Balane 3

Ico Costa / Portugal & France / 2025 / World Premiere / 98 min

There is a lot of talking in ‘Balane 3’. About politics, friendships, love and sex – and sex especially. We are in Inhambane, a medium-sized city in the south of Mozambique. Here we meet the young inhabitants in their own element. They work, hang out, go out dancing – and then they talk. 

‘Balane 3’ is a social film. A panoramic snapshot of life as a young African right now, in this particular place (the film is named after the neighborhood where it was shot). In other words, there’s a lot going on, and Ico Costa’s spinning analog camera is always at eye level with the young participants.

Costa has made a number of films in Mozambique across documentary and fiction, about and with the country’s young generation, and has developed a method based on co-creation, relationships and trust, where all participants actively contribute – not just to tell their own story, but to transcend the narrative itself.