Discoveries from Ethiopia World Cinema

By Comedian Yasin Redu

Standup Comedy

After a shocking discovery by a scientist about the health benefits of eating a Zombie’s brain, everything changed. The world was never the same. Humans started hunting Zombies by any means necessary and destroyed the world in the process. The film follows a Zombie, Abu, who is hunted by a human for his brain.

New Comedy Theater

Classical Gener Theater

A film by Moges Asrat

Alabedkum is about an architect named Samson who is misunderstood by society.

A film by Awol Endiris (Zeyin)

Two best friends as they find love in the most unexpected place, with each other.

Ye Fiker Katena Comedy Theater

A Film By Daniel Beyene: Based On True Story

Theater at Hager Fikir Theater

Rohnan Master Class

Film on the rock hewn churches of Lalibela

The first part of the film focuses on life in the homestead of Baldambe, a Hamar elder, who comments on the intricacies of herding goats, the division of labour and the moral obligations obtaining between the members of his family. The second part deals with sacrifice and the ancient art of reading the entrails which are used in Hamar to cope with the physical and social threats of illness.

A shepherd sings some traditional songs of the Hamers, a nomadic ethnic group of southern Ethiopia.

The Surmas live in the Kibish River Valley, in southern Ethiopia, where modern man was born 195,000 years ago. They hold up the mirror to us of a past in which we can recognize ourselves, despite the geographical and cultural distance. This semi-nomadic people who depend on livestock is not well known. Traditional donga fighting, a duel with sticks, earned them a reputation for brutality which keeps outsiders at a distance. In fact, the donga is a martial art that celebrates values necessary for survival in a region torn by tribal warfare. This nation of 28,000 souls possesses nothing other than its livestock. Its impoverished condition is an art of extreme living that commands respect.

Fire does not choose Race.

Bilatena tells us the story of Abi, a young boy who is representative of million of children in Africa who do not attend school and work to sustain their families. Childhood Destroyed from Chad tells a similar story from a girl's perspective. Bilatena also introduces us to the problems of the Ethiopian health system. Abi, a dynamic and resourceful twelve year old boy, lives with his mother Degua and his 26 year old university graduate unemployed brother Zelalem (Zele). Abi, who is a a hyper-industrious hard working 12-year-old boy with two jobs, supports his poor mother and his older unemployed brother through their day to day lives. But when their mother dies of Hepatitis B and Abi is also infected with the virus, Zele must face the big challenge of supporting his own life and keeping his younger brother alive by earning the 20,000 Ethiopian birr per month needed for his brother's medication.

Membre, a university graduate, is enjoying a lavish party hosted by her boyfriend when a near accident shakes her so deeply that she suddenly can’t walk. The film then reveals more about her life and the secrets surrounding her future in a relationship.

On the verge of divorce, Basha and Senayet living in the same compound and separated by a fence engage in endless verbal warfare with the help of their trusted tenants. Will love survive pride or will finally end in divorce.

Entertainment at Adot

Kassahun is trying to win Hermela's affection in an unorthodox way by terrorizing her and her family. The movie is based on a true tragic story.

A film by Yayeshwerk Endalemaw

A peek at thousands of years of traditional shepherd culture among some indigenous people in Ethiopia, where in order to get married, young men must jump over 28 oxen and available brides are beaten on their backs with dry whips as a symbolic act of thanking the shepherd for protecting and feeding them in the future.

Nebsey, meaning ‘my body’ in Tigrigna, is a short-animated film revealing the story of women who faced sexual and gender based violence during the war in Tigray.

A film by Awol Endiris (Zeyin)

Ye Fiker Katena Comedy Theater

A Film By Daniel Getachew

About the Gondar Castle, locally known as the castle of Emperor Fassil

A shepherd sings some traditional songs of the Hamers, a nomadic ethnic group of southern Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia’s labyrinthine capital, a recluse sits translating Greek and Roman myths on an ancient laptop as cosmic chaos presses in on him. A true bibliophile’s gem of a film.

A man who's name invokes fear and terror throughout his whole village because of the ruthless way he deals with his enemies sets his sights on an unassuming man he suspects is having an affair with his lover. The unassuming man's family and friend's lives are now under threat as he must now go on the run to save his life. The pressure of being on the run while at the same time keeping his wife from suspecting his infedelity would prove to be full of challenges and adventures.

On the eve of the Second World War about one hundred fifty Italians aircrafts bombarded the northern part of Ethiopia with poisonous gas. On March the 6th 1936 the town of Ashenge was shocked by an atrocious mass murder which changed the life of Kassa forever. During the Italian occupation, the Ethiopian patriots fought to restore people’s freedom but few Ethiopians collaborated with the enemy, creating seemingly insurmountable challenges to the freedom fight. To overcome these years of agony, Serke must deal face-to-face with the man responsible for heinous killing of both her parents.

Poverty is preferable with love than having wealth with quarrel

A Film By Kirubel Seyoum

When a talented blind singer comes across new obstacle and finds out how to deal with it

No matter how comfortable this world looks, it is not our final destination.

Mihret is a young girl searching for answers about her past as she tries to understand her true identity.

A Film By Tsega Kahisay

Haletu is a fictional film created for testing and demonstration purposes. It follows a simulated storyline designed to help developers, designers, and testers evaluate movie data structures, metadata display, and API integration.

A film by Tewodros Alemayehu

New Standup Comedy Show

A social parable without words about how different people earn money. The heroine who sells her crops on the street, all day long watches sadly as passers-by actively give something to a beggar, but don’t buy anything from her. encouraging beggars, discourages workers.

Rohnan Master Class

A family drama

Film on the rock hewn churches of Lalibela

Film on the reconstruction of the country during the Derg administration

human....land....country

Esset resembles a banana tree. Because of the resemblance, it is so called false banana. It has ever green long leaves, a big stem and edible bulb like root. As compared to other plants, Esset is not grown for its fruit. The whole plant, the stem or trunk and the root, is used as food after careful preparation. Growing this plant is a tiresome venture. From birth to harvest it takes long years. Meanwhile, since it doesn’t require a large area of land it remained the major means of livelihood to the Gurage people. Esset serves as vehicle for the social organization of the people. Acquisition of wealth, rank, and gender roles are associated with the plant. For example, the wealth of a family is exhibited by number and the quality of Esset they own. In addition, it also serves as a milestone in the description of the Gurage identity.

Dancing Grass captures the communal harvesting of teff among Tigreans of Northern Ethiopia. Teff, an ancient indigenous grain, is central to the livelihood of smallholder farmers and may be called the 'cereal core' of Ethiopian national food identity. A local elder provides the commentary for the sequence of events that unfold in the homestead, fields and neighbourhood of the author's eldest brother and family: the cutting of the 'dancing grass'; the drying and stacking; the threshing and winnowing; then the sale of teff in the local market; off with a donkey to the mill; cooking enjera for family and guests; coffee drinking and blessing; and finally the Mesqel fire, an Orthodox Christian celebration at the end of the rainy season.

Two farmers win the lottery and come to the capital Addis Ababa from their rural home only to come across unforeseen obstacles in an unfamiliar and at times inhospitable urban environment.