In this film festival from March 26-April 4 around 50 films, which reflects on the human condition and the earth will be screened.

On the opening day Friday, March 26’ Mona’ and ‘Bury the spear’ directed by Alula Pankhrust and Ivo Strecker will be screened, it questions the inevitability of war and how peace can be created by depicting the 1993 peace making efforts of the Abore, Borana, Konso, Tsmai, Hamar and Dasanach to end decades of ethnic war in the southern Ethiopian Rift Valley.

As the organizers explained the venue is a place for Filmmakers especially African filmmakers who didn’t’t get a chance to screen their films and to show issues that are forgotten. This year around 200 films excluding the local films were submitted to the festival where the organizers selected 50 films as Rahwa Kiros coordinator of the film festival explains: “it’s been a challenge to choose from one another as all the films are really good”.

“We consider the theme what could reflect the planet earth. For example a woman who gets her food and feed her children from garbage but is determined to teach her children thinking about their future so you can see her reflection towards education. Our films are top we had to go through all the films it’s because we had to choose that we chose these films”, states Rahwa Kiros

All the films are documentary films which cover different issues like flowers of Rwanda a film which takes us to the horrific genocide which happened 14 years ago which took away the lives of more than 800,000 people and the impact on the lives of the Rwandan people. The film creates a discourse between policy makers, educators and survivors around the concepts of forgiveness, justice, reconciliation and the potential likelihood of a re-occurrence of 1994’s a atrocities. what is the current situation of the people of Rwanda? what feelings prevail in the hearts of the victims of the Rwanda Genocide?

In this film festival two of the films are academy award nominee films like ‘Burma VJ’ and ‘which way home’,

Some of the films include ‘Proto Mitan: Haitian Women, pillars of the global economy‘, the film tells the compelling lives of courageous Haitian women workers, Poto Mitan gives the global economy a human face. Each woman’s personal story explains neo liberal globalization, how it is gendered, and how it impacts Haiti. And while poto Mitan offers in-depth understanding of Haiti, its focus on women’s subjugation, worker exploitation, poverty, and resistance makes it clear these are global struggles.

‘End of poverty: ‘the film shows how poverty is not an accident. This shocking documentary goes back to 1492, when the modern age as we know it began and the ’explorers’ started foraying for gold and other natural resources. Nobel prize winners, economists, analysts and historians shows that from then on our entire economic system has been based on poor people, who are forced to give up their land and natural resources or are the victims of dishonest practices.

‘Still human still here: destitution of the refused asylum seekers,’ it depicts the predicament of refused UK asylum seekers who are denied of support or the right to work, even if they are evidently unable to return to their country. Many are living from hand to mouth with all avenues to a normal life blocked. They may suffer abject poverty while relying on others to survive, sometimes going hungry and sleeping in the streets. Some even seem to have lost the will to live. The ‘still human still here’ campaign calls on the UK government to end the use of destitution as a policy tool against rejected asylum-seekers.

‘Letters to the president’, is an observational film about president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s regime in Iran. Allowed to travel on several of the president’s populist tips to the countryside. During his trips, the president receives many letters- the government claims ten million from poor Iranians asking for help.

These are some of the films, which will be screened at this film festival; all the films are documentary films with the exception of one local film ‘gareta’. all the local one-minute documentary films will compete with each other in the presence of international filmmakers’ jury.

“its not only a competition for the filmmakers but it also gives them exposures to meet these filmmakers to take their carreer one step ahead”, explains Rahwa

Some of the juries include Petr Lom (director of Letters to the president), Firuzeh Khosrovani (Rough cut), Alessandro Molatore (Children of Manila).

Training and different workshops were also given by the Ethiopian filmmakers association at the Pushkin centre for young filmmakers.

The Addis international film festival has become one of the sensational events in Addis where it started attracting thousands of movie lovers and the venue being Sebastopol cinema which has a capacity of 370 people created a bit hustle last year and now this year even if it is all for free they have controlling mechanism where they prepared different entrance tickets for the morning and the afternoon sessions.

NewsDire Contributor
Tibebeselassie Tigabu