Films/Documentary 
Addis International film festival kicks off
The fifth Addis International Annual Film Festival (AIFF) kicked off on Thursday at the Sebastopol Cinema with a film entitled Wall Za Hood (walls of the hood). On the night other films entitled Karla’s Arrival, Repainting Cuba, Women in White, ‘Yarefedu Ejoch’ and 12 angry Lebanese were also screened.
Organized by Initiative Africa, with a theme of ‘Go Green’ more than 100 documentary films are screening in 10 venues from June 23-26 this year.
Despite the fact that the theme of this year’s festival is about going green, the films that are screened do not exclusively focus on it. Among the themes of this year’s festival are destitution, migration, love, economic crisis as well as political and cultural issues. In general, the films are expected to focus on films which have themes promoting education and social responsibility.
Some of the films which are being shown in this year’s festival include the internationally celebrated Quit Smoking, Cairo Garbage, Enemies of the People, Mumbai Disconnected, Soul Boy, Living Skin, Kindness, and A Letter from Tibet.
The film festival is also aimed at making audacious documentary films more accessible to audience in Ethiopia. Part of the festival also includes the annual young filmmakers’ workshop. Through the workshop the organisers hope to make young filmmakers gain experience from internationally recognized filmmakers like Lucy Gebre-Egziabher. Around forty young filmmakers took part in the workshop.
The organizers believe that the festival helps to bring the Ethiopian and international documentary families together to advance the craft and business of documentary filmmaking in a series of workshops. AIFF is fast becoming known as one of a popular joint venue for people from the documentary and digital industries to get together - to meet, to screen their work, share knowledge, do business, create new contacts and discuss innovations and challenges that are faced in the ever changing media landscape.
The venues which were selected to screen the films this year include Sebastopol Cinema, the British Council, the American and Kenyan embassies, Alliance Ethio-Française, and five youth centres in Addis Ababa namely Bole, Lideta, Addis Ketema, Gullele and Kirkos.
The conclusion of festival will be marked by granting awards for the Best Documentary Film. The Addis International Film Festival’s Audience Award will be determined by audience vote from the films presented.
AIFF is staged every year screening films with powerful statement of social change.
By Tibebeselassie Tigabu
“I have never seen such a shocking film in my entire life. I could never imagine a person could be this inhuman and act like a cruel beast to these pure children. These things do not even happen in state of nature,” states Rahel Kebebe after watching the award-winning documentary Red Light.
The film was screened here in Addis Ababa at the Goethe Institute in connection with the celebration of the International Human Rights Day.
Produced and narrated by the renowned Hollywood film actress Lucy Liu, the film reveals the shocking reality of Cambodian child trafficking.
It depicts the personal testimonies of children victims, two Cambodian activists, namely grass root activist Somaly Mam, and politician Mu Sochua. It shows their struggle and the film used smuggled footages of brothels.
The horrific experiences of the former child sex slaves and their struggle to regain a sense of normalcy as well as their despair and hope is covered in the films.
Some are born to stand tall and one of those, Sreypov Chan, was sold to sex slavery at the age of seven.
For around six years she was forced to fulfill her day’s quota of servicing up to 20 men and if she didn’t she was severely be beaten, whipped, burned, covered with biting insects and subjected to similar other forms of cruelty.
She escaped from that misery and met Somaly Mam, who also passed through sex slavery when she was young and now talks openly, fights for the children and goes back to those brothels to rescue victims.
According to the film, this is a story of one child from one million children who end up in the massive sex industry every year.The children are sold for a very small amount of money usually by their relatives and become prisoners at the brothels which are owned by influential people who corrupt the police and state entities.
Despite these persons’ power one courageous sister was persistent in rescuing her sister and putting the responsible people in jail even if her sister was back to the brothels to do prostitution.
Cambodia is a tourist center many foreigners come looking for young children. Foreigners who were accused of raping two young boys were acquitted despite the strong evidence demonstrating their guilt.
Somaly Mam, the persistent woman who was nominated for the Nobel prize, says it’s not poverty that makes these people sell their children or beloved ones but that there is no dignity among them.
Somaly Mam established a shelter to protect these children and was able to face the consequences after her 14- year- old daughter was gang raped. But the perpetrators of the crime couldn’t stop Somaly Mam from fighting.
The stories of the children also touches on the suffering of a girl who was sewed over five times to keep her virginity so her price would get high and a seven-year old girl who was cut and raped by four men.
Unfortunately, the victims are ostracized by the society and some of them went back to prostitution.
“This is very sad. With all their problems and pain I don’t think they would be able to lead a normal life. I don’t understand the reason why grown ups do these things to children,” said Nathan Kebede, a viewer.
The film has won many awards and has earned the director of the film ,Guy Jacobsen , the Global Hero Award for his work
Bridging The Gap of Cinema Houses in Addis,with Panoramic View:
By Tibebeselassie Tiagbu
It is ironic to see how films are produced in a huge scale but unable to find a place where to screen them. One can easily notice the growth scale of film production by only walking on the streets of Addis where different banners and film posters hang at different places.
It is also common to hear film makers complain about shortage of places and also the long queues at the different cinema houses.
Started in the 1920s, the first cinema in Ethiopia, ‘Seitan Bet’, has returned into the picture to join the eight cinema houses of which three are government owned.
It is a bit questionable for many why investors are not involved in cinema given there is market growing parallel to the production of films.
A new cinema house, Panoramic, located on the first floor of the Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Center around Meskel Square, is believed by the owners to add the number of the cinema houses in the city.
Located on Bole Road, the cinema house seems a convenient place for many to access transport easily and at the same time attract the attention of passersbys.
The multi-purpose hall accommodates around 200 people with cushioned seats and has two exits. According to the general manager of the cinema, Zerihun Taye, this cinema house fulfills all the criteria of the cinema houses.
“This place was done for multipurpose.As you can see the seating of the cushions, sound system and also the AC are some of the equipment the cinema house does,” states Zerihun.
Regarding the private cinema houses in Addis the new cinema house ranks third next to Edna Mall and Alem Cinema in terms of service and quality.
As for the seating arrangements there are some distractions. A big pillar standing in the middle prevents people from watching the screen fully.
Even if the seating is cushion it doesn’t have a slot on the side to put pop corn or drinks.
“The fact that this place is in the center of the city is one of the reasons why we chose it. We will rearrange the seating to make it more convenient to movie goers. We are in the first phase and gradually we will improve things, “ Zerihun indicates
The new cinema house will only screen Amharic films and films that fulfill the requirement of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
“It will be a place for Amharic films. Apart from fulfilling the criteria and requirement of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, we also have our criteria for the films we screen like the quality of production the market they would draw,” Zerihun says.
Renting this house for of 42,000 birr a month, Zerihun believes this place will serve multiple purposes as it houses the Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Center downstairs and a library as well.
“The young generation should know their past, what happened in this country. When they come here for entertainment purposes they will also learn about their history,” Zerihun believes.
Apart from screening Amharic films there will be events which show the different cultural exchange of other countries with Ethiopia in collaboration with different embassies.
The weekend is dedicated to children and bringing the adored Ababa Tesfaye is one of their plans. The series film‘Tsehay Memar Tiwodalech’ will also be screened in collaboration with Whiz Kids Workshop.
“With the shortage we have the new cinema house is another addition, but it will not alleviate the problems we have,” concludes Zerihun.
Panoramic, which premiered with ‘The Athlete’ film last Sunday, charges entrance fees of 15, 20, 25 birr for shows which begin at 2, 4 and 8pm, respectively.
"Yawiw, Yawewe" animation music video
By Tibebeselassie Tigabu
Ethiopian films have been waddling for a couple of decades now in the face of constant challenges. As most films are made with the traditional video cameras, not much creativity has been observed. Yet once in a blue moon, filmmakers are coming up with a new style of presentation. The newly released 2d animation clip ‘Yawiwe’ is such an example.
‘Yawiwe’ (let’s give him) is a Guraghigna music that is sung by the renowned dancer and choreographer Mewded Kibru. What makes this music quite interesting is its brilliant music clip that has animation work done by Temam Reja.
Fusing hip-hop dance with Guraghigna, the clip depicts the contemporary contrast of Ethiopia dwelling between the modern and the traditional world.
For many ‘Yawiwe’ can be considered as a ground-breaking work in Ethiopian animation. And the feedback the animator is getting after its release on You-tube, Dire-tube and Lucy has lifted his spirits. Yawiwe is currently on the top-50 list at the mentioned sights.
“It has been only two months since its release and on Dire-tube we were able to get more than 40,000 viewers. Some of the comments did actually took me by surprise,” says Temam. “One of the comments which made me feel overwhelmed reads, ‘you brought a revolution on animation of Ethiopia’ and that comment was too good-to-be-true,” smiles Temam.
Yawiwe’s 5-minute-and-57-second-long clip tells the story of a young boy who is deeply in love with a girl. Mesmerized by her movements the boy gets a kick in the head when he listens to the exciting sounds created from her typical Guraghe bracelet, kembua kertchia.
As the young boy is moved by the one he loves, the girl’s parents understand his feelings and decide to let him have her, and they respond saying, ‘Yawiwe’ (let’s give him).
Through the movement and the dances Mewded tells how the young Gurage girl’s distinctive feature caught his heart.
Rarely people find their true calling at early age and act on and often are seen wasting their talent.
Temam, a 35-year-old businessman, is one of those rare individuals who decided to make his long-lived dream a reality.
Temam loves drawing humorous sketches and started painting at a young age. A skinny young boy at school, the animator used to sketch his teachers on black boards using chalks. He also loved drawing cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse on his uniforms.
The sketches he used to do made him popular among his colleagues. His creative expressions landed him in trouble, but he did not shy away from expressing his talent.
Though the sketching continued in high school, Temam joined the family business afterwards.
Engaged in the family’s cosmetics business, his passion grew with in him and was manifested on sketches whenever he had a free time or edited the family photo and added after-effects. But the daily routines did not let him share his creativity with the world.
“I always felt like there was something in me I have to share because I love paintings, but there was an opening in the family business so I joined business,” says Temam.
According to Temam, he did not have time for fun. The only fun time had was when he sketched after work and it gave him a meaning to his life and deep down he knew it was his answer to his inner calling.
Even if he loved sketching, there were also times when he lost a meaning for his sketches; he was frustrated by the emptiness of the paintings. Not being able to share his work with others made Temam frustrated. One time he even burned all the paintings he collected over the years.
“You know there are times where you feel the paintings are doing nothing and I felt that the paintings are not doing anything in my life. So I decided to quit,” recalls Temam.
Despite the hiccups, quitting was not an option for him. He has struggled not to sketch but could not resist the urge to sketch again.
Temam has always tried to look at things differently and even in difficult situations he always finds the humor in people. Some of the animator’s characters include a bold man (Melataw), rappers, baletirunbaw (the man with the horn), shimaglew (the old man), and fitlefit (face-to-face).
Music is also an important part of his life and in the past years he has composed around 30 songs.
The inspiration for animation came around two years back when a screening of ‘Washaw’, a fully Ethiopian animation film, gave him an idea on how to shift his sketches into animation. His talks with the film maker of Washaw drove him to do something about his own sketches.
When Temam finally got into animation he started by depicting the culture knew more, Guraghigna dance. Fitting the dance steps of Guraghigna into the animation Temam put his dance movements on clips for mobile phones.
As he remembers his first animation was difficult. It took him a couple of months to do just a one-minute film. Through practice, however, he started shortening his delivey time.
Soon enough, Temam’s Guraghigna dances became popular and people were sharing the mobile phones clips. It was a matter of time before Temam’s talent was recognized and a friend, Ermias Ejigu, told Mewded Kibru, who was interested in animation, about his work.
As Temam explains, Mewded contributed a lot to this piece. “He was in every step of the way and use used more than 900 sketches. This resulted in the beautiful animation,” he adds.
“Mewded is a very determined person. He really wanted this work to be good and we did it,” Temam says.
Given the success of his first work, Temam is now thinking of making a shift in his career. He has many animation works lined up for him including a full-length animation film and educational materials for children.
Currently the animator is doing the popular children plays ‘Etemete’ and also the Ge’ez (Amharic) and English alphabets.
He strongly believes the animation revolution which is being witnessed in Addis is very promising despite the lack of technical expertise.
“It’s been two or three years since it was started and we shouldn’t compare it with films like Shrek or Madagascar. We should know we are at a very early,” says Temam.
As a self-learned filmmaker the animator learned the techniques of 2d animation and his next plan is to do a 3d animation. Temam has already started studying the CD tutorial for his next venture.
“We should give chances to people. I am sure there are hidden talents and animation is a simple way to tell your story. As you know it needs many people to cooperate, so we should lend a hand to each other,” concludes Temam.
Ethiopian short film wins UNICEF Prize at international contest in Japan
Documenting the challenges faced by Yemeserach, 14
By Naoko Iwasaki
TOKYO, Japan, 3 November 2010 – An Ethiopian TV series that featured a short film about a young woman who challenges harmful practices has won the UNICEF Prize at an international film contest in Japan. The Whiz Kids Workshop film, entitled ‘Involve Me – Yemeserach,’ highlights children’s work in addressing issues such as exploitation and early marriage.
The film’s subject, Yemeserach, 14, fled her village to escape a marriage arranged by her father. “In my village, by age 12 girls will be engaged and by 14 they will be married. Young girls who marry like that, they have children but themselves are children, so you see them looking very despondent,” she said.
Today, Yemeserach lives in a shelter for abused children in Addis Ababa. She hopes to finish her education and help others. “When I get money I want to build a big house and support people in difficult situations, especially children with fistula,” she says, referring to the physically and psychologically devastating condition that can result from girls giving birth at a young age.
Supporting marginalized children
The Japan Prize International Contest for Educational Media, where UNICEF recognized ‘Involve Me – Yemeserach,’ has been organized annually since 1965. It honours organizations producing outstanding work that helps viewers to understand the lives or circumstances of children in difficult situations.
© NHK 2010
UNICEF Tokyo Director Dr. Kunihiko Hirabayashi awards the UNICEF Prize to the co-founder of Whiz Kids Workshop, Bruktawit Tigabu, at the Japan Prize International Contest for Educational Media in Tokyo.
UNICEF Tokyo Director Dr. Kunihiko Chris Hirabayashi presented the UNICEF Prize at the contest in the presence of His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Naruhito and other distinguished guests.
“Marginalized children have a great potential to make positive changes in their society. We should support them and encourage their participation to build together a world fit for children with equity,” said Dr. Hirabayashi.
Youth self-expression
As it happens, the subject of the award-winning film – Yemeserach herself – received video production training in Ethiopia as part of the global One Minutes Junior project, which was initiated by the European Cultural Foundation, the One Minutes Foundation and UNICEF to encourage youth self-expression and participation.
Whiz Kids Workshop took an active role at the training, with financial support from Save the Children Denmark. The workshop is a non-governmental organization based in Ethiopia that believes mass media can be the most cost-effective and immediate way to make an impact on large educational gaps in the developing world.
This year, 14 juries from 11 countries and territories judged 409 entries in the Japan Prize contest, the highest number ever. The Grand Prix was awarded to Japan Broadcasting Corporation for its programme, ‘Cosmic Code Breakers: The Secrets of Prime Numbers.’
Ethiopia is on of the 65 nations compete for best foreign film at the Oscars
(Just like it took one Ethiopian soldier to conquer Rome, it will take the same soldier to win Oscar for Ethiopia)
Movies from 65 nations will compete for best foreign film at the Oscars, including entries from Ethiopia and Greenland, which are new to the race.
The rundown just issued by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be whittled down to a short list of nine titles after they are screened and scored by academy members, who are divided into four color-coded teams (white, green, blue and red) that each view 16 movies between Friday and Jan. 13. The teams will select at least six titles. An academy review committee has the authority to add up to three more movies to complete a short list of nine to be announced in January. Then the semi-finalists are viewed and scored one more time by select academy members who decide the five nominees to be unveiled on Jan. 25. Only academy members who attend screenings of all five nominees may vote for the winner to be announced on Feb. 27. For list of countries click here
The Movie: The Athlete (Atletu)
Abebe Bikila is on a journey, traversing the great nation of Ethiopia in his Volkswagen Beetle. He is THE ATHLETE – the heroic winner of two Olympic gold medals for marathon running (1960 in Rome and 1964 in Tokyo). Of strong character and superhuman endurance, Bikila spent his youth running on Ethiopia’s Abyssinian plateau, following Mussolini’s takeover. His 1960 victory in Rome was doubly sensational – not only was it the first gold medal won by an African athlete, but also he ran the marathon barefoot. After Ethiopians had suffered so much under the Italians, his triumph at the Coliseum caused jubilation. But now, in 1969, Bikila loses concentration and crashes his car. Tragically, the accident leaves him a paraplegic. Still, his perseverance never wanes and he soldiers on to compete internationally as an archer and a dog-sled musher. Abebe Bikila’s quiet dignity became a symbol of hope for a continent struggling for self-determination. The saying goes: "It took 500,000 Italian soldiers to occupy Ethiopia, but just one Ethiopian soldier to conquer Rome." (In English and Amharic with subtitles) – B.B.
Sole of Ethiopia Screens on Netherlands Film
By Binyam Tamene
Soles of Ethiopia, a documentary about shoes in Ethiopia, will be shown in Netherlands Film Festival (NFF), the organizers announced this week.
Since its premiere at the end of July, the debut movie of Dutch filmmaker Joost van er Wiel has repeatedly been praised for its refreshing view on Ethiopia and received several awards.
NFF, the leading annual Dutch film festival, will be held from September 22 to October 1, 2010, in Utrecht and, the organizers in a statement sent to Capital said NFF has scheduled the screening of Soles of Ethiopia for September 25 and 26.
What it tells
In a series of portraits Soles of Ethiopia tells personal stories behind shoes and Ethiopians who wear, shine, fix, collect or even worship them. It thereby offers a close look into the daily lives of people from various parts of Addis Ababa’s society.Soles of Ethiopia Director Van der Wiel proves that a daily life in Ethiopia is not solely determined by famine and poverty problems the country is still often associated with in the West.“Soles of Ethiopia is about personal success, sorrow, struggle and joy. Things that are part of everyone’s daily life,” the filmmaker says. “It shows that life in Addis Ababa is determined by individual choices.
”Why shoes?“
It’s simple, I noticed that they are more than just shoes to Ethiopians,” Van der Wiel answers straightforward. “I never saw a city with more shoe shiners than Addis Ababa. Shoes mean the world to these boys.”The filmmaker refers to a team of shoeshine boys that work in front of Peacock Café in the Bole sub city of Addis Ababa and are featured in his film. “These boys dream big and work hard for it,” he says. Despite showing some contrasting realities, Soles of Ethiopia never gets sentimental or judgmental. There is an ambitious athlete, for example, who dedicates his life to become a professional runner but has to skip a meal every once in a while to purchase new sports shoes.It’s a totally different world from that of the unmotivated student, who just calls his mother in the US whenever he wants to buy a new pair of sneakers. Van der Wiel recently graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy of Arts in Rotterdam. The Dutch film and arts academy declared the 26-year old filmmaker “Most Promising Academy Graduate of 2010”. The jury praised Van der Wiel’s professional attitude and his ability to shed a new light on a subject, Ethiopia that has been taken on before by various documentary makers. The documentary has also been complimented for its distinguishing and original music, produced by Mattijs de Regt and Jorge San Martin, owners of HapSlik Music. De Regt and San Martin will soon release the Soles of Ethiopia soundtrack. The album contains eight tracks that are inspired by Ethiopian music.Soles of Ethiopia, a documentary about shoes in Ethiopia, will be shown in Netherlands Film Festival (NFF), the organizers announced this week.
Depicting different world
Shading light on Ethiopia
by: Blueprint Staff Nov 27 2009
The 24th Israel Film Festival, the largest showcase of Israeli films in the United States will open on Saturday, December 5, 2009 and continue through December 13 at the SVA Theater (333 W. 23rd St.).
ZRUBAVEL (Israel / 2008 / New York Premiere), Dir: Shmuel Beru. Itzhak’s family emigrated from Ethiopia to Israel and now makes their home in a poor neighborhood, full of crime and drugs. Gita, Itzhak''s grandfather, successfully protects and unites the whole family, but a surprising chain of events undermines Gita''s control over his family. The conflict is ignited by the clash of generations, specifically between the Ethiopian customs cherished by Gita and his wife and the younger generation''s desire to assimilate with Israeli culture. Special Guest: Shmuel Beru.
Even after three decades, all that most Israelis know about this population of more than 110,000 is what they read in newspaper reports: problems of integration, juvenile delinquency, domestic violence - or, more rarely, one successful Ethiopian immigrant who becomes a doctor, a pilot or a famous singer or actor. But what do we really know about the Ethiopian Jews of Israel - their values, their traditions, their language, their music, their food, their dreams, their problems and how they deal with them, their feelings?
These are the questions that Beru, 33, who started as an actor, wanted to answer by getting behind the camera.
In Tel-Aviv's Kerem Hateimanim neighborhood, a two-minute walk from Rehov Zrubavel, where he lives, Beru agreed to talk to The Jerusalem Post about this original project.
The idea came to him two years ago, he says. "I thought that in my community, there were a lot of stories to tell that others are not exposed to. So I decided to make a movie to relate them, thinking that if I don't do it, nobody will do it for me."
Beru presents a picture, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, of a group of residents in an entirely Ethiopian neighborhood. All the generations are represented, from the patriarch of the Zrubavel family - a colonel in Ethiopia, now a street sweeper in Israel - to his eight-year-old, Israeli-born grandson Yitzhak - alias "Spike Lee" - whose dream is to make movies.
Through the eyes of the latter, Beru - who arrived from Ethiopia via Sudan one year before Operation Moses in 1984 - tells the story of Yitzhak's aunt, Almaz, the "most beautiful girl in the neighborhood." A talented singer, Almaz wants to marry a distant cousin, despite her father's injunction to respect the traditional rule of not marrying a relative within seven generations. Meanwhile, Almaz's brother Gili, pushed by his father, tries despite racism to enter a selective school to become an IAF pilot, as Yitzhak's parents fight over whether their son will enter a yeshiva or become a soccer player.
"My goal was to show that behind color and culture, there are human beings," says Beru. "I wanted to create an opportunity to see us [Israeli Ethiopians] in a different way than people are used to, to go further than what the news released about us, to make people realize that we are not different from others.
"'It doesn't matter where you come from, you are just a person' - this is the main point of my movie, and it is not only true for Ethiopians. Zrubavel tries to talk about integration in general, and its message can be applied to every other community."
Although he had never directed before, Beru was undeterred.
"My theory is, if you want to do it, just do it. I need a script? So I wrote a script. I need actors? So I found actors. I need money? Okay, I don't have money. I need to raise it. I presented my project to a few producers. I got only negative answers. So I invest my own money to direct a pilot. And I win the support of the Israel Film Fund and the Gesher Foundation. And I started."
Despite living in Israel for 25 years, Beru says he still feels "different."
"I still feel I am not judged just as a person, but regarding my origins, my color," he explains. "People like to divide other people into groups. I don't know why, maybe it's easier for them to say, 'You, you are from outside, you are a foreigner, you just came to visit.' And this is what is exposed in the movie. This neighborhood [in the film] is like a ghetto, not connected to the other groups of society, to the rest of the world, and it affects its residents."
One of the issues Beru addresses in the movie is the gap between the older and younger generations in the community.
"For the youth, it's hard because they feel half-half - on the one hand, they want to be like Israelis, and on the other, they want to be like Ethiopians. And it is difficult for them to find a good balance, to mix. Especially when they have to face the reaction of their parents, themselves in a struggle to deal with a new culture and lifestyle very different from their old one," he says.
Beru also shows "a typical Israeli family" trying to contribute to their country.
"The father is very Zionist. [He] wants his son, Gili, to defend his country, even though he already lost another son in the army. He wants him to be a pilot and to be recognized as a part of society," he says.
Beru admits that the character of Yitzhak, the young filmmaker, could be a reflection of himself, although he hadn't planned it that way.
"Yitzhak is just a naïve little boy who wants to do a movie, very simple, with his handmade camera," he explains, adding, "In this business, everyone wants to be Spike Lee and wants to be a voice for their own community."
Beru's next film project is a personal account of his own experiences coming to Israel.
"It will talk about my life, about my journey from Ethiopia to Israel via Sudan. I already have a script," he says. "Now I look for funds to start; it will be huge production."
(The Jerusalem Post)
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