Farewell Amor

Walter came to America from Angola seventeen years ago and started driving a taxi in New York. His wife Esther and his daughter Sylvia finally get visas and join him. They meet at the airport and the three move into a one-bedroom apartment. But seventeen years have passed: Esther has built a life around her faith, Sylvia does not know her father at all, and Walter has had another life in that time. The one thing that could connect the three turns out to be dance. Ekwa Msangi's first film divides the narrative into three parts and tells the same days in turn through Walter, Sylvia and Esther. That structure shows all three to be right and makes none of them the villain. Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine plays Walter, Zainab Jah plays Esther, and Jayme Lawson plays Sylvia. The film screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020. Who it's for: Viewers who like American independent drama, narratives of migration, and multi-perspective structures. Who it's not for: The pace is slow and the plot is thin. The repeating structure also tires some viewers.