MADE IN ETHIOPIA (2024) Tribeca 2024

I look at the Chinese run Eastern Industrial Park in Ethiopia as it attempts to start to build it's second phase. The park attracted thousands of people to the factories situated there, However as stage two begins complications arise as prices rise, people who were promised compensation grumble and life has other plans. 

Focusing on several people, a Chinese Desuty director in the park, two women working in the factories and their families and a government official, the film gives us good over view of the complicated situation. The way things go isn't really happy for anyone with one of the women remarking late n the film that they no longer dream but simply go where life takes them. It's a sad moment that breaks our hearts.

This is a film you have to belt in and go with. I initially, and wrongly, thought that this was was going to be a rah rah film about Chinese coming in and doing wonderful things. It seemed that way because at the start the film shows us how "great" things are thanks to Deputy Director Motto's enthusiasm.  That slowly turns into something less happy, there are troubles all around, all of them unforeseen.

This is a great film. In an age where we are told about Chinese investment in Africa, this film shows us what that entails on some level. We see the good and the bad of it, and of corporate control in general. Its a film that beautifully tells it's story  opening our eyes and making us wonder what is going to happen next. Yes, the film ends but the story isn't over which keeps us thinking.

Recommended.

EXODUS 91 (2022) New York Jewish Film Festival 2023

One part documentary and one part dramatization, this is the story of how Israel rescued 15,000 Ethiopian Jews from famine and the civil war. Codenamed Operation Solomon the operation was beset by all sorts of troubles as the Ethiopians pondered if they were simply being used for show. In the end opened the flood gates and allowed for mare to emigrate.

This is a solid docudrama that will have you wondering how this is all going to play out.  I remember following the story back in 1991 and I always wondered what exactly happened. I say that because the TV news coverage of the time was limited and not really detailed. I like how we really get a sense of everything that went into the rescue.

Recommended

For details on the screening on the 21st go here

Grandpa was an Emperor (2021) DOC NYC 2021

This is the story of Yeshi Kassa. Her great grandfather was Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. She grew up on Ethiopia and her life was thrown into chaos when  a coup deposed her grandfather. Decades on she decides that she has to reconnect to the past and open the closed doors hiding the things she does not want to deal with. The result is a film that is not only about the past  but about today and not just a country far away but about the land inside ourselves.

Belt in boys and girls this is one hell of a ride, so grab some popcorn and buy a ticket.

I don't know where to begin. Perhaps with part of an email I sent to my friend Wendy after I saw it. She asked me what I liked about the film, to which I said:

"I like the mix of history and personal story. I love how we follow Yeshi through her personal journey- a journey which challenges her, she refuses to deal with things (and ends up in therapy) but then pushes through. I love the connection to Bob Marley who pops up and even clarifies things for Yeshi. Who was her grandfather? Marley explains it to her.  

"This isn't a film about the past. Its about the now with the film connecting us to events in Ethiopia all along the way right up to now with the unveiling of a statue of Selassie. Its also a story most people- even in Ethiopia don't know. Yeshi asks a woman in Ethiopia about certain events and she says she doesn't know abut them.

"What I love is the story isn't what I expected- either the present story of Yeshi, or what happened in Ethiopia. Yes some of it would be in the news, but much of it isn't the sort of thing most histories would record except as a footnote."

This is just great on so many levels. Yes, it's a fantastic and unexpected story but the filmmakers frame it in such a way that we can relate. Yes it's literally about royalty but what Yeshi is feeling the trip she is making into her and her family's past is one we can relate to. How much do we really know about our pasts? Do we really want to know or do we want to remain ignorant? More importantly Yeshi is relatable. She breaks down, she has problems exploring the past,. The result is she is us and not some super woman.

I was moved. More importantly I as excited enough about the film that I started to send off emails and messages to friends to tell them about the film. This wasn't a film to watch alone in the dark but to sit up and discuss.

This is one of my favorite films of this years DOC NYC.

Highly recommended.

The film is getting multiple screenings at DOC NYC all with post screening Q&A's so if you're in NYC do make an effort to go.

A Fire Within (2021) Bentonville Film Festival

 

This is the story of three woman from Ethiopia living in Atlanta who discover that the man who tortured them 15 years earlier was working in a hotel with them. They then set out to get justice for what happened by suing him in Federal Court.

Deeply moving film is one of the best films playing the Bentonville Film Festival. It is a very tough watch as the torture is graphically described, however it makes the ending of the tale all that more triumphant. 

Make no mistake about it I got teary several times during this film as the words of the women moved me.

What makes this film work is it's insistence on making damn sure we understand the history of Ethiopia and how the Red Terror came about. Everything is put into context, including how the blind torture of everyone of every age was destroying the country as people turned on each other just to make the pain stop. I had a tiny bit of knowledge going in, but this film really put it all into context.

I don't know what to say.  

This is a film that speaks volumes not only about what happened but the danger of unchecked political terror. Its clear torture doesn't work and only pleases the sadists who inflict it.

A FIRE WITHIN is a must see.

Faya Dayi (2021) NDNF 2021

Jessica Beshir's FAYA DAYI was one of the hidden gems of this years Sundance. A gloriously filmed black and white tone poem on  the Ethiopian crop of Khat. Khat is a plant that is turned into a drug that Sufi Muslims use to commune with god and others use just to get high and feel good.  

I really don't know what to say but you should see this film, preferably big and without distractions. This is a film you will fall into. It's hypnotic and compelling. Beshir's presentation is such that she creates an amazing headspace in the audience where we are in a place that we have never been before.  Watching the film I found myself just staring at the film going along wide eyed.

I'm sorry that I'm not going into detail into the things we see in the film, but what we see isn't as important as the ride.

I love this film.

Highly recommended 

FAYA DAYI (2021) Sundance 2021

Jessica Beshir's FAYA DAYI is one of the hidden gems of this years Sundance. A gloriously filmed black and white tone poem on  the Ethiopian crop of Khat. Khat is a plant that is turned into a drug that Sufi Muslims use to commune with god and others use just to get high and feel good.  

I really don't know what to say but you should see this film, preferably big and without distractions. This is a film you will fall into. It's hypnotic and compelling. Beshir's presentation is such that she creates an amazing headspace in the audience where we are in a place that we have never been before.  Watching the film I found myself just staring at the film going along wide eyed.

I'm sorry that I'm not going into detail into the things we see in the film, but what we see isn't as important as the ride.

I love this film.

Highly recommended 

Finding Sally (2020) plays Hot Docs at Home on CBC on April 30th

Filmmaker Tamara Mariam Dawit grew up in a family of Ethiopian refugees in Canada.  She knew that her family came from the upper strata of society and that her family had been part of the government of Emperor Haile Selassie when the country was beset by unrest and eventual revolution. While she knew that she still had family in Ethiopia, it wasn't until she was thirty when she realized that there was one aunt no one ever mentioned. She had disappeared back in the 1970's after joining the communist cause and seemed to disappear from the family. Having moved to the country after realizing that it was in her blood she begins to talk to her surviving relatives about the family's history in order to find out what happened to her aunt. Along the way she reveals the history of her country and of that part of Africa.

Solid documentary may confuse or disappoint you if you go in expecting this to be fully focused on finding Selamawit aka Sally because this film is something greater. This is a film that is looking to fill a hole in our understanding of what exactly happened in the 1970's and 80's that changed a whole country and forced so many people to leave. This is also a portrait of a whole family and not just one member.

Full of wonderful people who are great storytellers FINDING SALLY is compelling not because of flashy visuals or some grand mystery (though there is a mystery)  but rather because the ladies who make up the older generation of Dawit's family can tell a great story.  We are hooked because they invite us in and just start talking. They have stories to tell and they are going to do so. And as long as they are talking we are willing to listen.

Sitting in my home watching the film I fell into the film and was carried along. As a result not only did I learn a great deal about the history and politics of Ethiopia, but I watched a mystery get solved in the only way it really could.
This is a lovely little film and recommended

World Broadcast Premiere
HOT DOCS AT HOME ON CBC
Thursday, April 30, 2020
CBC and GEM, 8:00pm (8:30 NT) and documentary Channel, 9:00pm ET/PT

Anbessa (2019) DOC NYC 2019

I am trying to suss out how much of Mo Scarpelli's ANBESSA is pure documentary and how much is actual recording. The reason I am saying this is not because it is bad but rather it travels really damn close to many art house slice of life films that you could release it as a narrative and have it hailed as a masterpiece of naturalistic acting.

The film follows a young Ethiopian boy named Aslif who lives with his mother. They were displaced by developers building condos and the film follows the boy as he tries to survive in the world.

Gorgeously shot and compelling filmed this is a film where we get inside of the people on screen simply by following the way they look and move. Yea, they talk and interact but the words that pass between the say infinitely more than the words do. We fall into their lives and are carried along.

Watching this film is a stunning experience because the film makes us a feel the lives of the people on screen in ways that few films do. A towering achievement whether it is fact or fiction.

Recommended.

Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (2019) Fantasia 2019

Miguel Llansó the mad genius who made CRUMBS, a post-apocalyptic film that haunts me still, is at it again with JESUS SHOWS YOU THE WAY TO THE HIGHWAY, a one of a kind masterpiece that only he could have made.

In 2034 Soviet era computer virus with the titled name and controlled by cyber being Joseph Stalin is attempting to take over the world. Two CIA agents have to deep dive into the cyber world in order to stop him.

Wild and crazy and a one of a kind sense of reality JESUS… is a trip. Riffing on other films and refashioning pop culture to its own ends (in the cyber world people’s avatars are famous people, and some characters run about in 1966 Batman and Robin costumes) this film puts us in a headspace that both familiar and totally alien. Like in life everything is not one unique thing but smashed together. What makes this work is that Llanso creates worlds that are truly real. He takes our world and figures out what will be around in however many years. More importantly Llanso never forgets that people are people. There are small details that may or mean nothing, making pizza as a hobby for example, but they give us a hook and a sense that there is more to the characters beyond what they need do in the film.

This film is a masterpiece and Miguel Llansó is a genius. In a world where everyone is making and remaking films that are a dime a dozen Llanso is making things that are unlike anything out there even if they borrow from everywhere….

…and on that note if there is one filmmaker that Llanso is like it would be Quentin Tarantino who shares his love of cultural riffs. However unlike Tarantino Llanso uses the riffs to tell a greater truth. They are not what his film is about, instead they are window dressing and touchstones that are layered into the fabric of his films so that we can better fall under his spell. Because the references and riffs are friendly we are more open to what he wants to tell us. Also because of how they are used they trick us into believing that the world is real because it is like our own.

Make no mistake about it Miguel Llansó is truly one of the greatest filmmakers working anywhere in the world.

JESUS SHOWS THE WAY TO THE HIGHWAY is a must at Fantasia or where ever it plays. Even if you don’t like it you need to see it in order to know the work of a director who is doing something amazing.

Fig Tree (2019) Israel Film Center Festival

Set during the Ethiopian civil war. FIG TREE tells the story of a young African Jew who wants to get the hell out of Dodge. The war has complicated everything and she and her family want to flee to Israel while they can. However while her family is making their own plans she is making plans with her Christian boyfriend. Unfortunately war has a nasty habit of changing everything.

Beautiful and beautifully acted film is one of the best of the Israeli Film Center Film Festival. An aching film full of life, it wonderfully puts us down in the middle of a time and place that most of us know nothing about. While I knew there were some African Jews I never had any idea what their lives were like or how the war affected them. I was moved.

A stunning film, it is highly recommended.

FIG TREE plays June 5th at the Israel Film Center Festival. For more information and tickets go here.

Lamb (2015) New York Jewish Film Festival 2016

Ethiopia's submission for the Oscars caused a big stir when it was selected for Cannes and garnered some glowing reviews. The film is opening the New York Jewish Film Festival. Wednesday night.

This coming of age story  tells the story of Ephraim a young man left by his father with some distant relatives. He needs to go to the city to look for work and can not bring the boy. Since the boy's mother recently died there is no one to take care of him. Ephraim brings along his mother's sheep, who is his best friend, but things become complicated when the lamb is slated to become dinner for the holidays.

If you want to start off your 2016 seeing some incredible images then run and see LAMB as fast as possible because this film will bowl you over. It’s so breathtaking that odds are you’ll be on the phone booking your next vacation to the films locations. I can’t stress how good the film looks, and in a small scale gem like this the look of the film carries as much weight as the cast and the script in making the film work.

The film’s story is simple but not simplistic. I like that we more or less dropped in the story and allowed to watch it all unfold. We are not given anything that we don’t need. For example we don’t know how Ephraim’s mother died. There is no reason for us to know that so it never comes up. There are many moments in the film like that and we are better for it. I know that may be an odd thing to discuss but do you don’t realize how many films today explain too much. This film doesn’t- actually the one problem with LAMB is that in the last third or so the film becomes complicated as Ephraim has to sell food in the market to care for the care of his lamb and he’s bullied. It’s a turn that seems a little too much considering everything else in the film. There isn’t anything wrong with it, It’s just an added layer that isn’t really needed.

As an exploration of where one belongs and what are people's roles in society (Ephraim likes to cook, something considered women's work) this film gives us a great deal to think about. I'd be very curious how the film was received in Ethiopia where the society is in the middle of  changing.

LAMB is part of the real emergence of Ethiopian cinema. This year we had the Angelia Jolie produced DIFRET and we also had the glorious science fiction film CRUMBS, and now we have the Ethiopian Oscar entry. Based on these three films it looks like a new center of world cinema maybe finally coming into its own

I like LAMB a great deal. It’s a lovely slice of life and worth a look.

The film plays Wednesday at the new York Jewish Film Festival as the Opening Night film. For tickets and more information go here.)

Difret (2014)

Telling story based on the case that resulted in the outlawing of the kidnapping of child brides, DIFRET recounts the story of 14 year old Hirut Assefa who is kidnapped on her way home from school. Managing to escape from the house where she was imprisoned she tried to go back home, she takes a rifle she find with her. When she seen fleeing she runs off with her perspective husband and his family in pursuit. Brandishing the gun Hirut threatens to shoot anyone who comes near her. When her "groom" does she shoots him dead. Arrested and on the fast track to execution Hirut ends up aided when Meaza Ashenafi, the founder of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association takes her case.

Whether you love or like this award winning film will depend upon if you give yourself over to its largely by the numbers telling or not. If you can lose yourself then you are going to love this film a great deal. If on the other hand it's construction makes you wish that the filmmakers had been a bit more daring in the telling then you're going to just like the film.

Put me in the like category. While I admire that the film manages to tackle such a serious issue, I really do wish that the film had been tenser or that it didn't feel like one of those feel good message films that  you see on Lifetime, from Disney or heads direct to home video. I think it would have helped that the poster (see above) and some of the promotional material pretty much tell you it's going to be alright before you ever see the film.

While its very easy to defend this as being a good film, I am kind of puzzled by the films numerous awards. I don't see it being quite award winning material, however I do think that it's worth your time and money of the subject appeals to you.

The film hits Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on Friday

crumbs (2015) Fantasia 2015

Unique science fiction film from Ethiopia is one of the headier science fiction films to be released recently.

Set in a a world after a great war (it ended not because anyone won but rather because the instinct for human survival kicked in) there are few people left. The artifacts from before the war are treasured. In the sky high above is a space ship of some sort that has hung there since before the war.

On earth life goes on Candy goes about his business trying to gather up lost treasures, avoiding the second generation Nazi's and just getting by with his girlfriend. When the bowling machines in the bowling alley come back to life Candy realizes something is afoot and he realizes he has to go speak to Santa Claus, if he can find him.

We've been here before and we haven't. We've seen similar things before (Tarkovsky's STALKER or some of the Polish  or Soviet Science Fiction Films of the 1970's& 80's or the novel CANTICLE FOR LIEBOWITZ) but nothing quite like this. Rarely has a world been so beautifully created. Rarely has any science fiction film, especially a post apocalyptic one, felt so right and so real. Granted the fact that the film was shot in Ethiopia as it is today, in places that are alien to much of the world helps, but at the same time the world beyond that is so consistent internally it all hangs together.

This is more a film of ideas and images than action. If you go in expecting anything but talk and small moments you'll be disappointed. This is a film that gets to your heart through your head.

Its also a film with lots of  ideas running around. There are the obvious notions of older civilizations being thought to be better, of how people misread objects of the past, of how we process things we've seen and make them part of our memory (say a movie watched too many times) are all at work here as are a dozen or so other ones. Its a film that one could and people will write doctoral thesis on. I need another three or four passes through the film to begin to get it all.

One of the best science fiction films in years is also one of the best films at Fantasia 2015 (and maybe 2015). A must see for those who want idea over gadgets.

CRUMBS plays later today and August 3rd for tickets an more info go here.