence, Cize leaves our world and enters the legend of an entire country and of music.

A striking dive into unpublished archives, Cesária Évora, the barefoot diva takes a look of great tenderness on a woman with inspiring freedom and loyalty to her family. A beautiful setting, fair and sincere, for an immortal voice.

> Cesária Évora, the barefoot diva (Cesária Évora), directed by Ana Sofia Fonseca, Portugal, 2022 (1h34)