Grande Hotel — Documentary Film

Grande Hotel opened in Beira, Mozambique, in 1955 under Portuguese colonial rule. Conceived as a symbol of luxury and modernity, it closed only eight years later.

By 2012, more than 2,000 people were living inside the abandoned building without running water or electricity, adapting its architecture to create homes and spaces for everyday life.

This film is part of a photographic and audiovisual project developed in Mozambique with photographer Mário Macilau, with the support of AECID. Mediavilla and Macilau developed separate bodies of work around the Grande Hotel, later exhibited together at Núcleo de Arte in Maputo.

Filming & editing: Héctor Mediavilla
Project developed with: Mário Macilau
Beira, Mozambique · 2012
12 min 09 sec · Portuguese with English subtitles

More information:
www.hectormediavilla.com/grande-hotel