Posts filed under ‘FILM’
5 Best Ethiopian Drama Films
These 5 best Ethiopian drama films come up as a flower that struggles to blossom under concrete. The film industry in Ethiopia is seriously underfunded, unequipped and rarely trained. However, the driving need to create art, to question and examine tough issues still shines through in the Ethiopian film industry. Ethiopia has still managed to put out award winning films by visionary directors as you will see with these five best Ethiopian drama films.
- “Teza” is one of the best Ethiopian drama films directed by Haile Gerima. The film takes place in the 1970′s while Ethiopia is under a Marxist regime. A young post graduate is returning from W. Germany. He stumbles across a murder, and ends up the enemy of some revolutionaries. He eventually manages an escape back to W. Germany where he spends the rest of his life until the fall of Communism. It was an award winner at the PanAfrican Film and Television Festival.
- “The Father” has won awards throughout Africa by showing the “Red Terror” that took place in Ethiopia more than 30 years ago. It is directed by Ermias Woldeamlack, and it deals with the horror of a time that most Ethiopians have not addressed.
- “Tumult” was entirely funded by grants from the American Film Institute and The National Endowment for the Arts. It takes place in the 1960′s, and follows a failed coup d’etat against Emperor Haile Selassie. Yoseph is the main character, and is going to try to bring Western style government to Ethiopia by overthrowing Selassie.
- “Blood is not Fresh Water” is directed by Theo Eshetu. It is told from the perspective of the director’s grandfather, a noted historian. It examines Ethiopia’s origins while the story timeline travels backwards. It goes from present day Ethiopia, to its colonial times, and even further to “Lucy”.
- “Dead Weight” deals with the diaspora of the “Red Terror” after Emperor Selassie was deposed. It’s directed by Yemane Demissie. It covers the aspect of these times from the viewpoint of the Ethiopian diaspora. The ones who fled, mostly to America, to escape the horrors. What is interesting is the way these characters are still confronted with their past. Several characters run into their previous jailors and torturers now living in the U.S.
Teza (Morning Dew)-Ethiopian Film Director Haile Gerima
Director: Haile Gerima
Minneapolis Exclusive Engagement
Teza is set in Germany and Ethiopia, and examines the displacement of African intellectuals, both at home and abroad, through the story of a young, idealistic Ethiopian doctor – Anberber. The film chronicles Anberber’s internal struggle to stay true, both to himself and to his homeland, but above all, Teza explores the possession of memory – a right humanity mandates that each of us have – the right to own our pasts.
After studying medicine abroad in Germany for several years, Anberber returns home to Ethiopia only to find his beloved Ethiopia, and soon the quiet of his dreams, stifled and disarrayed by the country’s political turmoil.
Seeking escape from the center of violence, Anberber turns to the solace of his countryside childhood home, but quickly realizes that there is no shelter there. The competing forces of the military and opposition factions usurp the comfort he thought the memories of his youth would invoke. Anberber must determine if he can bear the strain of his reality and piece together a life from the fragments of a complete existence that lie around him.
Teza documents Anberber’s recognition of his own displacement and powerlessness in the face of the dissolution of Ethiopian humanity and social values.
Click Here to watch TEZA trailer
ETHIOPIA, GERMANY, FRANCE · 2008 · 140 MIN · IN AMHARIC, ENGLISH & GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
TEZA Playing at St. Anthony Main Screen #3 – Fri. July 16 thru Thu. July 29 @ 4:15, 7:00 with Fri. thru Sun.
Purchase your tickets online or at the box office.
Ticket Prices:
Matinees before 5:00pm $5.50
General Admission: $8.50
Student/Senior: $6.00
MFA Members: $5.00
Here is a link to Saint Anthony Main Theater:
