Ethiopian Emperor’s documentary film provokes debate

By Yelibenwork Ayele

A 55-minute-long Amharic documentary film, Twilight Revelations, which retells the life and rule of Emperor Haile-Selassie, provoked a debate among viewers when it was shown Wednesday at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies of the Addis Ababa University. Twilight Revelations features old, black-and-white video footages of the life and activities of the Emperor and the story is told in the words of generals, ministers and court officials like Bulcha Demeksa, Fitawrari Amede Lema, Captain Alemayew Abebe and family members who outlived him.

Yemane Demissie, the producer, said his aim was to present the Emperor’s life based on what his contemporaries, who witnessed the Emperor’s life and participated in his government, had reminisced. “I did not want people who read books about the Emperor but those who personally knew him and were part of his administration. And I believe we should not wait for a foreigner to teach us our own history,” he said.

An old man, a participant at the discussion following the screening of the film, said that it made the Emperor an angel of heaven who could do no wrong and was perfectly guiltless. That was the same error the people of the Emperor’s day had fallen in to for they diligently worked at painting a saintly picture of the king and concealing the evils he did. “That was the cause of his own downfall and of the whole country.”

Surafel, a radio host, joined the old man saying that the film was biased, for example, in saying that the Emperor was betrayed by the people he educated. It does not give any account of the reasons for the student rebellion. “This film is designed to make us sympathize with the Emperor. Ethiopian history in the days of Haile-Selssie was much more complex than the documentary presented it.”

A younger woman, however, said she felt differently about the documentary. At school she had learned about Haile-Selassie only as an evil king. His good works had been obscured in her education and the documentary she just saw was indeed a revelation of what she had not known about the emperor. She suggested that copies of the documentary film be multiplied and distributed to schools.

Another young man among the audience directed his criticism at people, especially the elderly and the intellectuals, who criticized the film. “You intellectuals saw what wrongs the Emperor was doing but you dared not speak against him. It’s too late for you to criticize him or even what you just saw in this film now. Those who did speak up are not alive today.”

The audience was divided between those who praised the film for bringing out an aspect of the Emperor’s life that has mostly been suppressed and those who thought it lacked balance.

According to Yemane Demissie, the producer, the documentary on Emperor Haile-Selssie was made for and broadcast on M-Net’s TV program on great African leaders.

Yemane Demissie is a graduate of University of California Los Angeles. Currently he lives in the United States teaching TV production and filmmaking in New York.

EthiopianReporter