Discoveries from Ethiopia World Cinema

Three hours outside of Addis Ababa, a bright 14-year-old girl is on her way home from school when men on horses swoop in and kidnap her. The brave Hirut grabs a rifle and tries to escape, but ends up shooting her would-be husband. In her village the practice of abduction into marriage is common and one of Ethiopia’s oldest traditions. Meaza Ashenafi, an empowered and tenacious young lawyer, arrives from the city to represent Hirut and argue that she acted in self defense. Meaza boldly embarks on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding by customary law, risking the ongoing work of her women’s legal aid practice to save Hirut’s life.

A sugar daddy goes around town spending his retirment and rent money on young girls. Things take a big turn when one of the girl demands him to marry her while he is still married with his first wife.

A film by Samuel Teshager

A Film by Zekarias Wondifraw

When a massive Chinese factory complex attempts a high-stakes expansion in rural Ethiopia, three women in search of prosperity have their faith in industrialization tested to the limit. Filmed over four years with singular access, Made in Ethiopia lifts the curtain on China’s historic but misunderstood impact on Africa, and explores contemporary Ethiopia at a moment of profound crisis. The film was awarded the Jury Special Mention at Tribeca Festival.

A Film By Biniyam Sinkneh

A film By Zerihun Deneke

Love, Sacrifice, Wisdom, & Marriage humorously shown in Ethiopia's cultural society.

A film by Esayas Abebe

For over 35 years Yussuf Mume Saleh journeys at night to the outskirts of the walled city of Harar to bond with his beloved hyenas.

A spiritual journey into the highlands of Harar, immersed in the rituals of khat, a leaf Sufi Muslims chewed for centuries for religious meditations – and Ethiopia’s most lucrative cash crop today. A tapestry of intimate stories offers a window into the dreams of youth under a repressive regime.

A Film By Awel Endris

A film by Mulualem Getachew

New Comedy theater

In the quiet villa, a girl cares for her ailing father, a man confronting the weight of his past as his body fails him. As their days blur between duty, resentment, and fleeting tenderness, Albatross unravels a delicate battle between a daughter’s sacrifice and a father’s regrets, asking when is it time to let go?

A film by Henok Dinku

A Film by Awel Endris

A film By Behailu Engida

A Film by Kirubel Seyoum

A Film by Awel Endris

New theater

Afilm by Yeabsira Docho

A film By Zerihun Deneke

Nigus Armah New Theater

The Ethiopian intellectual Anberber returns to his native country during the repressive totalitarian regime of Haile Mariam Mengistu and the recognition of his own displacement and powerlessness at the dissolution of his people's humanity and social values. After several years spent studying medicine in Germany, he finds the country of his youth replaced by turmoil. His dream of using his craft to improve the health of Ethiopians is squashed by a military junta that uses scientists for its own political ends. Seeking the comfort of his countryside home, Anberber finds no refuge from violence. The solace that the memories of his youth provide is quickly replaced by the competing forces of military and rebelling factions. Anberber needs to decide whether he wants to bear the strain or piece together a life from the fragments that lie around him.

Helen Tadesse’s debut feature follows a group of siblings in Addis Ababa as they navigate daily survival they had never seen coming following the death of their wealthy parents.

A Film By Henok Dinku

Tilefegn (ጥለፈኝ) is an emotional Ethiopian romantic drama that tackles the weight of traditional bride kidnapping (telefa) through a modern cinematic lens. Starring the captivating Selam Tesfaye as a rich high schooler falling in love with her driver's best friend. The film follows a young couple navigating intense parental disapproval, social boundaries, and the painful clash between personal freedom and deep-rooted family expectations.

A film by Samuel Teshager

A film by Mintesinot Legesse

Thriller Theater

A Film by Yonatan Worku

A film by Redi Dereka

Set in the Sidist Kilo campus of Addis Ababa University, Kezkaza Welafen directly addresses the social tensions of everyday life for Ethiopian university students with the dangers of HIV/AIDS as its central theme. It follows the story of the female protagonist Selam, a promising university student and advocate for the prevention of HIV/AIDS who secretly believes she too is living with the disease.

A film by Kirubel Seyum

In the quiet villa, a girl cares for her ailing father, a man confronting the weight of his past as his body fails him. As their days blur between duty, resentment, and fleeting tenderness, Albatross unravels a delicate battle between a daughter’s sacrifice and a father’s regrets, asking when is it time to let go?

Ethiopia's first feature-length film was directed, written and produced by the local businessman Ilala Ibsa. It is about a woman that succumbs to prostitution. It was not popular with audiences and did not make its money back.

An examination of bodies, movement and the stillness of landscape brought to you by the entrancing Circus Debre Berhan.

A Film By Yosef Cheru

A lawyer picks up a mysterious hitchhiker and gets pulled into a murder case that slowly turns against him. As the truth unfolds, he becomes more suspect than investigator in a dark psychological game of deception and suspicion.

A Film by Yonatan Worku

The Ethiopian intellectual Anberber returns to his native country during the repressive totalitarian regime of Haile Mariam Mengistu and the recognition of his own displacement and powerlessness at the dissolution of his people's humanity and social values. After several years spent studying medicine in Germany, he finds the country of his youth replaced by turmoil. His dream of using his craft to improve the health of Ethiopians is squashed by a military junta that uses scientists for its own political ends. Seeking the comfort of his countryside home, Anberber finds no refuge from violence. The solace that the memories of his youth provide is quickly replaced by the competing forces of military and rebelling factions. Anberber needs to decide whether he wants to bear the strain or piece together a life from the fragments that lie around him.

A film by Redi Dereka

A film by Kirubel Seyum

The plot of the Ethiopian film Semayawi Feres (Blue Horse) centers on a man's ambitious quest to harness the potential of the Blue Nile (Abay River) and the complex political controversies surrounding it.

Set in the Sidist Kilo campus of Addis Ababa University, Kezkaza Welafen directly addresses the social tensions of everyday life for Ethiopian university students with the dangers of HIV/AIDS as its central theme. It follows the story of the female protagonist Selam, a promising university student and advocate for the prevention of HIV/AIDS who secretly believes she too is living with the disease.

Tilefegn (ጥለፈኝ) is an emotional Ethiopian romantic drama that tackles the weight of traditional bride kidnapping (telefa) through a modern cinematic lens. Starring the captivating Selam Tesfaye as a rich high schooler falling in love with her driver's best friend. The film follows a young couple navigating intense parental disapproval, social boundaries, and the painful clash between personal freedom and deep-rooted family expectations.

14 year old Jewish Mina, is trying to navigate between a surreal routine dictated by the civil war in Ethiopia and her last days of youth with her Christian boyfriend Eli. When she discovers that her family is planning to immigrate to Israel and escape the war, she weaves an alternate plan in order to save Eli. But in times of war, plans tend to go wrong. Marsha's coming of age film debut film is based on her childhood memories of a civil-war-torn Ethiopia.

A sequel to the most successful Ethiopian film of all-time, Theodros Teshome's Kezkaza Welafen (2003). Starring Teshome himself as Ali, a cop trying to catch a serial rapist-killer, whilst in a long-term relationship with Joanna (Martha Adugna). Like the first movie, Fiker Siferd deals with a kind of horrifying, anxiety-ridding issue facing modern Ethiopians: violence against women.

A movie by Mezmure Dawit

A Film By Samuel Teshager /Ye Emaye Lij/

"The River" is a film that pays homage to culture and the experiences of women through the lens of Ethiopia and draws inspiration from the director’s childhood home, Kebena. The film not only celebrates the art of beauty, but will also highlight the systemic barriers women face in the context of forced marriage, education and water access.

From the music of Peruvian composer Pauchi Sasaki, Mexican-Ethiopian filmmaker Jessica Beshir crafts a story of a spectral mother’s disembodied voice suffusing the atmosphere with tenderness, but never quite reaching the shore of her drifting daughter. This short film is part of the 2x25 Project of Film Fest Gent and the World Soundtrack Awards. The project commissioned 25 composers to compose a short piece of music, after which 25 filmmakers made short films that are the ultimate symbioses of music and cinematography, fitting completely within the DNA of the festival. The result: 25 exceptional films where the music inspired the form, narrative and texture.

35 Cows and a Kalashnikov is a joyously made triptych about warrior-farmers, colorful dandies and voodoo wrestlers in Ethiopia, Brazzaville and Kinshasa. It paints a loving and attentive portrait of African pride and beauty.

Ethiopian comedy film

New comedy theater

A Film By Yidnekachew Tesfaye