Ethiopia Movies | Ethiopia Drama Review 
Ethiopia Movies | Ethiopia Drama Review
Ethiopian Cinema: Mefenkele Setoch' Opens in Addis Ababa
By Seble Teweldebirhan/Ezega
This will be the day. Have you heard the song by James Brown. "This is a man's world" If you have, try to aligin this movie to the song.
The film has uncomplicated story from the outside. It is about a world, for a change, controlled by women. The actors are husbands who are abused, mistreated, disrespected, and most importantly, considered incapable by their wives. The movie shows a woman leader for Ethiopia and an economy and culture controlled by women. The Ethiopian government even has a Men Affairs Minister that works to ensure equality for men. To the extent that seemed cruel and unreasonable, the wives were insensitive to their husbands. Though all the husbands did what is required of them like cooking, cleaning, taking care of the baby, and addressing social responsibilities of the couples, this did not get them any mercy from their wives. Finally, tired of being pushed around, the men decided to revolt against women. The revolution, at the end, turns them to gorilla fighters to stand for the rights of men. Read more...
First look at: Ethiopian Love – an independent film by Yoni Solomon
It always pleases us to recognize young and talented first generation Ethiopians who are on their way to establishing themselves. You may recall a few months back when we wrote a feature article on Yonie Solomon YONIE - UNTIL WE SEE YOU AGAIN..., a young man from Seattle, Washington who had performed at the 2010 Ethiopian soccer tournament in San Jose, CA and was in the process of writing, producing, directing and editing his first independent film, “An Ethiopian Love.”
The process is slowly coming to an end.Although there is no premiere date for the film, we have finally been able to see the first release of the official trailer.
Before posting this video Solomon acknowledged his past success and future endeavors on his facebook http://www.facebook.com/yonie:
“Out of everything I've done in this industry from music videos to reality shows to film-producing, this is hands down my favorite and most gratifying project thus far. For the past 2 years I have written, directed, produced, edited and starred in my very own movie. I was fortunate enough to travel to Africa for part of the filming as I hoped to capture the side of it that has never been depicted in mainstream media. I wanna thank y'all for the continued love and support. Not a day goes by without someone sending me a facebook message asking when the movie's coming out. To all of you that have been patiently waiting, here is the Official Movie Trailer for 'AN ETHIOPIAN LOVE' Love y'all! - Yonie
The trailer provides a first look at what the movie is about. It shows the story of a young man who is dealing with the ebb and flow of day to day life. Because of a sudden tragedy, he is obliged to make the long awaited first visit to Ethiopia. Solomon provides a positive portrayal on Ethiopia; one that is different from what you would expect to see in most movies. With lots of pride and excitement, we are here today to show you the official trailer of Solomon’s movie. Add him as a friend on facebook, like his page, or just provide him with the love and support that he deserves in such a monumental time. It is young people like him that give us a bright hope for the future. Good Job Yonie, We can’t wait to see the movie!
http://vimeo.com/25812019
Alatinos aims to serve Ethiopians “truthfully and honestly”
administratorINTERVIEW: The Ethiopian art scene is booming. Cinemas around Addis Ababa are often full, showing not only international movies but Ethiopian movies as well.
In the last 10 years, improvements in almost all areas of filmmaking such as production, editing, directing and acting have been made. Playing a quiet but determined role in this noble effort is a grass-roots organization named Alatinos. Samuel Getachew had a chance to interview its secretary, the passionate Menelik Merid for The Reporter. Read More
“What ever happens to the least of us has an effect on all of us.” From the movie of Desert flower “Desert Flower” Coming in March Liya kebede’s movie about a Somalia house cleaning girl rising to the highest level of modeling and giving a speech at the united nation. The move is made by ational Geographic Entertainment. Watch Official Trailer Ethiopian Zefene Movie
By Tibebeselassie Tigabu
The fifth edition of Ethiopian International Film Festival wound up last Monday at the National Theatre with awards being given for films in seven categories: best supporting actor; best supporting actress; best actor; best actress; best script writing; best director; and best picture.The best film was chosen from a pool of five films in which renowned actor Fikadu Teklemariam was accorded the honour of announcing the winner. However, on his way to the stage to announce the winner, Fikadu was told that he had the wrong envelope in his hand and had required the MC to produce the right envelope - the minor mishap had prompted the audience into silence.
Finally, Fikadu announced the winner of the best picture as ‘Yeegir Eta’ which seemed unexpected for some observers
“When we see why films are chosen as best films the criteria differ between a professional point of view and the viewers’ view. Film viewers might not know the technical details but for sure they know what a good film is. What surprised me was why they chose ‘Yegir Eta’ film. By any standards, it doesn’t deserve to be the best film. All the cheering and the clapping of hands for other films didn’t happen for ‘Yegir Eta’ and the incident with the wrong envelope. “What is that? There is something shady about it”, one filmmaker said seeking anonymity.
Some of the audiences the Reporter talked to also expressed their own reservation when it came to ‘Yegir Eta’
“There are good films which were better than ‘Yegir Eta’ like ‘Tizitah’ and I don’t know the reason why they chose ‘Yegir Eta’”, commented Mahlet Yehualawerk
The film festival, which was held with a theme of ‘New times, Culture, News,’ brought together some 25 Ethiopian films which were screened at Yoftahe Cinema, Alem Cinema, Pushkin Cultural Centre and the National Theatre from November 29 to December 6.
As the winners were announced the audiences who were at the National Theatre were cheering particularly for Girum Mezmur who won the title of best actor for his performance in ‘Tizitah’ and ‘Yilugnita’).
The chairman of the jury panel, Birhanu Shibru, said that they had different criteria to choose the winners and in some exceptional cases some of the films received equal points and were identified by votes.
“The main criteria we saw in this film festival were the way they portrayed the question of identity and showed the elements of being Ethiopian. We also looked at the philosophy, history, aesthetics, language of the films and the way the films depicted those issues”, Birhanu Shibiru explained.
Birhanu also expresses the importance of film festivals in encouraging filmmakers and despite some shortcomings that happened in the film festival he appreciated the consistency reaching the fifth edition.
Apart from the local films, around 30 foreign films were also screened during the film festival.
Different workshops and trainings also took place along the sidelines of the festival where 12 trainees were given a two-week training and they screened their three short films at the closing day of the film festival.
Even if some had their own reservation when it comes to the awards, others also appreciated the festival and the judges.
“I saw every film in this festival and what I can tell you that is it was a great festival. And we should have more of these kinds of festivals”, enthused Mekdes Melese.
A jury of professionals that came from diverse fields identified the winners in the seven categories: Makda Afework won best supporting actress in the film Sisit, Feleke Abebe: best supporting actor in’Yegir Eta’, Sayat Demissie: best actress in ‘laundry boy’, Girum Ermias: best actor in ‘Tizitah and Yilugita, Biniyam Worku: best scriptwriter in ‘Sebategnaw Sew, Yonas Birhane Mewa: best director in ‘Makbel’ and the film ‘Yegir Eta’ won best picture, of the year.
First Int’l Film Festival to Further Local Industry
By HANS LARSON
The First International Short Film Festival in Addis Abeba will take flight tomorrow, June 14, 2010, featuring the frills of the red carpet; famous guests, including supermodel Liya Kebede; 100 films from festivals around the world; and a competition among 25 East African filmmakers, with first prize fetching a flight to France for film training.
The free festival will be held at National Theatre every day of the week. With the title of “Images That Matter,” the festival seeks to “encourage the use of film as a personal, social, and economic tool” and to facilitate an exchange between African filmmakers and the international community.
President Girma Woldegiorgis will open the festival with a red carpet ceremony at the National Theatre on Monday where guests are expected to dress their best for the free event. A sampling of short films will follow from countries around the world including Ethiopia, Germany, New Zealand, the United States, and France.
Films about UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will kick off the morning session on Tuesday with additional films from the official sister festival, Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France following. Eight of the 25 competing films from East Africa will commence competition, culminating with an invitational African premiere of Desert Flower starring Liya Kebede.
The next day will feature films from the second sister festival, the International Short Film Festival of São Paulo, Brazil. The associated Melbourne International Film Festival and African Festival of Tarifa, Spain will follow, with four competitive East African films later on. The day will end with Cannes short films and “Travel in Short, Carte Blanche Cultures France” films.
“Desert Flower” will again premiere, this time with unrestricted admittance but with priority given to students, on Thursday morning, followed by three short films from each continent from the Democracy Video Challenge. The rest of the day will be devoted to East African films, including four that are part of the local festival competition, followed by more films from the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
Friday will have repeats of previous showings plus three more films from East Africa that are part of the competition. The last day, Saturday, June 19, 2010, will feature the last four East African films of the competition followed by the closing ceremony where the winning East African films will be shown again and prizes will be awarded.
First prize will be 10 days of film training in France during the Off-Courts Trouville Film Festival in September 2010, including airfare donated by Ethiopian Airlines. Second prize will be three weeks of training at Blue Nile Film School in Addis Abeba. An “Audience Award” will be given to a foreign filmmaker to be invited to Ethiopia to meet local filmmakers. The international films were selected to raise consciousness, and address social questions and environmental issues.
The week will also be packed with nine question and answer sessions with local and international directors at the National Theatre, nine workshops with foreign and local experts, and three panel discussions at Addis Abeba University (AAU) at 3:00pm on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Images That Matter International Short Film Festival, Addis Abeba is directed by Maji-da Abdi in association with Zelalem Woldemariam initiated by Culturesfrance. Maji-da was the director of “The Rivers That Divided” (2001) and worked on the production of “Heremakono” (2002), “En Attendant le Bonheur” (2003), and “Bamako” (2006). Zelalem wrote and directed “The 11th Hour” (2008) and “Lezare” (2009), a short film that won the Young Jury Award at the African Festival of Tarifa in 2010, and owns Zeleman Production.
Having an international film festival in Addis Abeba should increase opportunities for local filmmakers to find funding for their films, said a local cinematographer, who did not want his name printed due to his contract with the organisers of this festival. He has a script for a short film about a boy who lives with his bedridden grandmother and sells gum to keep both of them alive.
“The film should cost about 4,500 dollars to shoot,” he said. “I had a pledge for a contribution of about 1,000 dollars, but I do not know when or if that [support] will come, now.”
There is lots of talent in East African filmmaking, but most films are feature length and cannot compete due to a lack of training and funding, Maji-da said.
¬She wants to encourage short films, which she believes could compete more easily on the international stage where there are hundreds of films from each of the other continents. Eventually, East Africa and Ethiopia, in particular, will be able to compete with Nigeria’s thriving film industry and the rest of the world.
“We hope that the festival will spark a lot of discussion in the local film industry,” said Zelalam.
A full catalogue of events is currently available at www.imagesthatmatter.org (not .com) for download and on hard copy at the National Theatre by Tuesday.
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