Addis Ababa, March 6, 2010 (Addis Ababa) - A documentary film highlighting the life of President Girma Woldegiorgis was inaugurated here on Saturday.

Emuye Film Production produced the film.

Company General Manager, Enatalem Getachew said the film was produced in 17 months.

The manager said though Ethiopia is a land of many heroes and scholars their history is not transferred to generations in written or recorded form.

She said her company produced the film as it believes that youth will draw lessons from the president's life history

The name Nick Page might not be as well-known as Paul Simon, Damon Albarn or Ry Cooder. But the British music producer, who was best known as one of the main players in world fusion dance band Transglobal Underground from the early 90s, has a similar intrepid spirit when it comes to discovering music from around the world.

While Simon went to South Africa to record 1986's Graceland, and Albarn travelled to Mali, with Cooder making world-wide stars of the Cuban players of Buena Vista Social Club, Page went to Ethiopia.

He was drawn to Ethiopian music after listening to the Ethiopiques compilations in the late 90s and early 2000s, a music series released by Frenchman Francis Falceto.

"I got very excited because there was something fresh about it, yet it was old but felt slightly new, and it had a Middle Eastern flavour which has a lot to do with Yemen being across the water from Ethiopia. It was exciting because it wasn't what I had come to expect from Africa."

An exhibition entitled “Empty Rooms” is being shown at Alliance Ethio-Française through March 1.The exhibit organized jointly with the Goethe Institut comprises of more than 30 oil paintings by a Berlin-based Ethiopian artist Engedaget Legesse.

The works are predominantly abstract in character and have generated a good deal of interest in the artistic community for their fresh, radiant modern style. “Every painting is a new composition of the theme. This is not an expression of simplification but simplicity,” Engedaget says.

The artist strove to give form to ideas, thoughts, emotions, and dreams by turning it into brilliantly colored, abstract forms in undefined, empty spaces, suggesting but never fully defining the subject. The “Empty Rooms” do not provide the viewer with special thoughts, the artist said. “They give free space and every thought can be part of it. And even the fainted hint of thought changes the room, filling it with possibility, memories, and dimension,” he explains.

Named for the city of Jerusalem, Shani Mashasha dreamed of moving to Israel as a young girl.
Shani Mashasha's aliya story reads almost like Cinderella. The Ethiopian-Israeli actress and model came to Israel at seven with her father and stepmother steeped in romantic stories about Israel and "Yerushalem," the Amharic name for Jerusalem given to her as a baby.

Last week, 17 years after her arrival in Israel, Mashasha returned to Ethiopia as a beauty queen, speaking as "Miss Aliya" to Ethiopia's Jewish community. "It's not my first time visiting Ethiopia, but this visit really moves me," Mashasha said in a telephone interview in the days before her trip.

Crowned Miss Aliya several months ago in a televised beauty competition for Israeli immigrants, Mashasha is serving on the trip as an Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia - part of her prize for winning the Jewish Agency-sponsored pageant.

The trip is Mashasha's fourth to Ethiopia since she left the country for Israel as a little girl. "It's not a regular visit," she said. "It makes me feel really good to contribute my knowledge and explain to [Ethiopian Jews] how life is in Israel, what my experience was like, how you have to behave here.

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) announced the promotion of Ethiopia Habtemariam to Senior Vice President/Head of Urban Music. Habtemariam was previously Vice President of Urban Music.

Based in New York, Habtemariam is responsible for finding and developing songwriters, artists, and producers for the urban music department of Universal Music Publishing Group, and has signed some of music’s biggest superstars, including; multi-platinum recording artist and songwriter Chris Brown, breakthrough artist and songwriter Keri Hilson, gold recording artist and songwriter Ciara, BMI Songwriter of the Year and Producer of the Year Polow Da Don, Andre Merrit, Candice Nelson, Balewa Muhammad, Ezekiel Lewis (The Clutch), Rock City, and Brian Kennedy to name a few.

In addition to talent acquisition, Habtemariam works to create new opportunities for the company’s current roster of writers to exploit catalog, and serve as a liaison between the writers, record companies and the publishing group in order to place songs and writers on upcoming artist projects, soundtracks, and compilations.

MultiChoice Ethiopia and its parent company MultiChoice Africa celebrated the addition of 25 new channels, after the recent launch of a W7 Ku-Band Satellite. Now DStv subscribers in Ethiopia can get access to the 25 new channels in different packages at different prices.

The four introduced packages, also known as bouquets, which together could have 25 to 70 channels, are Access, Family, Compact, and Premium, and are available for 10, 20, 25, and 70 dollars a month, respectively. HILINA ALEMU, FORTUNE STAFF WRITER, had a brief discussion about the new features with Gelila Gebre-Michael, general manager of MultiChoice Ethiopia.

'Ethiopian Culture Night'

Explore Ethiopia through a night of art and culture at the Northwest African American Museum. Historian Alula Wasse will give a lecture about the relationship between Ethiopians and African Americans. Take a stroll through the new art exhibit "A New African American Experience" that will run through Oct. 3. 5-8 p.m. Saturday, 2300 S. Massachusetts St., Seattle; free (206-518-6000 or www.naamnw.org).

Also Saturday

Russian wedding and folk songs: Juliana and PAVA, a local vocal ensemble, will perform traditional polyphonic Russian folk and wedding songs at the Central Library Saturday. The ensemble, dressed in authentic costumes, will be accompanied by Russian instruments such as the kalyuka and balalaika. 2-3:30 p.m., 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle; free (206-386-4636 or www.spl.org).

Times sure have changed for '80s heartthrob Andrew McCarthy. While penning a piece for travel magazine AFAR, the actor was detained at gunpoint after entering an Ethiopian church without proper documentation.

According to PEOPLE, the actor, who found himself without his paperwork while visiting the historic Lalibela church in Ethiopia's Amhara Region, was confronted by an armed guard. "His gun [was] pointed at my back," McCarthy writes. "I thought his reaction to my offense was extreme; I tried to say as much. He grunted something in Amharic and prodded me with the tip of his rifle."

After being escorted from the church, McCarthy was helped to safety by residents of the town.

A New Video Clip that shows the real culture of the Zone...

HE ALWAYS greets people with a hug and is quickly moved to tears or booming laughter, so emotions are never far from the surface for the director Peter Sellars.

Those emotions overflowed when the thrones that are the centrepiece of his staging of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex and Symphony of Psalms arrived at the rehearsal space in Marrickville. Made by the Ethiopian artist Elias Simes, the intricately carved thrones are adorned with cow skulls, shells, gnarled wood and leather, buttons, nails and the horns of an ibex. Each is redolent with what Sellars calls secret, feminine images, ''what you would call here in Australia secret women's business''.

With Sellars in Marrickville were the performer Paula Arundell, who is of African-Irish descent, and the Bangarra dancer Elma Kris. Overwhelmed by these modern pieces that carried such ancient power, they decided to give them a spiritual welcome to Australia.

She may not be as well known as Prof Haile Gerima—the celebrated US-based Ethiopian filmmaker and scholar—due to her age and recent entry into the African audiovisual media sector but 25-year-old Yetnayet Bahru Gessesse’s creativity is pushing her onto the podium where she will join the stars of filmmaking and become one of them. OGOVA ONDEGO reports.

Though trained in computer science, her passion and determination for filmmaking appears to be stronger than her attraction to computers. At the age of 23, soon after graduating from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, she scripted, directed and produced ALDEWOLEM (He Didn’t Call Me), a US$13,000 romantic comedy on the games that young, single, city-dwelling African women and men play but find they cannot extricate themselves from what they began as innocuous practical jokes using the now common cell phone.

A ‘Juliet-and-Romeo’-like themed film set on St Valentine’s Day, the success of the 108-minute ALDEWOLEM exceeded the expectations of many. In fact, it is still showing in cinemas. It was one of the top blockbuster movies in Ethiopia for more than three months in 2008. The movie is said to have received rave reviews in the media for what is described as its unique contribution to Ethiopian cinema. It wound up with nominations in four categories—best director, best writer, best actress, best supporting actress—at the 4th Ethiopia International Film Festival in 2009.

Weh-weh, weh-weh, goes the azmari on his masenko. The Amharic word azmari comes from the word azemere, which means singing (for God). In fact the masenko was used in the time of St. Yared, the famous Ethiopian songwriter, for such purposes. But its history undoubtedly goes back much further than St. Yared of the Sixth Century.

Today the masenko is still used in public religious celebrations in some parts of the country. But azmaris may be encountered in a number of places from outdoor parks, to weddings, to peoples’ homes, to clubs, to concerts, to the traditional azmari bet (azmari house). For an authentic experience, without the distraction of other instruments, try the latter.

One of the most famous azmari bets is Fendika in Kazanchies, Addis Abeba, owned by famous dancer Melaku Belay. Here, one can experience the azmari and his merrymaking in the traditional style.

Traditional drinks such as tej (honey wine or mead) will go around the room for those who enjoy such things. Even if one does not consume any alcohol, they may just find themselves loosened up enough by the azmari’s relentless tune to get up and do a little iskista, the traditional Ethiopian shoulder shaking jig.

Teddy Yo, a young, vibrant rapper, has been making the local magazine headlines for sometime now. The rapper’s innovation in blending the Gurage melody and beat with a contemporary hip-hop beat has been appreciated by many. His trademark music, Guragetone (including a track by that name), was a hit three years ago, and he is now out with a new album. Very soon he will be releasing more singles and later a new project.

Teddy Yo (full name Tewodros Assefa) resides with Eden, his wife of two years. He sometimes wears inconspicuous clothes when he goes out that blend into society and a baseball cap down low over his eyes. He does this just so that he can get from Point A to Point B without having a dozen conversations along the way with fans and random people who recognise him. He is the epitome of an arada or an in-the-know Addis Abeban.

But after a one hour interview in a relaxed café, he became a whole lot more. During the interview, he talked about life, happiness and even history.

A new Ethiopian film that has spent four years in the making ‘Nege’ which means tomorrow, has started screening in Addis Ababa at Alem Cinema and Edna Mall. The film is written and directed by Alebachew Arage and produced by Sat Multimedia Training.

Postponed from its original plan the film has been delayed several times due to financial and other setbacks. “We started the film under the impression that we would not need more than 100,000 Birr to make it but it has cost us 430,000 Birr.”

The director told us this week that he has found the whole filmmaking a learning process having written 11 plays in the wollo region while serving in the church as a child.

Alebachew was never new to the story writing. Yet, to direct a feature film has been tasking for him. And he attributes the financial expenses due to the inexperience as well. “We have bought a costume and spent a lot of money on the production which we could have handled differently if we are to do it now. I think we can do it in half the cost if we can do it again.”

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - As Temesgen Afework decided to drop by his motherland after spending 12 of years abroad giving a unique opportunity for his fans in Addis Ababa to see the young artist in action once again. What better way could the young artist could have come up with as an entrance than to come out and have a play on the theatre stage? Currently preparing for his performance in the different cities of Ethiopia, Temesgen, has found the opportunity to act in Addis Ababa as a blessing; especially considering he does not do that on a full time basis any more.

“It is great to come back and act. The crowd was so nice and warm.” He told SSI Wednesday this week.

The theatre play that Temesgen acts in is entitled Diaspora and he states that even though the story is not his own, it is based on a true story. “We want to show the real picture of what is actually out there.” He explains the message. The theatre that is written by Temesgen’s long friend, Tewodros Legesse was staged in Addis Ababa a couple of times and has received a full house attendance. The crowd was sitting on the floor, for the house was full beyond its seating capacity at the Hager Fikir Theatre when it was staged on Tuesday this week for the second time. Diaspora’s actors coming for only a short while, has limited the staging time to only one month. In the one-month staging, Diaspora will be travelling to the different cities in Ethiopia.