Mozambique’s Civil War Echoes in ‘The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder’

Inadelso Cossa’s second feature, *The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder*, returns to his childhood village to record testimonies about the Mozambique civil war. The film blends interviews with his dementia-affected grandmother, an elderly couple, archival footage, and reenactments to portray the war’s psychological legacy.

The Guardian

The Mozambique civil war lasted from 1977 to 1992, leaving deep scars on the psyche of the whole nation.

The Guardian

The film’s central participants are director Inadelso Cossa, his unnamed grandmother, and the older couple Macuacua and Zalina, who recount personal wartime experiences. Their testimonies illustrate how memory persists through gestures, such as Macuacua’s rifle-shaped branch reenactment.

The Guardian

The conflict spanned fifteen years, from 1977 through 1992. The review notes it “left deep scars on the psyche of the whole nation.”

The Guardian

The film argues that understanding the war’s impact requires moving beyond statistics to capture feelings of pain and healing. By using monologues, songs, and reenactments, Cossa demonstrates how memory operates outside linear time, emphasizing personal testimony in reconstructing contested histories.

The Guardian

Cossa is reported to say his aim is to let gestures distill history beyond chronological narration. He prioritises non-traditional documentation to reflect the “slipperiness of memory,” allowing viewers to experience the convergence of past and present.

The Guardian

The review notes the experimental form can make the film “difficult to follow on occasion.” The blend of real and imagined truths, plus nocturnal cinematography, may challenge audiences seeking a straightforward historical account.

The Guardian

• “The film wavers between real and imagined truths, a liminal state echoed by the evocative cinematography.” — The Guardian review, Film Critic

The Guardian

• “In a striking scene, Macuacua holds up a tree branch shaped like a rifle and reenacts a patrol route from his youth with astonishing matter-of-factness.” — The Guardian review, Film Critic

The Guardian

• “While this approach embodies the slipperiness of memory, it also renders the film difficult to follow on occasion.” — The Guardian review, Film Critic

The Guardian

• “But across these streams of oral history, what we find are not merely facts and figures, but feelings, in which pain and healing entwine.” — The Guardian review, Film Critic

The Guardian