Popular Ethiopian Cinema: Love and Other Genres 9781350227408, 9781350227439, 9781350227422

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Popular Ethiopian Cinema

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Series Editors: Lúcia Nagib, Professor of Film at the University of Reading Julian Ross, Research Fellow at Leiden University Advisory Board: Laura Mulvey (UK), Robert Stam (USA), Ismail Xavier (Brazil), Dudley Andrew (USA) The World Cinema series aims to reveal and celebrate the richness and complexity of film art across the globe, exploring a wide variety of cinemas set within their own cultures and as they interconnect in a global context. The books in the series will represent innovative scholarship, in tune with the multicultural character of contemporary audiences. Drawing upon an international authorship, they will challenge outdated conceptions of world cinema and provide new ways of understanding a field at the centre of film studies in an era of transnational networks. Published and forthcoming in the World Cinema series: Allegory in Iranian Cinema: The Aesthetics of Poetry and Resistance Michelle Langford Animation in the Middle East: Practice and Aesthetics from Baghdad to Casablanca Stefanie Van de Peer Basque Cinema: A Cultural and Political History, Rob Stone and Maria Pilar Rodriguez Brazil on Screen: Cinema Novo, New Cinema, Utopia Lúcia Nagib Brazilian Cinema and the Aesthetic of Ruins Guilherme Carréra

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Cinema in the Arab World: New Histories, New Approaches Edited By Philippe Meers, Daniel Biltereyst and Ifdal Elsaket Contemporary New Zealand Cinema Edited by Ian Conrich and Stuart Murray Cosmopolitan Cinema: Cross-cultural Encounters in East Asian Film Felicia Chan Documentary Cinema of Chile: Confronting History, Memory, Trauma Antonio Traverso East Asian Cinemas: Exploring Transnational Connections on Film Edited by Leon Hunt and Leung Wing-Fai East Asian Film Noir: Transnational Encounters and Intercultural Dialogue Edited by Chi-Yun Shin and Mark Gallagher Eastern Approaches to Western Film: Asian Reception and Aesthetics in Cinema Stephen Teo Impure Cinema: Intermedial and Intercultural Approaches to Film Edited by Lúcia Nagib and Anne Jerslev Latin American Women Filmmakers: Production, Politics, Poetics Edited by Deborah Martin and Deborah Shaw Lebanese Cinema: Imagining the Civil War and Beyond Lina Khatib New Argentine Cinema Jens Andermann New Directions in German Cinema Edited by Paul Cooke and Chris Homewood New Turkish Cinema: Belonging, Identity and Memory Asuman Suner On Cinema Glauber Rocha, edited by Ismail Xavier Pablo Trapero and the Politics of Violence Douglas Mulliken Palestinian Filmmaking in Israel: Narratives of Place and Identity Yael Friedman Performing Authorship: Self-inscription and Corporeality in the Cinema Cecilia Sayad Popular Ethiopian Cinema: Love and Other Genres Michael W. Thomas Portugal’s Global Cinema: Industry, History and Culture Edited by Mariana Liz iii

Queer Masculinities in Latin American Cinema: Male Bodies and Narrative Representations Gustavo Subero Realism in Greek Cinema: From the Post-War Period to the Present Vrasidas Karalis Realism of the Senses in World Cinema: The Experience of Physical Reality Tiago de Luca Stars in World Cinema: Screen Icons and Star Systems Across Cultures Edited by Andrea Bandhauer and Michelle Royer The Cinema of Jia Zhangke: Realism and Memory in Chinese Film, Cecília Mello The Cinema of Sri Lanka: South Asian Film in Texts and Contexts Ian Conrich The New Generation in Chinese Animation Shaopeng Chen The Spanish Fantastic: Contemporary Filmmaking in Horror, Fantasy and Sci-fi Shelagh-Rowan Legg Theorizing World Cinema Edited by Lúcia Nagib, Chris Perriam and Rajinder Dudrah Queries, ideas and submissions to: Series Editor: Professor Lúcia Nagib— [email protected] Series Editor: Dr. Julian Ross— [email protected] Publisher at Bloomsbury, Rebecca Barden— [email protected]

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Popular Ethiopian Cinema Love and Other Genres Michael W. Thomas

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BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA 29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2023 Copyright © Michael W. Thomas, 2023 Michael W. Thomas has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on pp. xv–xvii constitute an extension of this copyright page. Cover design: Ben Anslow Cover image: Adriano Marzi All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: HB: ePDF: eBook:

978-1-3502-2740-8 978-1-3502-2742-2 978-1-3502-2741-5

Series: World Cinema Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters.

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For Lideya

ልብ ያሰበውን አፍ ይናገራል ፥ ዓይን ያየውን እጅ ይሠራዋል ።

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Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements Note Introduction: Courtship and the curiosity of cinema in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Part 1 The history 1

Film exhibition in Ethiopia – A long history

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A history of film production in Ethiopia

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Part 2 The films 3

The የፍቅር ፊልም – yefiker film (love film)

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The rise of the አስቂኝ የፍቅር ፊልም – assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film)

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Violence and order in the ልብ አንጠልጣይ ፊልም – lib anteltay film (suspense film)

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The absence of romance and the የቤተሰብ ፊልም – yebeteseb film (family film)

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Part 3 The industry 7

Promoting Amharic film genres

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Producing Amharic film genres

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Perceiving Amharic film genres

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Contents

Conclusion: Of fiker and film

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Notes References Filmography Index

225 232 247 257

Figures 0.1 A poster for Yanchiw Léba. Source: author’s collection

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0.2 An example of Alem Cinema’s film listing with the genre circled below the film title. Source: author’s collection

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0.3 Ethiopian flags outside the Ambassador Theatre for the closing day of an Ethiopian film week in April 2021. Source: photo by author

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1.1 Addis Ababa, Grand Hotel, Georges Gleyze owner. Source: reproduced by kind permission of Collection Serge Dewel

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1.2 The Cinema Empire, Addis Ababa on 28 July 1935. Source and copyright: TopFoto. Photo ID: 0437112

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1.3 The 1937 grand opening of the Supercinema Teatro Italia, Addis Ababa. Source: public domain https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/ File:Cinema_Italia_ad_Addis_Abeba.jpg. Photo by Jose Antonio

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1.4 The Ambassador in the late 1960s. Source and copyright: photo by Ron Hains

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1.5 The Sebastopol Cinema, 2006. Source: screenshot from ‘Film Industry in Ethiopia enjoying a Boom’ https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=z15KGpoQTKA . © AP

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1.6 The Cinema Ethiopia, 2021. Source: photo by author

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2.1 A queue outside the Alem Cinema, 2017. Source: screenshot from ‘አፄ ማንዴላ ፊልም – Ethiopian Film ATSE MANDELA Trailer HD’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61gXHCZzY5w

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2.2 Hirut abatwa mannew? poster outside the Ambassador Theatre, 2021. Source: photo by author

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List of Figures

2.3 Old Hirut abatwa mannew? poster with still from the film. Source: screenshot from Tizitachen BeEBS . Season 1, Ep. 9, ‘Cinema Ethiopia’. © EBS

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2.4 Screenshot of Debebe Eshetu as Menelik II in Una stagione all’inferno. Source: screenshot from ‘Una stagione all’inferno’ directed by Nelo Risi, 1971. Difnei Cinematografica and Ancinex. All rights reserved

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2.5 A poster for Gouma (Gumma) on display in the foyer of the Ambassador Theatre. Source: photo by author

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2.6 Old Ethiopian Film Corporation sign on top of the Ambassador Theatre, 2021. Source: photo by author

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2.7 A poster for Behiywet Zuriya in the foyer of the Ambassador Theatre. Source: photo by author.

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2.8 A poster for Aster in the foyer of the Ambassador Theatre, 2021. Source: photo by author

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3.1 Haile Gebreselassie and Tewodros Teshome in discussion at the Alem Cinema for the documentary Cinema Addis Ababa. Source: photo by author

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3.2 A poster for Kezkaza Welafen outside the Ambassador Theatre, 2021. Source: photo by author

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3.3 A profile shot of Meron (Meseret Mebraté) and her tear-stained cheek. Source: screenshot from ጉዲፈቻ – Gudifecha, directed by Tatek Tadesse. 2002. Combe Pictures and Black Lion Film Production. All rights reserved

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3.4 A screenshot from Etege 2 of Addis (Alemseged Tesfaye) silhouetted by a setting sun over a lake. Source: screenshot from እቴጌ ፪ – Etege 2, directed by Abiye Fenta. 2010/2011. Studio A. All rights reserved

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3.5 A screenshot from Etege 2’s final montage of Aba Sahilu (Seyfa Araya). Source: screenshot from እቴጌ ፪ – Etege 2, directed by Abiye Fenta. 2010/2011. Studio A. All rights reserved

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List of Figures

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3.6 A poster for Rebuni in an Alem Cinema film brochure. Source: author’s collection

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3.7 A screenshot from Rebuni depicting Leul kissing Gela on the forehead. Source: screenshot from ረቡኒ – Rebuni, directed by Kidist Yilma. 2014. Galaxy Film Production and 123 Studio. All rights reserved

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3.8 A screenshot from Rebuni’s closing sequence capturing a dissolve cut. Source: screenshot from ረቡኒ – Rebuni, directed by Kidist Yilma. 2014. Galaxy Film Production and 123 Studio. All rights reserved

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3.9 Behailu Wassie (left), Kidist Yilma (centre) and Mulualem Getachew (right) discussing love and sacrifice for the documentary Cinema Addis Ababa. Source: photo by author

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4.1 A poster for Yewendoch Gudday outside the Cinema Empire 2021. Source: photo by author

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4.2 A screenshot from Yewendoch Gudday as the gang arrive to gate-crash a wedding, Qecho (Elsabet Getachew) standing front and centre. Source: screenshot from የወንዶች ጉዳይ – Yewendoch Gudday, directed by Henok Ayele. 2007. Arki Sira Production. All rights reserved

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5.1 A screenshot from Siryet depicting the closing coupling of Mesfin (Girum Ermias) and Melawit (Bertukan Befkadu). Source: screenshot from ስርየት – Siryet, directed by Yidnekachew Shumete Desalegn. 2007. Tom Film Production. All rights reserved

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5.2 A screenshot from Yemoriyam Midir depicting a gun being brandished by Meseret Mebraté. Source: screenshot from የሞሪያም ምድር – Yemoriyam Midir, directed by Yonas Berhane Mewa. 2008. Ethio Film Production. All rights reserved

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5.3 A poster of Yetikur Fert in an Alem Cinema brochure. Source: author’s collection

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List of Figures

5.4 A poster for Geday Siyarefafid in an Alem Cinema brochure. Source: author’s collection

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5.5 A screenshot from Geday Siyarefafid depicting a shoot-out featuring the shifta character. Source: screenshot from ገዳይ ሲያረፋፍድ – Geday Siyarefafid, directed by Naod Lemma. 2013. Tana Entertainment. All rights reserved

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6.1 A screenshot from the final sequence in Comoros. Source: screenshot from ኮሞሮስ – Comoros, directed by Abreham Kenaw. 2008. Abey Film Production and Oz Film Production. All reights reserved

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6.2 A screenshot of Eyob Dawit from the opening of Yaltasebew. Source: screenshot from ያልታሰበው – Yaltasebew, directed by Hermon Hailay. 2013. M.B.Z. Film Production. All rights reserved

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7.1 A collection of film poster flyers in the foyer of the Cinema Ethiopia. Source: photo by author

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7.2 The Alem Cinema in 2021. Source: photo by author

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7.3 Two assikiñ yefiker film posters in the Alem Cinema’s brochure, both featuring the assikiñ yefiker film genre term. Left Markush and right Tilefeñ. Source: author’s collection

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8.1 Bertukan Befkadu (left) in the poster for Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch. Source: author’s collection

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9.1 A queue outside the Cinema Empire in 2013. The film screening time is on an A4 piece of paper attached to the film poster. Source and copyright: photo by Adriano Marzi

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9.2 A small shop renting and selling films on VCD/DVD. Source and copyright: photo by Adriano Marzi

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Acknowledgements The road that first led me to Ethiopia was one paved by many, but I would never had travelled to Addis Ababa in 2010 if it wasn’t for my cousin David Thomas and his wife Nadia Manning-Thomas. Thank you, David and Nadia, for all you did for your nineteen-year-old cousin: for facilitating my first trip to Ethiopia, welcoming me into your home and for sorting me out with the volunteer position through which Lideya and I first met. It has been through the generosity and support of family and friends like David and Nadia that has enabled me to pursue this book. This research has been made a pleasure by the welcome I have constantly received from the many Ethiopian filmmakers I have spoken with. My deepest and eternal gratitude goes to the overwhelming generosity everyone has afforded me. This book is the fruit of interactions with all those with whom I have had informal and formal conversations. I am most indebted to Yidnekachew Shumete who I met first in 2013 and who always finds time for me, introducing me to many contacts in the industry, inviting me to many premieres, sharing with me his many experiences, and for trusting in me. Likewise, I thank Paulos Regassa and Mesfin Haileyesus, who I met soon after and who always make time to speak to me and fill me in on interesting developments. Tesfaye Mamo has been particularly encouraging and helpful, always sharing his time and experiences of filmmaking in the 1990s and early 2000s. Since my PhD fieldwork in 2016, Behailu Wassie, Henok Ayele and Michael Million have also been especially encouraging and positive about my research and I thank them for the time, support and interest they afford me. I thank all the other filmmakers and people in and around cinema in Addis Ababa who met and spoke with me at length during my many trips and agreed to interviews that were recorded; Michael Million and Debebe Eshetu in particular, who have welcomed me into their homes and are always most generous with their time and hospitality. My deepest thanks also to Abebe Beyene, Abraham Gezahegn,

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Biniyam Tefera, Dawit Tesfaye, Kebede Mesfin, Kidus (my local VCD vendor), Naod Lemma, Sewmehon Yismaw, Sintayehu Taye, Tatek Tadesse and Tewodros Teshome. Henok Ayele was most patient with me after I failed to press the record button for our first interview and has since always displayed a keen interest in my work. Menelik Merid has assisted me through multiple means, facilitating my participation in the Alatinos Young Filmmakers Association as well as setting me up with meetings with other filmmakers and a ‘VVIP’ ticket to the 2016 Gumma Film Awards. I am also most grateful to Eyerusaleam Kassahun who openly shared with me her experiences as a filmmaker in Ethiopia and her considerable knowledge and ongoing research into various aspects of cinema and theatre in Ethiopia at Addis Ababa University. I also met and interviewed Hermon Hailay during my PhD fieldwork who, with her husband Max Conil, have since shared with me many enjoyable and entertaining anecdotes about their filmmaking experiences and become dear friends. Everyone has tried their utmost to enlighten me, have shared their experiences and perspectives and answered my many questions; most of these interviews were conducted in Amharic and I have done my best to understand and listen to the best of my ability. The writing of the book has blossomed from these interviews but any omissions are mine alone and I encourage others to fill in the gaps I have left and continue to explore emerging avenues and changing dynamics. While in Ethiopia my research was helped by many other people in various ways. My mother-in-law Menbere ‘Etete’ Siele, treated me with the same love and care she does her own children, she made sure I was always properly fed and in good health. Ermias, Binyam, Mahelet, Kidus and Selam always kept me in good spirits while Tsegaye Teshome and my extended family in Ethiopia always received me with warmth and love. The pursuit of this book was encouraged by Lindiwe Dovey, my mentor and friend. Lindiwe has always believed in me and been a constant support even during my bouts of self-doubt. I am constantly learning from the example Lindiwe sets in her professional life and I am grateful for the time she has taken to read and comment on the introduction to this book and the many various drafts of the chapters that were in the PhD thesis. I also need to thank Kate E. Talyor-Jones for enthusiastically recommending and introducing me to a few publishers, helping to dispel any anxieties I had about approaching academic presses.

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My most heartfelt gratitude and love to my family for putting up with me as a brother and a son, especially to my parents, Gareth Thomas and Susan Janota who have raised me to be respectful of my surroundings and committed to whatever endeavour I choose to pursue. Finally, my deepest appreciation is to Lideya Tsegaye Teshome who has shown me love in many of its most perplexing and captivating forms. It is through Lideya and our love that I have come to know Ethiopia, its peoples and its cultures in a small but privileged way. ሊዲያ ፣ እወድሻለሁ ። *

*

*

I duly acknowledge earlier versions/sections of chapters published in this book: Chapters 1 and 2 contain sections that appeared in an earlier form in 2018, ‘From Yeseytan Bet–Devil’s House to 7D: Mapping Cinema’s Multidimensional Manifestations in Ethiopia from Its Inception to Contemporary Developments’, in Michael W. Thomas, Alessandro Jedlowski and Aboneh Ashagrie, eds, CineEthiopia: The History and Politics of Film in the Horn of Africa, 1–26. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. Parts of the Introduction, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 contain sections that appeared in an earlier form in 2018, ‘Whether to Laugh or Cry? Explorations of Genre in Amharic Fiction Feature Films’, in Michael W. Thomas, Alessandro Jedlowski and Aboneh Ashagrie, eds, Cine-Ethiopia: The History and Politics of Film in the Horn of Africa, 93–117. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. Chapter 5 contains sections that appeared in an earlier form in 2015, ‘The Local Film Sensation in Ethiopia: Aesthetic Comparisons with African Cinema and Alternative Experiences’, Black Camera: An International Film Journal 7 (1): 17–41.

Note The naming conventions in Ethiopia and many parts of the Horn of Africa are to refer to people by their first name, i.e. their given name. A person’s second name is their father’s first/given name and their third name is their grandfather’s first/given name, and so on. There are no family names, so referring to people by a name other than their first name or nickname is to refer to one of their forefathers. In referring to names I follow this convention when the work being referred to is in Amharic and when referring to film professionals. There is no standardized transliteration of Amharic into English. Where possible I have provided both the Amharic and English transliterated version, and an English translation of my own interpretation. I have attempted to write English transliterations of Amharic words as simply as possible but I occasionally use accents to try to capture sounds not familiar to native English speakers: ‘ä’ refers to an English approximation of the ‘e’ sound in begin; ‘ï’ refers to an English approximation of the ‘e’ sound in roses; ‘é’ refers to the ‘é’ in cliché and ‘ñ’ or ‘ng’ refer to an English approximation of the first ‘n’ sound in onion. I transliterate the Amharic word for love – ፍቅር as ‘fiker’ throughout the book but a more accurate rendering of the word would be – ‘fïqïr’ or ‘fïk’ïr’ where the ‘q’ or ‘k’ is an ejective sound that does not have an English equivalent. Ejectives are common in Amharic, often transliterated with an apostrophe with ‘p’a’, ‘t’a’, ‘ch’a’ and ‘tsa’ all ejective sounds produced by building pressure in the throat and releasing the pressure when the consonant is articulated, akin to an onomatopoeic attempt at pronouncing the “ch” in achoo as if sneezing. Finally, a note on Ethiopian renderings of time. Ethiopia uses a separate calendar that has more in common with the Coptic calendar than the Gregorian calendar. There are thirteen months with Ethiopian New Year (1 Meskerem) usually falling on 11 September (Gregorian) and the calendar being roughly seven years behind the Gregorian calendar. There have been many inaccuracies that have resulted from the difference in the Ethiopian calendar and the Gregorian calendar which I have endeavoured to avoid. Where some dates are

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given as 2012/2013, for example, it is because they have been translated from the Ethiopian calendar. I should also add that I have translated the timings of films from listings, always advertised using an Ethiopian twelve-hour clock which begins, 0:01 am at dawn, or roughly 6:01 am East Africa Time (EAT). So, a film showing advertised for 8:00 am in Ethiopia would start at 2:00 pm if your watch is set to the corresponding (EAT) twelve-hour-clock.

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Introduction: Courtship and the curiosity of cinema in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

We all write and speak from a particular place and time, from a history and a culture which is specific. What we say is always ‘in context,’ positioned [. . .] it is worth remembering that all discourse is ‘placed,’ and the heart has its reasons. Stuart Hall (1996: 211) I consider Addis Ababa (Ethiopia’s capital) as a place that I can call home. After having spent much time there between the ages of nineteen and twenty-eight (2010–18), I know the streets and neighbourhoods better than I know London (the place of my birth) and while there I always take public transport to get around the city. The ‘taxi’ system of blue and white mini-vans, the majority of which are Toyotas, can fit roughly twelve passengers. They take you from place ‘A’, say Megenagna, to place ‘B’, say Piassa and you can call out weraj allä (there is someone who wants to get off ) whenever you want to get off along the route. It is a rare sight to see a ferenj (white European-looking foreigner) queueing up and jumping on board one of these taxis. While in transit, I am often asked, ‘Where are you from?’ To which I invariably reply in Amharic: ‘I was born in London, but I am Welsh like the footballer Gareth Bale.’ I follow this immediately with the pre-emptive disavowal, ‘I am not English’. Then, come the smiles, gasps of Inday! (What!) or even laughter, not necessarily because people grasp my strange response and reference to Welsh football, but nevertheless, praise is often lavished upon me because I speak Amharic (by no means perfectly, but well enough to get by and to understand most of the dialogue in Amharic films). Perplexingly, a common follow-up question is, ‘You speak Amharic?’ in English and sometimes in 1

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Amharic. I quickly try to explain that my wife is Ethiopian and it is because of her that I speak Amharic. The above scenario has played out countless times and on more than one occasion I have then had my taxi fare paid for me by someone I have only just met. An act of kindness from a stranger? A sign of appreciation? Maybe, even, acceptance? This acceptance can often be short lived if the conversation turns to enquiring about my occupation: ‘So, what line of work are you in?’ I’m asked. ‘I study and teach films, Ethiopian films,’ I say. ‘Oh, Ethiopian films? But why? They are rubbish!’ This statement is echoed across the spectrum of social strata – from the shoeshiner who shoved his phone in my face, thinking it funny to surprise me with pornographic clips, or his friends who recommended that I watch Terminator instead of Ethiopian films; to disparaging film practitioners who, themselves, make films for a living without considering the multiple impacts of cinema on people’s lives. So, why Amharic films? Why cinema in Ethiopia? Why Ethiopia at all, white man?! The simple answer to these questions is – love, a theme and concept that will be explored throughout this book and which forms the foundation of my experiences in Ethiopia. It was through the unconditional love and support of family that I first wound up, at the tender age of nineteen, in Ethiopia in early 2010 for three months. I stayed with my cousin and his wife, who happened to be living in Addis Ababa at the time. They recommended I volunteered to teach English and theatre at a charity providing educational services in an historically deprived part of Addis (Koré) located on the other side of town from where they lived (Gurd Sholla). My daily commute of four ‘taxis’ in the morning and then again in the evening was an integral part of my daily life in Addis as the city and its people showed me a way of living and being that were foreign to me. I was, after all, a foreigner. A foreigner who now feels at home in Addis Ababa, who feels a sense of belonging through the bonds of Ethiopian family and friends. The person who taught and showed me the most about Ethiopia and Addis Ababa, and whose family is now my family, worked for the charity where I taught English and theatre. She was also my voice, as she translated our classes, and my guide after I persuaded her to have lunch with me a few weeks into my first stay. That was how it started and it wasn’t long before we ended up going to the cinema together.

Introduction

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It was the cinemas of Addis Ababa that provided the safe spaces for our young love. At first, we went to Matti Multiplex in Edna Mall, located in the more recently established Bole Medhanialem area of the city, where we saw American films. Coincidentally, Date Night (2010) was the first of many. However, as the film itself was never our primary motive for going to the cinema, we would just watch whatever was showing. We went to the cinema as it represented a space where we could go to be together away from prying eyes and where we could experience something (anything) as a couple – holding hands, sharing popcorn, her head on my shoulder and even stealing the odd kiss when a power outage would plunge the auditorium into darkness or when the end credits rolled and everyone else was focused on beating the rush to leave. So, my love of Ethiopia and Ethiopian cultures was inspired by an allconsuming love for an Ethiopian woman – a love first nurtured in Addis Ababa, later sustained through long-distance calls when we were not able to be together in person, and that found sanctuary in cinemagoing. As our commitment to each other became more apparent, so did my understanding of Amharic. At university, my curiosity of culture was encouraged and, to my good fortune, formal lessons in Amharic were on offer as part of my undergraduate degree at SOAS, University of London. So, when I spent my student loan on travelling back to Addis Ababa as soon as each term ended, and as we had no interest in seeing whatever American movie was on offer at Matti Multiplex, we went to see what she wanted to see. As it happened, during this time in 2011, ያንቺው ሌባ – Yanchiw Léba/Yours Theivingly was playing in the cinemas across Addis. The film was described on its poster and in its trailer as a ሮማንቲክ ኮሜዲ (‘romantic comedy’) (see Figure 0.1) – well, okay, I thought. It was the latest film featuring the popular comedian/actor/ director/writer Netsanet Werkneh – okay, good. It was also, of course, in Amharic and partly set in Addis Ababa and so, naturally, it was more relatable to an Addis Ababa audience than an American film – well, eshi (okay), what could possibly go wrong? This first experience of a locally made Amharic film in an Ethiopian cinema was totally different from any other experience of cinema I had previously encountered. The first difference was the delay to the film starting. This was not a deliberate delay; there were no adverts or trailers playing, the only thing being projected was a bouncing DVD logo hurtling back and forth across the big

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Figure 0.1 A poster for Yanchiw Léba. Source: author’s collection.

screen. Had someone forgotten to press play? Nearly thirty minutes passed but nobody seemed too bothered; people continued their conversations with each other or on their phones. Finally, the screen flashed blue and the on-screen ‘play’ signal indicated the start of the film. Were these delays the norm and symptomatic of the lack of formal structures governing the dealings of the creative industries in Ethiopia? Or, perhaps just an example of a different set of expectations regarding the construction of time in Ethiopia? Back in Matti Multiplex’s Screen 3, although Yanchiw Léba had started, many people continued their conversations, either with each other or still on their phones. The film was of a very low production value and the narrative was driven by dialogue. Admittedly, I could hardly understand a word of what

Introduction

5

was being said, and this was compounded by the rapid rate at which Netsanet Werkneh (in the lead role) delivered his lines. Despite the film’s many seeming inadequacies, however, when a humorous comment was muttered or a gag had achieved its intended effect, the auditorium would seemingly burst at the seams with laughter, accompanied by people making comments or repeating lines as they laughed. I couldn’t help but be swept up in the joy of the moment and let out a chuckle. More importantly, however, when I turned my head to my right and saw the bright smile and heard the uncontainable laughter of someone I loved, I felt relieved from all of my earlier anxieties. Witnessing her joy made me feel good. Out of all the confusion I was experiencing came this moment of enlightenment, something I had not experienced before, and certainly not next-door in Screen 1, where we watched American films that spoke to neither of our lived experiences. From this point onwards, there was no turning back. After having had such an energizing and enlightening experience watching a supposedly ‘rubbish’ Amharic film in Ethiopia, I was keen to talk to people at university about the domestic film experience and cinemagoing culture in Addis Ababa. I was lucky to be taught and mentored by renowned film and screen studies scholar and educator Lindiwe Dovey, and such was the faith and interest she placed in me and my accounts of Amharic cinema in Ethiopia, that my curiosity became emboldened by her academic credence. As a direct result of this, I was made Ethiopian film adviser for Film Africa 2012, giving me a legitimate reason to research film in Ethiopia. My work on film festivals such as Film Africa and the Cambridge African Film Festival placed me in the position of ‘expert’ on Ethiopian cinema for the first time which enabled me to share my experiences and love of Amharic cinema. These film festivals also opened up the way for my first interactions with Ethiopian filmmakers. Yidnekachew Shumete Desalegn trusted me with his film ኒሻን – Nishan/Medal of Honour in 2013 after our first meeting; I then successfully passed on the film to Africa in Motion for its scheduled screening at the Glasgow-based festival. Yidnekachew has since become a close friend. On our second meeting he opened his encyclopaedic list of Ethiopian film contacts to me for free and has invited me to countless film premieres. We have since worked together to produce the documentary Cinema Addis Ababa (2022) and intend to collaborate more in the future.

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I quickly found myself immersed in the life of Addis Ababa and Amharic film culture, and I was easily swayed into doing a PhD on Ethiopian film at SOAS, University of London, with Lindiwe Dovey as my supervisor. I pursued this PhD while working part time and with the most appreciated support of a small grant from the Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust to help me cover university fees in my first year and a Santander Mobility Award which helped me cover fieldwork expenses. It is my PhD research which formed the bulk of the research presented in this monograph. Most of my fieldwork for the PhD was carried out in 2016 but I had started to interview people more formally since 2014. In total, for this book, I refer to twenty-one of these formal, semistructured interviews that I have conducted over the years with people involved in film production and exhibition in Ethiopia. On top of this, I have always been afforded time and access by colleagues at Addis Ababa University, the Alatinos Young Filmmakers Association and the Addis Ababa City Cinema Houses Administration Enterprise. In June 2019, I became a postdoctoral research fellow at SOAS, leading the Ethiopian screen worlds strand of the African Screen Worlds: Decolonizing Film and Screen Studies project funded by the European Research Council and led by Lindiwe Dovey. This work has allowed me to broaden my horizons as well as to further cultivate interests in Ethiopian cinema that have informed this work. Cut to the end of 2021 and I am putting the final touches to what you are now reading – my first monograph – the result of courtship, curiosity and falling in love. At a time when most parts of the world have failed to deal with a global pandemic adequately and when Ethiopia finds itself facing an existential political crisis marred by ethnic violence – love and hope have become ever more precious but also unnervingly pernicious. It is also a watershed moment for cinemas and filmmakers in Ethiopia – a moment that I believe committed filmmakers will endure with ingenuity, passion and fortitude but for which one cannot predict what the future holds. It is difficult, therefore, to write about love and cinema in Ethiopia at a time when the narrative surrounding the country is dominated by hatred, fear, suspicion and closed-mindedness. In writing about the role of love in Amharic film genres and in Ethiopian cinema, I hope to rekindle, a little, the fire of our shared humanity across our differences. For cinema has the power to reach mass audiences and its flickering projections take us into

Introduction

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narrative worlds of profound moving images and stirring sounds that fill our senses and imaginations with feelings and thoughts that chime with our very existence.

ፍቅር – Fiker (love) and Amharic film Love, as a concept, contains many of the paradoxes found in human nature. At once inspiring and frustrating, both blind and enlightened, love can be expressed in many ways and can mean many things. The English language fails to succinctly grasp the nuances of love, leading Anglophone writers to employ words from ancient Greek, Latin and other languages to better define diverse feelings associated with the term. Words derived from Greek for love such as eros (romantic love), storge (familial, unconditional love), agape (spiritual, selfless love) and philia (platonic love often associated with friendship) are often cited as being the starting point for wider sociological and philosophical studies on love. Cinema and the popularity of Hollywood romantic comedies and romantic dramas across the world have played a major role in predetermining modern expectations of love, commonly equated with romantic and sexual desires. This romantic love is certainly an element within Ethiopian cinema but it is highly conditioned by the cultural context within which it is produced and consumed. In recognizing the hold of eros on contemporary films from across the world, it is also important to consider the power of philia in relation to an infatuation with cinema. More specifically, here, it is relevant to consider how a love of film and cinema, as expressed in the term ‘cinephilia’ plays an important role. My own cinephilia in relation to Amharic film and Ethiopian cinema is rooted in a romantic, companionate and filial love, and so it is an exploration of these deeper feelings in relation to cinema and the cultural/ epistemological contexts that surround this specific film culture that form the foundation of this study. On a personal level, I acknowledge the opportunities and privileges given to me during my time studying film at UK universities. Despite being wellestablished in UK higher educational institutions, film research continuously has to prove its worth akin to what Thomas Elsaesser describes as ‘the

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precarious status of film studies within the wider fields of the humanities’ (2012: 39) where it has been quite instrumental in the field of cultural studies and at the same time struggles to be taken seriously elsewhere. It is precisely this precarious position on the periphery of academia, however, that allows the study of film, cinema and screens to be ‘experimental, curious, adventurous, passionate and even promiscuous: in short, “opportunistic”, meaning that it can seize opportunities when they present themselves’ (Elsaesser 2012: 39). It is with pleasure, great fortune and a hint of trepidation that I seize this opportunity to present my love of Ethiopian cinema to you, dear reader. In recognizing the privilege and love that condition my relationship to my research, this book aims to play a role in opening up new opportunities and avenues of exploration into experiences of Ethiopian cinema and film genres. In doing so, my methodological and theoretical approaches speak to each other by working their way from the ground up, both literally grounded in personal experiences of Ethiopian film culture and film genre theory but also deliberately distanced to reflect on the diverse experiences of Ethiopian cinema. Between 2005 and 2015 there were at least forty-five Amharic films that used the term fiker (love), or a conjugated variant, in their titles, pointing to the pervasive nature of the term in the Ethiopian context. The prominence of fiker in popular Ethiopian cinema indicates a major thematic and narrative strand as well as denoting the term’s centrality to their popular appeal and the very organization of commercial cinema in the country. The first commercially viable Ethiopian films in the early 2000s were classed as yefiker film (love film), a genre that has endured and that has left its mark on the films and genres that followed. Fiker indicates issues of the heart and signifies deep emotional feelings. Like many concepts in Amharic, multiple interpretations are possible, both indicating romantic carnal desire as well as spiritual love. Fiker can be translated as ‘love’, ‘devotion’ or ‘affection’ and has roots in the ancient Ge’ez word አፍቅሮ – afikero (love). In daily usage, fiker has religious and spiritual connotations – one of the many names attributed to the Virgin Mary being የፍቅር እናት – Yefiker Enat (The Mother of Love) – but the term also embodies romantic notions in the secular sense, deep filial affection and even nationalistic sentiments, as observed in the old term መፍቀሬ ሀገር – mefikeré hager (patriot). To better grasp how the notion of fiker inflects Ethiopian cinema it is worth distinguishing Ethiopian understandings of fiker from mainstream Euro-

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American cultural assumptions of love that, nevertheless, have undoubtedly influenced popular local film contexts across the world. Fiker, in Ethiopian philosophical and cultural discourses is prolific, yet often overlooked, despite its significance as primarily understood as carrying a great weight and depth across a stratum of feelings and thoughts. Research into Ethiopian philosophy was pioneered by the Canadian Professor, Claude Sumner and since furthered by contemporary thinkers such as Teodros Kiros (2005) and Mohammed Girma (2012), who all give insights into how sixteenth and seventeenth century Ethiopian thinkers conceived of the human heart. To quote Teodros Kiros: ‘Lib, (heart) in Geez [also in Amharic] is the home of wisdom. It is the fountain of truth. All the feelings percolating there are themselves rational thoughts that can be validated either as true or false. It is the heart that authenticates them.’ Kiros continues by explaining that ‘the brain merely organizes these thoughts as they pertain to the objective world of facts, the subjective world of feelings and the moral-rational world of action. All the thoughts from the three domains percolate in the heart’ (Kiros 2005: 120). Just as the universal symbol of the heart-shape has come to represent love, so too, fiker in Ethiopian philosophy and religious thought is housed in this most symbolic human organ. Sumner, in his detailed dissection of Ethiopian philosophical manuscripts, notes the prominence of fiker both in what he describes as ‘the “typical” Ethiopian patterns of thought’ as demonstrated in Abba Mikael’s early sixteenth century Metsihafä Felasfa (The Book of the Wise Philosophers) to the more ‘untraditional’ Hatata treatises by Zara Yakob and his disciple Welda Hiwot in the seventeenth century (Sumner 1974). In its centrality to interpersonal relations fiker, for these thinkers, becomes ‘the greatest and strongest factor in bringing men together’; its significance is demanding of respect and it is considered most precious and dear (Sumner 1974: 392). The teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, established in the region since the fourth century, are deeply embedded within these philosophical works and, still today, influence how love is perceived in Ethiopia both in secular and religious discourses. Whereas the divine understanding of fiker emanates from God and is received by human hearts to be shared equally through kindness and charity (akin to the Greek term agape), in the realm of humankind, a corresponding fiker consists of deep affection, tenderness, trust and passion.

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To understand this weighty, multi-dimensional Amharic term in its various guises, so too the nature of the Amharic language needs to be taken into consideration, wherein single words may take on multiple meanings depending on the semantic landscape that surrounds them. Claude Sumner suggests ‘love as feqer [fiker] offers a “form” of Gestalt that extends all around it in various types of connections and identifications’ (1974: 393). As with understanding the linguistic nature of fiker, so too with Amharic film genres, it is through identifying ‘the familiar landmarks in whose neighbourhood feqer [fiker] is always found and with which it has close connections’ that we may come to reveal the depth of its meanings (Sumner 1974: 299). In this sense, as well as romantic relationships, family bonds and friendship, fiker can be associated with moral virtues, juridical oversight, wisdom, dynamism and the divine. In essence, fiker becomes the great unifier that encompasses a wealth of other virtues, but when love is absent, so too ‘the language of division breaks down in multiplicity’ (Sumner 1978: 237). In an Ethiopian philosophical sense, it is through virtuous love that the heart may open up to receive enlightenment, but without love, the truthful meaning and understanding of one’s own life cannot be achieved. In its edifying and unifying capacity, fiker can be seen to bridge the division between the realm of humankind and the realm of the heavens. This is widely seen to be replicated within the human body, where the divine spirit (human soul) is entrapped by the vulnerabilities and desires of the flesh. With the two inextricably linked, it is the body that is sinful and the soul, housed in a rational heart, that is righteous (see Kiros 2005). A love of flesh, which can be associated with romance or sex, blurs the line between the sinful and the virtuous but it is generally accepted that the flesh needs sustenance just as the soul calls for moderation and meaningfulness. The struggle of daily life is to balance this dualism, where spiritual and bodily desires exist side-by-side. In this light, fiker as romance is tempered and often proclaimed in a similar refrain to how the influential Ethiopian dramatist of the 1970s and 1980s, Abate Mekuria1 describes his compatriots as being ‘very discreetly romantic – quiet, shy – but then it is so much muted within his heart’. As in cinema, love has continued to be a central theme in contemporary Ethiopian theatre (see Plastow 2020) and secular music (see Milkias 2011 for an overview of Ethiopian music). Romance and longing are plainly accepted as innate human feelings and are particularly

Introduction

11

prevalent and potent themes in secular culture understood respectively as fiker and tezeta.2 Beyond this subtle notion of romance, however, it is also not uncommon for sexual innuendos to take centre stage as exemplified in the songs of azmari (Ethiopian troubadours) who are well-known for scattering their improvisations with sexually suggestive double-entendres targeted (positively or negatively) at particular patrons. The contemporary Ethiopian filmmaker Behailu Wassie directly relates the concept of fiker, in both the bodily and spiritual sense, with popular Ethiopian cinema: You cannot only concern yourself with the satisfaction of your body. Just like my view of my country is not just the land or river, it is coming from your soul, your relationship with culture, society, and humanity. Film is like this, it has to have a soul for it to have deep value, but also it has to nourish the body through entertainment [. . .]. That is how I understand my country, our films, and our love; we struggle with material wealth but we have strong immaterial wealth in our culture and society. [. . .]. Love is linked with all of this, and it is all about listening to your soul. As love is the major narrative in our films, so too our films are like smoke and cannot be achieved without a fire. So I always try to balance my films to address love, identity, and feeling and be entertaining too. Cited in M.W. Thomas 2018: 269

Love, or to use the Amharic term spoken by Behailu – ፍቅር – fiker – can be seen as a popular concept that embodies one of the most potent emotional feelings that directly engages a particular Ethiopian worldview. The communal nature of society means that fiker remains deeply valued and is powerfully evoked through cultural expression in music, literature, theatre and film. Although domestic Ethiopian films may be regarded with the low ‘cultural currency’ Steve Neale (1990) reserved for describing Hollywood films about love, it is hard to see this being because of their preoccupation with fiker, or akin to the inferiority of what Toby Miller (2001) sees in the emotional nature of romantic films, but this thinking has no doubt rubbed off on some prominent cultural commentators and will be discussed later in the book. More immediately jarring to the uninitiated, however, is the low production values, rushed releases and resulting compromised aesthetic integrity of many popular Ethiopian films which seem to generate the common understanding as referred to previously that ‘they are

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rubbish’. Similarly, although anecdotal evidence suggests women comprise the majority of Ethiopian film audiences, in my experiences the gender balance of cinemagoers is relatively equal. This reflects the idea that fiker is not exclusively positioned in the domain of women, as is often the case with how love is perceived in Euro-American cinematic contexts, as reflected in popular terms such as ‘the woman’s film’ and ‘chick flicks’. It is the notion expressed by Behailu Wassie, that ‘love is all about listening to your soul’ that I see as defining the overriding emotional impulse in popular Ethiopian cinema and that forms the basis for a considerable line of thematic enquiry in this book.

Amharic film genres, melodrama and fiker The ever-present nature of fiker (love) in popular Ethiopian cinema is most obvious when observing Amharic descriptions of film genres. Fiker can accompany any genre appellation associated with film, acting as a central catalyst in the system of Amharic film genres. The loosely structured and informal nature of the Ethiopian film sector means that people often use the term fiker when naming multiple yet distinct genres. The yefiker film (love film) and the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), and all their corresponding variations, are the most closely related and most prolific, with romance narratives being central to both genres (see Chapter 4). Even genres where issues of fiker are seemingly less apparent, such as in the lib anteltay film (suspense film), it is not uncommon to hear the genre promoted and referred to as lib anteltay yefiker film (suspenseful love film) or yefiker suspense film (love suspense film) (see Chapter 5). The same is also true, albeit to a lesser extent, of the yebeteseb film (family film) (see Chapter 6). Here, the Amharic word fiker often becomes an add-on or qualifier of moralizing intent. The multiple meanings and usages of the word in naming genres directly places fiker as, not only a central theme in popular Ethiopian cinema that emphasizes the social and moral underpinnings of most films, but as a vital structuring concept for the industry as a whole in its prolific usage in naming genres and in the titles of films themselves. Just as how fiker is used to describe multiple genres in Ethiopia, so too was melodrama in America. This was evidenced early on in the USA in relation to

Introduction

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the naming of genres on the stage and screen not long after the invention of cinema in order to widen the popular appeal of this new form to American audiences familiar with theatre melodrama (Gledhill and Williams 2018). ‘Melodrama’ does not appear in the Amharic lexicon but ‘fiker’ is often used in a similar way to widen the appeal of Amharic films and their genres. The usages of ‘melodrama’ and ‘fiker’ in different contexts share such striking similarities that a better appreciation of the different meanings of fiker helps confront the ‘anxiety to extrapolate Western melodrama theory to the study of films produced in a context where an equivalent to the term melodrama might not even exist’ (Zarzosa 2010: 239). Therefore, it may be said that when the melodramatic mode is harnessed in Ethiopian cinema, it feeds off and into an Ethiopian worldview that is almost certainly imbued with emotional and moral elements relating to fiker. The ubiquitous use of the term fiker in the definition and naming of nearly every type of commercial Amharic film genre – at times seemingly interchangeable with English words transliterated into Amharic such as ሮማንስ – (romance) or ሮማንቲክ – (romantic) – conjures the fundamental romantic and melodramatic elements commonplace in popular Ethiopian cinema. In lieu of the absence of an Amharic translation or even transliterated use of the term ‘melodrama’, the term fiker becomes the concept and term that best represents this affective dramatic mode in the Ethiopian context as it is through the presence of fiker that suffering can be overcome and through which devotion, joy and contentment can be attained. Given that fiker is a central concept within Ethiopian philosophies, societies and cultures, exploring how the term inflects popular Ethiopian cinema is imperative. Adapting a genre studies approach that considers a culturally embedded melodrama allows insights into how the multiple understandings of fiker in Ethiopia relate to its multiple filmic manifestations. Studying the genres of a specific film culture, such as with popular Ethiopian cinema, allows for the relationship between film and culture also to be scrutinized. The repetitive nature of genres encapsulates how popular storyworlds engage with notions of fiker in film and as extrapolations of sociocultural views. To maintain a grounded approach to the study of film genres in Ethiopia I adopt a ‘contextual criticism’ (Garritano 2013: 8) throughout. Sensitive to an Ethiopian, and specifically Addis Ababa, worldview this type of analysis recognizes culture as conditioning everything from our understanding of

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sounds and symbols to our base emotional responses to, and epistemological interpretations of, films. Carmela Garritano adapts this methodology from Julianne Burton’s (1997) work on Latin American films to ‘demonstrate how interacting contextual factors impact upon the film text itself and the interpretation of that text at a given point of reception’ (168). As Garritano goes on to explain: ‘contextual criticism posits a dialectical relationship between the cultural form and its many contexts and investigates how those contexts shape the text and how the text affects its context’ (2013: 8). To organize films within a structure that differentiates them according to the context from which they emerge, I explore films and their fiker inflected genres along the lines that have been inscribed by producers and consumers of popular Ethiopia cinema. In Ethiopia, many film producers use simple Amharic generic terms as shorthand to describe filmic elements and these same categorizations are essential in audience understandings of films. Noted on screening schedules of popular cinemas in Addis Ababa, second only to the name of the movie, is the film’s genre or type, in Amharic: የፊልሙ ዓይነት – yefilmu aynet (the film type) (see words circled in Figure 0.2). The genre of a film also often appears on posters advertising the films outside cinemas and on street corners (see Figures 0.1, 4.1 and 7.3). In this book, film genre is the lens used to navigate popular Ethiopian cinema and its contexts of production, circulation and consumption, and, as I have argued above, Amharic film genres are dominated by the concept of fiker. Through this process of navigating and mapping the current cinematic phenomenon in Ethiopia, I focus on interrogating genre origins, their permeable boundaries and evolutions by understanding how seminal films influence – and are influenced by – others, and how they engender new genres. With their production and exhibition centred in Addis Ababa, Amharic films and their genres act as a nexus for local and global cultural flows allowing small-scale entrepreneurial producers to provide screen worlds3 for Ethiopians to experience in relation to what people encounter in their daily lives. The strength of genre scholarship in mainstream film studies in the past couple of decades is in the broader theorization and contextualization of genres as discursive tools, communicative transmitters and as mediators between society, culture and competing ideologies and so fits with the ‘cultural

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Figure 0.2 An example of Alem Cinema’s film listing with the genre circled below the film title. Source: author’s collection.

turn’ espoused in this book.4 Film genres cannot be determined exclusively through the analysis of the filmic text; they require contextualized studies. In her seminal work Cinema Genre ([2002] 2008), Moine insists on the importance of contextually integrated studies of genre whereby ‘genres are designed and recognized – and sometimes denied – by the different agents involved in the world of cinema (producers, directors, critics, ordinary viewers etc.)’ (xvi). As part of the cultural context, an analysis of the film industry and its stakeholders within the production, marketing, exhibition and reception of film, therefore becomes ‘just as important to the study of genres as the comparative analysis of filmic texts. [. . .] From this perspective, a theory of cinematic genres must

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reconcile both textual and contextual approaches’ (Moine [2002] 2008: xvi). Taking on board Moine’s interventions and developing them, this book will demonstrate the specific effects of constituent cultures on genre production in a particular, non-Western, African context. This contributes to the theory that notions of genre can be better comprehended when their meaning and purpose are considered in context. Important ethnographic research on video film industries in Africa has made apparent the diverse and complex experiences of film in cultures and contexts across the continent. Works such as Jonathan Haynes’ Nollywood: The Creation of Nigerian Film Genres (2016) and his edited volume Nigerian Video Films (1997), Brian Larkin’s Signal and Noise (2008), and Carmela Garritano’s African Video Movies and Global Desires (2013) are all contextualized studies that focus on specific film cultures within Africa. Prior to these studies, there was reluctance from African film scholars to engage with locally produced, popular cinemas emerging in Africa because of their fundamentally commercial nature and broadly melodramatic forms. Indeed, scepticism about commercial cinema in Africa is well rehearsed, with Haile Gerima, the most internationally recognizable filmmaker to emerge from Ethiopia, saying he finds ‘it difficult to call the current video productions real cinema’ (cf. Arefe 2006). Even prominent African film scholar Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike at one point dismissed video films for being ‘devoid of authenticity’ (2003: 126). However, in 2010 the publication of the edited volume Viewing African Cinema in the Twenty-First Century (Şaul and Austen) attempted to bridge the critical divide between African video and film scholars by combining the two strands of scholarship. More conventional film scholars also took issue with the topics addressed in these ‘video’ films. For example, Onookome Okome argues that sceptics of commercial films from Africa are opposed to them precisely because they see Nollywood as representing Nigeria in denigrating ways (for example, through ‘juju’ and ‘spirit possessions’) (2010). Similar criticisms are voiced locally by commentators in Ethiopia about Amharic films due to the dominance of ‘love’ based dramas and comedies which are deemed to provide a naïve image of the country to outsiders (Worku 2005, Capital Ethiopia, 18 February 2013). This viewpoint is crucial and common in Ethiopia and alludes to the more conservative aspects of genre production and consumption which will be explored later in this book.

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Haynes makes the important point that ‘it is hard to function without a working taxonomy’ when attempting to write about genre in a context such as Nigeria (2010: 18). In film sectors where no sustained or systematic cataloguing of films exists and where the commercial nature of film production results in constantly high output, there is not the time and resources for scholars to cover every film. As such, the scholarship often suffers from an incoherent and often indiscriminate and wide-ranging, almost random, selection of texts. Indeed, Cohen points out that genres change over time and that ‘the process by which genres are established always involves the human need for distinction and interrelation’ (1986: 204). To bring Amharic film genres to bear on genre theory in film studies, it is important to contextualize the study in terms of the specific structures of the film sector in Ethiopia. A media industries approach setting out a political economy of commercial Amharic cinema helps ascertain why and how particular films and genres get produced and exhibited/distributed; the specific structures and practices that influence the form and content of Amharic films; and why and how audiences consume them. Likewise, Haynes raises the issue of context, calling for studies analysing movies as ‘prolongations, or possibly betrayals, of specific cultural traditions, as interventions in specific local debates or histories’ (2010: 12–13). To a certain extent, however, this has been lacking in much African film scholarship as academics have intervened by naming genres with a ‘foreign normality’ (Haynes 2010: 12) using terms such as ‘horror movies’ (Wendl 2004) or ‘the women’s film’ (Owusu and Kwansah-Aidoo 2015). Although such work does well to bring genre theory to bear on African film industries and to highlight ‘global cultural transactions’ (Tcheuyap 2011: 235), there is also a need to move in the opposite direction and look at how African examples of local genres can intervene in global debates on film genre (see Ureke 2018). Most of these studies offer ‘cultural humility and inductive procedures’ as described by Haynes (2010: 20); however, scholarship focused on contextualizing daily genre usage by local producers, exhibitors and spectators remains largely absent. It is necessary to reiterate here that identifying films as belonging to certain genres and defining genres themselves should always be a process open to negotiation. This is particularly relevant when analysing local film genres in a commercial film sector as young and rapidly changing as that of commercial Amharic cinema in Ethiopia. As Amharic film genres have not, before this

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book, been subject to any kind of full-scale critical study, I take as a starting point the omnipresence of fiker and common usage of Amharic genre terms by film promoters, producers and consumers (see Chapters 7, 8 and 9). Amharic film genres, however, are not neatly definable or readily identifiable as the terms and their usage are not entirely systematic or consistent and may vary from one user to the next. I intend, therefore, loosely to define each genre based upon analyses of the film texts themselves and their narrative and stylistic conventions, linking them through different conceptualizations of fiker before grounding these readings in an analysis of how they are promoted, produced and consumed in Ethiopia. This work maps the existing discursive practices around film genres in Ethiopia. In terms of genre theory, it is better to understand each genre as a contributing part of the whole system of popular Ethiopian cinema as they feed off and root themselves in both domestic and international sources projecting rich and integrated Ethiopian screen worlds. African film and video film scholar Jonathan Haynes has emphasized the need ‘to roll out the full disciplinary apparatus of film studies and apply it to [African] video films’, with analysis of genre seen as a key element of such a task (2010: 13). My emphasis on the role of genre in popular Ethiopian film productions is based on the sense that Ethiopian films, like their counterparts in Nigeria, are ‘essentially generic’ due to market forces (Haynes 2011). A study of genre in Ethiopian films is worthwhile, not only because this has not been previously attempted, but also because it allows an exploration of a large and broad range of films, offering deeper cultural and textual interpretations as well as explorations into how genre is conceptualized within various sections of the film sector. In this sense, genre becomes the lens through which it is possible to contribute to the broader, ongoing rapprochement between film studies and media studies, since it allows the activation of the traditional tools of film studies (such as close film analysis and historical analysis) with more recent tools of media studies (for example, within the sub-field of media industry studies).

Ethiopia, identity and Amharic film Ethiopia, a multi-ethnic sovereign state with over eighty languages but where Amharic has emerged as a working language or lingua franca, deserves

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attention before a deeper investigation of popular film culture. This subject is foregrounded here due to the sensitivities of ethnic politics in the modern era that threatens to break up the Ethiopian nation. Films and the power of audio-visual screen content are significant in any context but the volatile nature of Ethiopian ethnopolitics heightens cinema’s privileged role in identity formation. This critical intervention in Ethiopian identity is significant because of the role audio-visual media have on the ‘representation of the material, which in turn impacts materially on audiences’ (Passerini, Labanyi and Diehl 2012: 13). Emotional responses are easily triggered by visual forms and cinema harnesses on-screen bodies and components of mise-en-scène, such as costume and gesture, to signify elements of identity. The power of the human imagination, seen through the mind’s eye, is also codified via images, relating to what we see in reality and what we see on screens (Passerini, Labanyi and Diehl 2012). The image of cinema is further enhanced by its sounds, of which language is fundamental in the conveying of cultural affiliations and identities. Although there are films made in many languages spoken in Ethiopia, such as Oromo, Tigrinya and Somali, for reasons that will be explored below, it is Amharic cinema that has emerged as the largest self-sustaining commercial film sector within the domestic Ethiopian market. To confront the ethnocentric assumptions and criticisms that arise when discussing a particular cultural phenomenon, such as popular Amharic films in Ethiopia, a broader perspective is necessary to consider properly the Ethiopian context and the position of Amharic within it. Since the ethnic federalization of Ethiopia in 1991 and its legitimization in the 1995 constitution, ethnic divisions, borders and boundaries have intensified questions of the sovereignty of the Ethiopian state against rising calls for ethnic self-determinism.5 The ethnicization of Ethiopian politics in the latter part of the twentieth century has sought to characterize ethnic victims and villains in the contested history of Ethiopia, born as it was, from a complex web of interrelationships between a national centre and a diverse array of religious, regional and culturally distinct groups. The national myth of the Kibre Negest (Glory of Kings), commissioned by a Tigrayan noble and embraced in the fourteenth century by Amhara kings, legitimized the centre in the form of a Solomonic ideology that rooted the notion of Ethiopia in biblical references

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and pronounced Ethiopians as the chosen people of God. For nearly a millennium this centre had existed through intercultural marriages and conflict, with powerful regional lords vying for power and forming an aristocracy. This process of acculturation has been dubbed ‘Amharization’ to denote the significance of the Amharic language, Amhara culture and the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church in fostering a sense of Ethiopian nationalism and cultural hegemony in Ethiopia (Levine 1965, 2003; Appleyard 2003; Donham and James 2002; Smith 2013; Yates 2016). The processes and outcomes of these assimilations have been intensely debated, with Lahra Smith arguing that ‘Amharization was not an uncontested political process at any point’ (2013: 67). The name ‘Amhara’ in the royal chronicles of Ethiopian rulers and Christian and Muslim annals, up until the latter decades of the twentieth century, referred to a geographic region (Levine 2014). Donald Levine further explains that this ‘regional name became attached to the South-Semitic language known as Amharic (Amarəñña), which emerged from a process of pidginization and creolization, combining Ethiopian Semitic with a large component of Cushitic vocabulary and syntax’ (2014: 186). The evolution of the Amharic language and its use by the intercultural rulers of Ethiopia was, therefore, because of its hybrid, lingua franca status that developed from various linguistic sources found in the wider Horn of Africa region (namely Ethio-Semitic and Cushitic). The designation ‘Amhara’ subsequently garnered various meanings, signifying a native Amharic speaker, a member of the aristocracy or even a Christian. The ethnicization of the term Amhara only emerged in the late twentieth century as Ethiopian ethnic identity politics were implemented as an alternative to the Marxist6 and Solomonic state ideologies of the past. The dominant Ethiopian political ideologies since the downfall of Marxism have been built around conceptions of ethnolinguistic and cultural identities. During this period, in the last quarter of the twentieth century, linguistic and cultural affiliations have been used politically to promote a notion of Ethiopia as consisting of numerous ethnic liberation movements. This ideology of ethnic liberation has cast the Amhara as historical oppressors of all other groups. In this narrative, ‘Amharization’ is considered as the centralizing process through which a hegemonic and homogenous Amhara elite maintained control over the Ethiopian Empire by privileging Amharic in the royal courts,

Introduction

21

in schools and through culture; requiring religious adherence to Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity; and military conquest and exploitation of land and labourers. This narrative, however, overlooks the fact that the ruling elites of the ancient Ethiopian state have been inherently ‘interethnic’, relying on ties forged by intermarriage, migration, pilgrimage, religion and trade to sustain relationships between a web of powerful families and regional lords all with notional claims of distant Solomonic ancestry. The interethnic and interreligious makeup of the Ethiopian aristocracy was perhaps at no point more pronounced than when Ethiopian forces commanded by Emperor Menelik II (himself of mixed ancestry) defeated Italian colonial forces at the battle of Adwa in 1896.7 In defence of Ethiopian sovereignty, military leaders from Tigrayan, Oromo and Muslim dynasties commanded distinct regiments that played pivotal roles in one of the most significant military victories against European colonization on the African continent. The particularly complex, hybridized and fluid nature of the term ‘Amhara’ is further evident within the contemporary federal state of the Amhara Region in Ethiopia. Formed in the process of ethnolinguistic federalization during the early 1990s, the Amhara Region of today in Northwest Ethiopia is where Amharic is predominantly the mother-tongue; however, people do not commonly identify themselves as ‘Amhara’ but as ‘Gojjamé’, ‘Shewa’, ‘Gondaré’, ‘Menzé’ (or other localities depending on their regional associations and dialect) or even as ‘Islam’ if they are Muslim.8 Beyond these regional and religious identifiers it is also true that most people considered as ‘Amhara’ continue to self-identify instead as ‘Ethiopian’ or ‘Habesha’ and that ‘the fact remains that 95% of Amhara people have lived under such oppressive political and economic conditions that it is hard to say who was most oppressed’ (Levine 2014: 295). Only very recently has an Amhara nationalist movement materialized in response to the ethnicization of Ethiopian politics, identifying Amhara, too, as an oppressed people. Crucially, the idea of different ethnicities as homogenous linguistic-sociocultural entities in this identity politics overlooks the diversity and interrelated histories of these groups and ignores the history of Ethiopia as an intrinsically interethnic and intercultural polity, forged over thousands of years. While discourses of ‘Amharization’ fuel contemporary political debates and ethnic polarizations within the country, the term is crucially linked to the

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formation of a modern, centralized, geopolitically influential state and is fundamental to understanding a national Ethiopian identity.9 Although the absolute ethnic definition of the term ‘Amhara’ raises many questions, the role of Amharic as a national language was undoubtedly part of the glue that held together a modernizing Ethiopian nation. Although the legacy of Amharic as ‘the majority language of most urban dwelling Ethiopians’ (Appleyard 2003: 233) has eroded over the past two decades, it denotes the constant shift the language has undergone in contemporary Ethiopia. Its perseverance as the working language of Ethiopia has enabled Amharic popular culture (literature, theatre, music, film and TV) to spread through urban centres and along interconnecting threads, now easily reaching populations in the diaspora and beyond. Domestic cinema has succeeded in part due to the position of Amharic in Ethiopia but also due to technological advances that have made it easier and cheaper to produce film, and due to a specific Addis Ababa-centred cinemagoing culture fixated with fiker. A major factor in Amharic films resonating with audiences across Ethiopia and the diaspora is their dialogic use of the Amharic language itself. Amharic is both a key unifier within the viewing experience and within the multilingual and intercultural Ethiopian polity. If, then, a competency in Amharic is the common denominator which binds together spectators of popular Ethiopian films, herein lies the reason why an analysis of Amharic film genres has to be situated within the context of their production and circulation and not rely purely on an analysis of textual conventions. To communicate in Amharic taps into an epistemology in and of itself, rooted in the history of Ethiopia where it has emerged as the working language of the federal state. The fact that the popular and commercially successful cinema in Ethiopia is locally produced in Amharic and is yet to be exported or assimilated outside Ethiopian cultural spheres of influence and is centred mainly in Addis Ababa, leads us to question why this is the case. Understanding the position of the Amharic language in relation to cinema in Ethiopia is necessary in order to address the ethnocentrism of contemporary discourses on Ethiopia. Positioning the book within a view of ‘critical ethnocentrism’ also acknowledges the need to consider important centres and spheres of cultural production while accommodating ‘cultural relativism’ in order to forego any claims of cultural superiority (de Martino 1997). This approach considers my own position in relation to Ethiopia, being an outsider with intimate

Introduction

23

links to the country. These links have been forged through love, trust and respect, and so while I critique all forms of ethnocentrism that claim exclusivity, at the same time my hypothesis understands the concept of fiker as having a particular emotional resonance with Ethiopian senses of belonging and identity that, at the same time may be felt by a non-Ethiopian such as myself. An exploration of the cultural imaginative constructs of Amharic film genres and spectators’ responses to them is, therefore, crucial to contextualizing an analysis of specific filmic texts in situ and to understanding the centrality of particular emotions such as fiker in espousing an Ethiopian sense of belonging. My focus on one particular example of cinema in Ethiopia contests common homogenizing assumptions about Ethiopia and African cultures more broadly. This is particularly relevant in response to traditional studies on ‘African Cinema’ that have been tied to European funding links or language competencies, overlooking early domestic Ethiopian filmmaking (see Chapter 2 that recognizes Hirut Abatwa Mannew (1964) as the first feature fiction film produced in an indigenous African language) and in the wake of a rapidly growing body of scholarship on Nollywood in Nigeria where the transnational, or ‘minor transnational’ (Adejunmobi 2007) reaches of the industry are often too readily accepted as an African-wide phenomenon. A detailed exploration of Ethiopian perspectives and experiences of cinema fosters and contributes to new debates in African screen media10 that help to reconfigure the scholarly landscape beyond the dominant model of Nollywood (see Adamu 2007; McCain 2013; Garritano 2013; Jedlowski 2015a, 2015b, 2018; Overbergh 2015; Böhme 2015) or a more traditional focus on African ‘festival’ films. The ambition here is to challenge assumptions about what defines or constitutes Africa, or African cultural production and cinema, thereby contributing to diversifying the ‘single story’ about Africa (see Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2009 TED talk ‘The Danger of a Single Story’) and revealing how heterogeneous and rich the continent and its cultural productions are. Based on a variety of research methods that included interviews and participant observations carried out in Addis Ababa between February and March 2016, work curating a film week in Addis Ababa, shooting a documentary in March and April 2021, influenced by my life being split between London and Addis since 2010, has allowed me a perspective of critical distance while also being rooted in and conditioned by the complexities of Ethiopian cinema as centred in Addis Ababa.

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With regards to popular domestic cinema in Ethiopia, it is difficult to call it a ‘national’ cinema because it is bereft of government support (with the 2017 film policy yet to produce any tangible results) and because it uses Amharic to address its audiences. The industry is also closely tied to the specific context of Addis Ababa, where most films are produced and where its most lucrative market has emerged, becoming structured around urban-centred cinemagoing practices. This Addis Ababa-centric industry formation has given rise to a domestic Ethiopian cinema that is popularly sustained through films that commonly articulate their inclusion in mainstream conceptions of Ethiopian nationhood (see Figures 0.3 and 1.6). However, despite producing nationalistic representations that often reinforce a national cultural hegemony, there does remain space through which internal ethnic and cultural exchanges as well as external interests (often from the diaspora) occur. A culturally conditioned exploration of popular Ethiopian cinema through an investigation of ፍቅር – fiker furthers a new line of inquiry that challenges the dismissive attitudes of some previous scholarship describing popular

Figure 0.3 Ethiopian flags outside the Ambassador Theatre for the closing day of an Ethiopian film week in April 2021. Source: photo by author.

Introduction

25

African cinemas as being melodramatic or romantic in a generalized and pejorative sense (Garritano 2013: 5). Such dismissive attitudes of commercial film production in Africa have since become less common in the scholarship, but the attention of many still remains focused on either festival films or Nollywood. Much of this is due to the accessibility of festivals to academics in America and Europe and the transnational appeal cultivated by Nollywood itself, but there is also a new generation of African-based scholars doing ground-breaking work on a diverse array of screen media-related subjects in multiple African contexts (see the forthcoming African Screen Worlds volume) It is necessary, here, to advocate the relevance of African examples of domestically cultivated cinemas in order to participate in global debates about screen studies (Dovey 2016). A great hope of mine is that this work participates in combating the marginalization of film and screen studies in Ethiopia itself (and Africa more broadly) and contributes to the emergence of a more constructive, analytically nuanced and contextually grounded critical discourse (see Dénommée 2019; Santanera 2019; Böhme 2015; Overbergh 2015; Ureke 2018; Jedlowski 2018; Dovey, Agina and Thomas forthcoming). There is a great need and much further scope for studies that address alternative experiences of popular filmmaking on the African continent, such as in Ethiopia, in order to colour our shared knowledge and understanding of screen worlds and how their diverse configurations impact upon our shared humanity.

Structure of the book The book is divided into three parts to address the breadth and depth of popular Ethiopian cinema. The first part considers the production and exhibition of films in Ethiopia, charting fluctuations and continuities between the past and the present in order to provide an overview and frame through which the research can be properly contextualized. Initially, in Chapter 1, there is an historical mapping of film exhibition and the cinematic spaces in Ethiopia from as early as 1896 during the reign of Emperor Menelik II. It explores the cinematic landscape in Ethiopia before and after the fascist Italian occupation between 1936 and 1941 and then the impact of the Marxist military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. The chapter curates disparate sources from old journals,

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newspaper articles, memoirs, propaganda materials and photojournalism to piece together this history with the aim of understanding what genres of films were shown in Ethiopia before domestic commercial cinema emerged in 2002. Chapter 2 sets out a history of fictional feature film production in Ethiopia and its political economy from the 1960s until the late 2010s. This chapter begins by exploring the financial difficulties which befell the first Amharic feature film productions and the image the country had as a location for films from America and Europe. It then goes on to detail the substantial investments the Marxist regime made in film production in the late 1970s and 1980s. Film production in the 1990s shifted dramatically and this is attributed to the new regime’s lack of interest in the area and it being the target of high taxation policies. The chapter concludes with a breakdown of the developments in the commercial Ethiopian film sector since it emerged in 2002 up until 2016, bringing the focus back to how many films were made in particular periods and the creation of Amharic film genres. Providing such a history of cinema in Ethiopia in Part 1 of the book is intended to stimulate discussion and debate reflecting the diversity and ‘liveliness’ inherent in Ethiopian films and the people who create and experience cinema in Ethiopia.11 The second part of the book offers detailed textual readings of films, identifying important junctures in the development of popular Ethiopian cinema and the emergence of Amharic film genres. Chapter 3 looks into the የፍቅር ፊልም – yefiker film (love film), the genre that set the early blueprint for the commercial viability of Amharic films in the domestic market. Specifically, I examine the first two films that opened up cinemas to local Amharic productions, ቀዝቃዛ ወላፈን – Kezkaza Welafen/Cold Flame (2002) and ጉዲፈቻ – Gudifecha/ Adoption (2002). Particular conventions and similarities are traced, such as the melodramatic tendencies of the films and their romantic social narratives. The renewal of the genre is then discussed with regards to ረቡኒ – Rebuni/Teacher of Traditions (2014) and how issues of fiker are represented in it. The Ethiopian film sector witnessed its largest yearly rise in production in 2007/2008 and, with it, the proliferation of the አስቂኝ የፍቅር ፊልም – assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) genre following the success of የወንዶች ጉዳይ – Yewendoch Gudday/Men’s Affair in 2007. This seminal film is analysed in Chapter 4 along with its impact on the film sector in Ethiopia. How ideas of romance, courtship and sexual desire are bound to patriotic sentiments and

Introduction

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narrative conventions are then explored in relation to the development of the assikiñ yefiker film genre. Taking each genre and its associated films in turn, the book builds a more complete picture of how and why genres emerge and their position within the historical development of the domestic film sector in Ethiopia. Chapter 5 discusses socio-political events, criminality and issues concerning justice, in relation to the emergence of Ethiopian-style thrillers. The ልብ አንጠልጣይ ፊልም – lib anteltay film (suspense film) genre has a more stylistically distinct iconography than other Amharic genres, particularly influenced by film noir, thrillers and action films. Nevertheless, there is a strong element of fiker within the narratives of most films in the genre. How these films engage with issues of violence and justice is detailed in relation to contemporary Ethiopian anxieties. Chapter 6 takes the የቤተሰብ ፊልም – yebeteseb film (family film) as its focus and explores the relative absence of fiker and romance in the genre. With narratives that show the fragility of traditional family life in contemporary Ethiopia, an analysis of early yebeteseb films show how innocent child characters are portrayed as victims of social change while modern family structures fail them. The often tragic and melodramatic events of the early yebeteseb films were superseded by their more light-hearted, feel-good successors. The rise of the child-star Eyob Dawit in relation to the evolution of the yebeteseb film and its inclusion of comedic elements brings the analysis back to the power and importance of laughter in popular Ethiopian cinema. The chapter concludes with an unpacking of Amharic genre terminology used to describe ዩቶጵያ – Utopia (2015) and how the film can be read as containing crucial elements of the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), yefiker film (love film) and yebeteseb film (family film) genres. Analysing how different Amharic genres challenge social norms through genre specific modes of affect while providing cultural familiarity, emphasizes the ability of localized genres to be progressive while ultimately reinforcing, preserving and developing notions of cultural continuity in the face of political and social threats. The final part of the book nuances the understandings of fiker and genre usages by considering the workings of the commercial cinema in Ethiopia. Genre terms are most prominent in Ethiopia when films are being promoted and exhibited and so this context forms the topic of Chapter 7. A paratextual analysis of film posters is used to examine how films become associated with

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different genres from the most explicit examples to the more implicit trends. This is accompanied by an investigation of what genre terms are employed by film promoters, exhibitors and journalists to determine the overlapping local and global nature of genre terminology in Ethiopia. Chapter 8 turns the attention to film producers of popular Ethiopian cinema. Based mainly on interviews with filmmakers in Addis Ababa conducted during 2016, this chapter discusses how genre is often used as a normative tool throughout the different production phases of a film. The exceptions, however, are also relevant and show, for example, that producers often employ English words to describe a film’s genre at premieres in a way that attempts to add an air of distinction. Audiences in Addis Ababa have their own specific understandings of cinema and Chapter 9 draws mainly on short interviews with cinemagoers as they queued for film screenings outside the Cinema Empire in Addis Ababa. As well as discussing these findings, I also note how some cinemagoers attending Ethiopian ‘festival films’ understand these fictional films as ‘documentaries’ and what this says about the melodramatic styles, fast-paced editing and small shot durations of films made within the domestic film sector. Only by delving deeper into how film genres resonate with domestic stakeholder groups can we begin to uncover their importance in sustaining popular film cultures in different contexts throughout the world. The inherent instability and ‘liveliness’ of these genres can further be attributed to the multiple layers of meaning and endless possible interpretations films inspire in their audiences. The conclusion of the book details the affective characteristics that delineate most Amharic film genres and the role culturally specific concepts, such as fiker, play in maintaining the relevance of commercial cinemas reliant on domestic audiences. I then reflect on contemporary Ethiopian cinema in light of COVID-19 and the increased competition from new television stations since 2016 and the rising accessibility of the internet in Ethiopia. Drawing on personal experiences, I close the book with a call for more sustained and systematic research into screen worlds that are produced and/or circulate in different Ethiopian contexts.

Part One

The history We, the wonder plants of cinema screens generation of car-hooters and time-hooted children of past ruins and present insecurities [. . .] we, the strange fruits of present chaos whose dreams are occupied in tales of historic Ethiopics we, who like an abandoned ship drift in the angry waves of time we, who cry ‘Who am I, mother?’ we are to know, condemned to know . . . Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin [1965] cited in Becket and Tebeje (2020: 74)

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1

Film exhibition in Ethiopia – A long history

I preferred the John Wayne character that kills numerous Indians. I identified with the white world; I was hijacked by European and American culture. Haile Gerima cited in Ukadike (2002: 268) Roughly 115 years from the time when the first attempt was made to establish a cinema in Ethiopia – in 2012 – a seven-dimensional movie show simulator1 opened in the capital city, Addis Ababa (billed as the first 7-D cinema in Africa). The time between the establishment of these exhibition spaces was witness to a long and complex history of cinema in the country. In terms of film culture, Ethiopia offers an alternative case study compared with other African countries which favoured a ‘straight to VHS and VCD’ distribution model in the 1990s and early 2000s. Cinemas in Ethiopia play a central role in the nation’s film culture with popular Ethiopian cinema favouring theatrical releases. Even post COVID-19 with a fall in audience attendance resulting from cinemas being closed and releases moving online, cinema refurbishments of old cinemas (such as Cinema Ethiopia) and the building of new complexes continued.2 Larkin’s influential study on cinema and cinemagoing in Kano (Northern Nigeria) and other recent studies highlight the need to broaden the parameters of film studies in order to properly understand the sociocultural impacts and meanings of cinema, moving beyond assumptions of cinema as a ‘universal language’, to explorations of cinema as a hybridized site of distinct global and local exchanges and meanings (Dovey and Impey 2010; Garritano 2013; Jancovich, Faire and Stubbings 2003; Jedlowski 2012; Larkin 2008). At a time, then, when scholars note the decline of cinemagoing across the globe due to the onset of the digital revolution in the new ‘information age’ (see Iordanova

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and Cunningham 2012), it is important to ask why it is that cinema-building, movie-making and cinemagoing enjoyed a renaissance in urban Ethiopia from the early 2000s until the mid 2010s. Cinema is understood here as an inherently modern phenomenon wherein the spectacle of the film, traversing space and time, constitutes a social event in a translocal space (a space in which global exchanges in goods, ideas and people occur). Cinema, as such, is imbued with intrinsic features of modern society, particularly the commodification of leisure-time. Cinema in Ethiopia began life being vehemently opposed by anti-modernizing sectors in a largely conservative society whilst remaining an important trend setter and facilitator between global cultures and more open-minded people. With the advent of locally made digital productions dominating the big screens in the early 2000s, the position of cinema within society shifted dramatically, as it spoke directly to the growing urban populations in the country and specifically Addis Ababa. After licensing stipulations that prevented the screening of DVDs and VHSs in Ethiopian cinemas were lifted in 2002, local video and digital film productions in Amharic rapidly proliferated. This popular, lowbudget and commercially led cultural phenomenon has changed the nature of cinema in the country significantly, with Amharic films usurping the once ubiquitous foreign (mainly Hollywood and Bollywood) films. The appeal of local productions in Amharic inspired increased numbers of cinemagoers, which in turn fuelled the construction of cinemas in the country at a rate not seen since the Italians sought to use cinema as a tool of conquest and subjugation during their brief five-year occupation of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941.3 The more extensive research on other media industries in Ethiopia, such as Meseret Chekol Reta’s The Quest for Press Freedom: One Hundred Years of History of the Media in Ethiopia (2013) and studies by Gagliardone (2011) and Gartley (1997), largely overlook cinema and film. As will become evident, however, there is a growing body of work published on cinema in Ethiopia that is based on systematic, academic study (see Thomas, Jedlowski and Ashagrie 2018). The following historical overview of cinemagoing in this chapter and film production in Chapter 2, bring together what little scholarship there is on the subject, cross-checked and augmented by archival research. The archival research I have carried out has focused primarily on newspapers and

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magazines; from early mentions of cinema and film promotion in Le Courrier d’Ethiopia from January 1927 to February 1936 to film reports and screening information from the Amharic newspaper አዲስ ዘመን – Addis Zemen (New Era) and the English language magazine the Addis Reporter. The various works of historians Richard Pankhurst (1965 and 1998) and Paulos Ñoño (1992) have been crucial in explaining the introduction of cinema in Ethiopia with information provided by a publication by the Addis Ababa Cinema Houses Administration (AACHA) (2007), now the Addis Ababa City Cinema Houses Administration Enterprise, which administers the governmentowned cinemas. Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s (2003, 2015) works on cinema in Italian occupied Ethiopia are detailed and superbly researched studies that address cinema’s capacity for entertainment, propaganda and even subversion during this turbulent period in Ethiopian history. Anecdotes from Michael Lentakis’ memoir (2005), recalling going to the cinema during this period, have proved insightful and support Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s more rigorous research. The contributions entitled, ‘Cinema’ and ‘Film: Ethiopia and Eritrea in Film’, in the various volumes of Encyclopaedia Aethiopica (2003–14) have helped nuance the early history of cinema in Ethiopia and are key sources which discuss the first film productions in the country. Most of the history from the Marxist military dictatorship from 1974 to 1991, known as the Derg period, has been drawn from the Ethiopian Film Corporation’s Derg era publication, ከፊልም ማዳበሪያና መቆጣጠሪያ ዋና ክፍል እስከ ኢትዮጵያ ፊልም ኮርፖሬሽን (From the Film Development and Control Board to the Ethiopian Film Corporation) (1986/7), with other information made available during interviews. The history of video and digital film production set out in this book is greatly indebted to interviews with film insiders and professionals, and the work of Tesfaye Mamo (2006) and Fikadu Limenih (2013) in particular. Furthermore, piecing together this history has been aided by a few unpublished BA and MA theses (in Amharic and English) at Addis Ababa University along with the many articles and blog posts which are helping to fuel the contemporary debate surrounding the film sector in Ethiopia today. More recently, there has been a steady trickle of articles in academic journals which have contributed foundational work and important preliminary studies on experiences of Ethiopian cinema and film (Ashagrie 2013; M.W. Thomas 2015; Jedlowski 2015a, 2015b; Tadesse 2016; Jedlowski and M.W. Thomas 2017; S.W. Thomas

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2020). Along with these peer-reviewed articles are the self-published works by Aboneh Ashagrie (2020) and Yirgeshewa Teshome (2018) that offer more personal accounts. In 2018, a valuable product of our emerging research community on cinema in Ethiopia emerged in the form of the first book-length study on screen media in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa entitled, Cine-Ethiopia: The History and Politics of Film in the Horn of Africa (Thomas, Jedlowski and Ashagrie 2018). Representing the next step in the scholarship, this collection of essays and interviews engages with Ethiopian scholars and film professionals while exploring films produced in other languages within the country and region. Whereas African screen media has faced a dilemma of ‘dematerialization over time, where texts have been divorced from their contexts of production, distribution, exhibition, and reception’ (Dovey 2015: 10), this book keeps these contexts at the forefront of much of the analysis. The archival research I have carried out for these historical chapters further engages with material sources published and circulating in Ethiopia over the past century, addressing some inconsistencies in earlier historical accounts of cinema in Ethiopia. These mistakes can range from confusing the Ethiopian calendar with the Gregorian, to cases of mistaken identity and incorrect descriptions of where cinemas were located in Addis Ababa before the Italian occupation (mistakes I have previously committed and which I attempt to also address below).

Menelik, modernity and movies Cinema was introduced into Ethiopia at the turn of the twentieth century through the modernizing aspirations of Emperor Menelik II. Menelik attempted to establish a modern Ethiopian nation-state, the geopolitical credibility of this endeavour was validated after the victory over the Italians at the battle of Adwa in 1896 and subsequent recognition of statehood in the Treaty of Addis Ababa (Marcus 1995). The encroachment of colonizing European regimes in Africa urged Menelik’s modernizing aspirations to emerge early in his reign, ushering in the establishment, for the first time in

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Ethiopia, of such modern phenomena as a telephone network, railway, a piped water system, radio, modern hospitals, banks, newspapers and parliament, to name only a few examples. Despite it being difficult to pinpoint exactly when cinema was established in Ethiopia, Menelik’s curiosity about cinema allegedly arose after he held discussions with Stévenin, a Frenchman who was one of only a few European traders to operate in Addis Ababa in the 1890s (Michel 1900: 95–101). The first film screening in Ethiopia, mentioned by Paulos Ñoño (1992) in his seminal work on Menelik II’s reign, was shown to the emperor and his ministers in the great hall of his palace on the first of Miyazya, 1889 E.C.4 (9 April 1897). This film is said to have depicted Jesus walking on water which provoked the ministers to pay homage to the images by bowing in veneration (Paulos 1992: 337). The only likely film that coincides with these dates is the five-minute-long La Passion du Christ (The Passion of Christ) (1897), a twelve-scene filmed Passion play performed by the Paris based Société Léar acting troupe, understood to be the first film to depict Jesus (Bakker 2009: 13). Making this connection quite plausible is a study linking the producer of this film, Albert ‘Léar’ Kirchner, with a company named Léar and Co. based in Cairo at around the same time (Bottomore 1996). In his account of the earliest film screening in Ethiopia, Paulos goes on to explain that Stévenin was concerned with how the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church would react, but Menelik was unfazed in his admiration and promotion of cinema (1992: 336). The first attempt at establishing a commercial, public cinema was on the outskirts5 of Addis Ababa in around 1890 E.C. (1897/8), by a Frenchman6 from Algeria (Pankhurst 1968 and 1998, Paulos 1992, Bonnano 2003). His endeavour, however, is said to have been unsuccessful due to the negative reaction of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church clergy who associated cinema with the devil’s work (Mérab 1921; Pankhurst 1968, 1998; Paulos 1992; Bonnano 2003). The Ethiopian public dubbed cinema ‘የሰይጣን ቤት’ – yeseytan bet (devil’s house) with conservative religious opinions negatively impacting on public attendance, leading to the subsequent bankruptcy of the proprietor, who, before leaving the country, sold his projector to the Italian minister, Major Ciccodicola (Pankhurst 1998; Paulos 1992). Ciccodicola promptly presented the projector as a gift to Menelik in an attempt to improve Italy’s status within Ethiopia after the defeat at Adwa (Paulos 1992).

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Menelik’s enthusiasm for cinema increased as he took it upon himself to project religious films in the great hall of his palace, gradually introducing his influential guests to cinema, making it more difficult for them to speak of it as an invention of the devil (Paulos 1992: 337). Unlike the mainly entrepreneurial beginnings of cinema in Euro-American histories as a commercialized entertainment product of vaudevillian shows and fairground spectacle, in Ethiopia, cinema’s origins can be understood more in terms of its use as a pedagogical tool, upheld by the emperor to persuade Ethiopian society, and the powerful Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in particular, to accept modern technology. The literal demonization of cinema, high costs and the immoral aura attributed to it, however, only made it accessible to the few modernizing elites of the country such as Ras Mekonnin and Tekle-Haymanot of Gojjam7 (and later his son, Hailu TekleHaymanot) who, along with the emperor, were reportedly sedulous cinemagoers (Pankhurst 1998). The religious dimension of cinema is significant in the Ethiopian context, both as a tool used for visualizing religious episodes and with the technology being deemed, ‘the work of the devil’. Through the projected visual image, cinema can be seen to be a revelatory instrument used to instruct and enlighten. These visualizations are not too dissimilar, according to the renowned Ethiopian-born film scholar Teshome Habte Gabriel, from the oral stories told in Ethiopian Orthodox churchyards when he was a child. Teshome recounts that he was ‘treated to 1- to 2-hour long verbal visualization of “revelations” as experienced by such prophets as Ezekiel, Elijah or Jeremiah (incidentally, “revelations” in Ethiopic [Amharic] stands for ra’ey, literally meaning “seen with the mind’s eye”)’ (Gabriel 2001: 97). Unlike other African experiences, such as in Ghana, in which Brigit Meyer (2003 and 2015) and Lindsey GreenSimms (2012) explore the religious aspect of video films as they visualize the triumph of evangelical Christian forces over ‘traditional’ occult spectres, in Ethiopia, cinema’s introduction reinforced the entrenched Ethiopian Orthodox Christian beliefs of the ruling classes.8 Despite the apparatus of cinema being stuck in the quagmire of Christian dualism, Menelik’s tactics of harnessing cinema’s revelatory powers, exposing to cinema the same conservative Orthodox clergy who had previously associated all foreign technologies with the devil,9 is testament to Menelik’s conviction in the visual power of cinema.

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Foreigners and early film exhibition According to Paulos and Pankhurst, it was not until 1901/2 E.C. (1908/9/10), when Menelik encouraged the Baicovich brothers to install a Pathé projector in Addis Ababa, that a second attempt at establishing a commercial, public cinema was made. Whilst Paulos says that this business failed after a year due to projector malfunction (1992: 337), Pankhurst (1998) cites Dr Mérab’s 1921 account that the business was abandoned due to lack of public interest after the first month. There was not only caution surrounding the perceived devilish magic of the cinema, but also the concept of paying for something that cannot physically be consumed or used was perceived as money spinning chicanery (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7). Pankhurst (1998) mentions that a Greek migrant made a third and more successful attempt at the original site of yeseytan bet in the early 1920s. Cinema, however, became more established in Addis Ababa during the period of Teferi Mekonnen’s regency and rule as Haile Selassie I, in the period between in 1916 and 1936, due to the continued commitments to modernize Ethiopia by influential members of the aristocracy. Along with the rapid urbanization and development of a thriving cosmopolitan capital city and the general accommodation of urban Ethiopians to other modern inventions such as the train, motor vehicles and cameras, cinema steadily developed a devout following. Of particular note, the cinema trend was aided greatly during this time by the new hotel developments in Addis Ababa that catered to the influx of foreign missions that became established in the country as it cautiously opened up to outsiders. The cinema at the site of yeseytan bet in Tewodros Square, in the early 1920s, was quickly taken over by Monsieur G. Terras, the proprietor of the first hotel in Ethiopia – the Hôtel de France.10 Located on the same site where the Mega Theatre and Wafa Cinema operated in the early- to mid-2000s at Tewodros Square (although now derelict the building is being protected), M. Terras ran the Cinéma Terras as the cinema of the Hôtel de France. Between 1924 and 1925, the Addis Ababa Cinema Houses Administration (AACHA) note that M. Terras screened silent films at a rate of one alad (old money, ½ Menelik thaler)11 for a chair and one mahalliq (old money, 1⁄16 of a Menelik thaler) to sit on a stone, making cinema accessible only to the wealthy new urban population

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of traders, skilled labourers and university students, as well as accommodating the aristocrats, intellectuals and foreigners of Addis Ababa (2007: 40; Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7). The high price of a single ticket was the equivalent to buying a sheep, which meant the cinema was unaffordable for most but was keenly enjoyed by those who could afford it (be they male or female, Christian or Muslim) even though many still perceived cinema as posing a cultural and religious risk – as was apparent when women would regularly be seen covering half their face during screenings as a defence mechanism (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7). It should be noted here that women have always been permitted to go to the cinema unlike in other parts of Africa such as in Muslim areas of Nigeria (Larkin 2008). The Cinéma Terras regularly advertised films between January 1927 and August 1928 in the weekly Addis Ababa-based newspaper, Le Courrier d’Ethiopie. One article on 22 April 1927 reports that a Sunday film programme at ‘le Cinema de l’Hotel de France’ (the cinema of the Hôtel de France) was shown to ‘une sale comble’ (a packed house) and praises the choice of films on show at ‘le palais enchanteur’ (the enchanting palace), indicating a growing appetite for films in Ethiopia at this time (p. 2). Richard Pankhurst (1998) adds that M. Terras also gave cinema shows in Dire Dawa and Djibouti, Dire Dawa being the major transport hub running north-east from Addis Ababa to the port of Djibouti on the southern entrance to the Red Sea. The train link between Djibouti and Addis Ababa (with an intersection at Dire Dawa), and France’s close diplomatic ties with the Ethiopian regime at the time,12 allowed M. Terras to access the French distribution network, meaning that most films in this period originated from France (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7). Cinema in Addis Ababa became more prominent in the late 1920s and early 1930s largely due to the activities of another Frenchman, Monsieur Georges Gleyze. M. Gleyze was an extraordinarily entrepreneurial hotelier and avid organizer of cinema, overlooked by most historical accounts. He established a cinema in 1927 at his Grand Hotel (see Figure 1.1), located in central Arada (also known as Piassa since the Italian invasion in 1936), near where the Cinema Ethiopia now stands (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 19 August 1927). A year later, M. Gleyze helped install the Negus Cinema in the Café de la Bourse, owned by M. Makris and located on the corner of Mekonnen Street, virtually

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Figure 1.1 Addis Ababa, Grand Hotel, Georges Gleyze owner. Source: reproduced by kind permission of Collection Serge Dewel.

next door to the Grand Hotel (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 21 September 1928). Not long after, however, on 5 October 1928 Le Courrier d’Ethiopie ran an article notifying of M. Gleyze’s decision to temporary close the Negus Cinema and the ‘Cinema du Grand Hotel’ due to ‘l’importance des divers services demandés au GRAND HOTEL pendent les fêtes du Couronnement’ (the importance of the various services requested from the Grand Hotel for the coronation) (p. 2). The coronation of Haile Selassie I was not for another twenty-three months and yet, it is clear, such was the magnitude of planned festivities, that there was hardly space for cinemas to operate until after the coronation. Georges Gleyze obviously did very well out of Haile Selassie’s coronation on 2 November 1930. Soon after, in the summer of 1931, he opened his second hotel in Addis Ababa – the Hôtel de l’Europe13 (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 3 July 1931). Then, on 31 July 1931, Le Courrier d’Ethiopie contains the notice that M. Gleyze had relinquished his duties of running the Grand Hotel in order to focus on Hôtel l’Europe and announced Mr E.G. Buccianti (former manager of the Majestic Hotel) as taking on the responsibilities of running the Grand Hotel, now renamed the Royal Hotel. The Royal Hotel was still presented as being the centre of entertainment in Addis Ababa, boasting a cinema, dancing

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and jazz, with a new film programme at the ‘Cinéma du Royal Hotel’ advertised soon after in Le Courrier d’Ethiopie (28 August 1931: 4). A clear sign of the increasing presence of cinema in Addis Ababa appears in August 1932 with the introduction of the first regulations on cinemas, theatres, concerts and meetings by the Municipal Government of Addis Ababa (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 5 August 1932). This is the first recorded formal bureaucratic attempt by an Ethiopian government body to control cinema. The regulations stipulated that every film programme must be approved by a government inspector for a small fee of fifteen thalers, at least eight days before the date of the event, and that the government inspector could block any events that were deemed to negatively affect public safety or morals (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 5 August 1932: 2). It is not clear what direct impact these regulations had on early cinemas in Addis Ababa but there are no reports of film programmes being banned. It seems, rather, that both the introduction of these regulations and the fact that M. Gleyze devoted more time to establishing the Hôtel l’Europe, meant there was less of a buzz about cinema in Ethiopia from 1928 to 1932.

Cinéma-parlant chez Gleyze Georges Gleyze was not away from cinema exhibition for long as he soon returned to Addis Ababa in 1933, revitalizing an enthusiasm for film in the city. His first act upon his return was to inaugurate the cinema of the Royal Hotel as the Royal Cinéma on 15 October 1933 and to promote his plan to introduce sound film, or ‘talkies’ to Ethiopia (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 6 October 1933). It was not long before this plan came to fruition. Le Courrier d’Ethiopie reports on Gleyze’s first projection of sound film taking place at the Imperial Palace in front of Haile Selassie I, other notable members of the Ethiopian aristocracy and foreign dignitaries in late November (28 November 1933). Le Courrier describes the film programme as beginning with Les Croix de Bois (1932), ‘a masterpiece’, and then followed by the short comic Mickey Mouse cartoon Traffic Troubles (1931). The emperor gave a great endorsement of the new ‘cinéma-parlant’ (talking cinema), personally congratulating Georges Gleyze ‘de l’initiative qu’il prenait en introdutsant le premier cinéma parlant à Addis-

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Abeba et souhaita une heureuse réussite au Royal Cinéma’ (on the initiative he was taking by introducing the first talking cinema to Addis Ababa and wished the Royal Cinema every success) (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 28 November 1933: 2). An Ethiopian review of the first sound film programme, describes a special screening held for all the employees of the Addis Ababa Municipality on 14 December 1933 (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 22 December 1933: 2). Melake-Selam, the writer of this review, portrays the audience’s reaction to the screening as, ‘toutes les personnes furent anthousiasmées’ (everyone was overwhelmed) and humorously labels Mickey Mouse and his gang as a bunch of ‘diablotins’ (imps). During the war scenes in Les Croix de Bois Melake-Selam notes, ‘Parmis nousmêmes, il y avait quelques personnes dont les remarques nous firent rire. “Il ne faut pas qu’on braque les canons de notre côté”, disait un vieillard, qui ne connaissait le cinema que par ouidire, et qui n’en croyait pas ses yeaux’ (‘Among us, there were a few people whose remarks made us laugh. “Do not aim the guns at us”, said an old man, who only knew the cinema by listening, as he could not believe his eyes’). The article also includes a deliberation on the differences between silent and sound cinema. In conclusion, Melake-Selam states that while some ‘paysans’ (peasants) were calling this new cinema ‘Diable-parlont’ (devil talkies), in the reporter’s opinion, the images and clear sounds associated with the new talkies enabled for a more believable and immersive experience. Sound being such a key element in the traditional musical and oral arts of Ethiopian cultures, for Melake-Selkam at least, makes the sound cinema seem less shrouded in the mystery and devilish magic previously associated with silent cinema. Georges Gleyze wasted no time promoting sound cinema in Ethiopia. A report in Le Courrier d’Ethiopie on 29 December 1933, describes M. Gleyze’s collaboration with Mr Umberto, a Dire Dawa-based hotelier who also ran the Imperial Cinema, one of the two cinemas in Dire Dawa. This was shortly followed by a report in the 26 January 1934 edition of Le Courrier d’Ethiopie of the first screening of sound cinema in Djibouti, also organized by M. Gleyze (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie, 26 January 1934). There was a further report in April 1934 of a cinema showing at the opening of the Hôtel du Lac in Debre Zeyit (Bishoftu), but Georges Gleyze, for once, was not mentioned in association with this screening (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 13 April 1934).

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Georges Gleyze returned to Addis Ababa in March 1934 to reprise his directorship of the Royal Cinema, renewing the promotion of film in Le Courrier. Between December 1933 and December 1934 Le Courrier contained regular reviews and weekly promotions of the films being screened at ‘Royal-CinémaParlant chez GLEYZE ’ with particular attention given to detailing the names of starring actors and priming prospective audiences with emotive plot points. The rise in cost of going to the cinema in Addis Ababa in 1934, when compared to the prices of Cinema Terras in 1924, is evident in an announcement of a new price listing at the Royal Cinema, along with a statement that the cinema would no longer screen films on Mondays and Tuesdays each week. The price list reveals that the Royal Cinema had a two-tier system of seat pricing, the cheapest being ‘premières’ costing one thaler, followed by ‘secondes’ costing 1.2 thalers. The seating described as ‘fauteuils’ (armchairs) was more expensive at two thalers or four thalers for reservations. The exchange rate fluctuated greatly during this period but according to Richard Pankhurst (1963), in 1934, £1 could buy between 16.47 and 14.50 thalers which means that the cheapest ticket cost roughly £0.06/£0.07 (the equivalent of around £4.30 in 2022) and the most expensive, roughly £0.24/£0.28 (the equivalent of around £20.17 in 2022). Cinema in 1934 was still quite obviously inaccessible to the vast majority of Ethiopians but was targeted at a few who had experienced ‘modern’ forms of foreign education, wealthy aristocrats, merchants and the burgeoning population of foreigners.

Cinema Empire opens, 1934 Between 1934 and 1935 there is mention of at least four cinemas operating in central Addis Ababa (Arada), all within a few hundred metres of each other. On 17 November 1934 the newly built sound cinema, the Empire Palace (also known as the Cinema/Cine Empire (see Figure 1.2) or by the name of its bar, La Perroquet) opened its doors to the public after being inaugurated by Haile Selassie I two days earlier (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 16 November 1934). The present-day Cinema Empire in Addis Ababa still stands in the same location. This cinema and bar business was a joint venture by the Addis-based Greek merchant Mr P. Georgitsis and Addis-based French socialite M. Idot until 26 January 1935, at which point, M. Idot took full control over the running of

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Figure 1.2 The Cinema Empire, Addis Ababa on 28 July 1935. Source and copyright: TopFoto. Photo ID: 0437112.

both the cinema and the bar (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 8 February 1935). The Cinema Empire showed French language Gaumont-Franco-Film-Aubert films such as the comedy Si Tu Veux (1932) (the opening night gala film) and English language Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films such as Mata Hari (1932) featuring Greta Garbo as the titular character; a German spy working as an exotic dancer in Paris during the First World War. In the same edition of Le Courrier d’Ethiopie in which Mata Hari is advertised at Cinema Empire, there is a report announcing Georges Gleyze’s decision to change the name of the Royal Cinema to the Pathé Cinéma, seemingly in response to the new competition from the Cinema Empire (14 December 1934). Not long after this, it seems another cinema opened under the name of Mon Ciné, mentioned intermittently in Le Courrier d’Ethiopie between June 1935 and February 1936. In contrast to the risqué films on offer at the Cinema Empire, reports of Mon Ciné describe charitable events, for example on 13 December 1935 a ‘sèance cinématographique’ was held for benefit of the Association de Bienfaisance des Femnmes Ethiopiennes (Ethiopian Women’s Charitable Association) (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 10 December 1935).

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There is photographic evidence from 1935 showing that the Pathé Cinema, Mon Ciné and Cine(ma) Empire were all in operation that year (with another cinema called the Cinema Apollon probably still in operation during this time too). Photographs of the Grand Hotel, taken in two periods in 1930 and 1935, confirm the reports in Le Courrier d’Ethiopie of the cinema’s rebranding from the Royal Cinema to the Pathé (ፓቴ – Paté) Cinema. The various photos of this cinema and its name changes, however, have added to the confusion surrounding early cinema in Addis Ababa. Photos of the Pathé Cinema were first published in a German publication in 1935 (Rikli 1935) and, subsequently republished in the ‘Cinema’ section in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica (2003) with a nondescript caption explaining that it was ‘one of three cinemas in Addis Abäba in early 1935’ (Bonnano 2003: 745). A similar photo, seemingly taken seconds apart, appears in The City & Its Architectural Heritage Addis Ababa 1886–1941: La Ville & Son Patrimoine Architectural (Giorghis and Gérard 2007) and reprinted in Addis Fortune Vol. 12, No. 583, 3 July 2011 with the accompanying caption incorrectly explaining the image as ‘the entrance to “Le Perroquet,” one of only two cinemas in Addis Abeba in the 1930s’ (p. 26). It is not difficult to see how the Pathé Cinema could be assumed to be Le Perroquet from this image, due to the several multi-coloured cockerels emblazoning the building’s façade, perhaps being mistaken for parrots, instead of the Pathé’s famous trademark. There is also a photo of the Pathé Cinema dated 1935 by the renowned photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt, taken at a closer point and a lower angle, which clearly depicts a group of five Ethiopian men inspecting a French film poster for the 1929 film Midstream, ominously titled in French as A Moi . . . Satan! (1929). This photo has also been misleading in that it prompts assumptions to be made that associate the cinema in the image with the original yeseytan bet at Tewodros Square, due to the connection made with this film poster and the prominence of the word ‘Satan’ upon it.

Waugh between Mon Ciné and the Cinema Empire The British author, Evelyn Waugh’s account of Addis Ababa during his trip to cover the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935, entitled Waugh in Abyssinia, does not mention the Pathé Cinema or M. Gleyze in the escapades of fellow

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correspondents and high-society in Ethiopia at the time. Waugh, along with fellow British correspondent William ‘Bill’ Deedes, only shed light on Mon Ciné and the Cinema Empire and their daily operations as directed by French women (Waugh 2012 [1936]; Deedes 2003). Waugh and Deedes recount how they would regularly frequent these cinemas but, despite their accounts, there remains discrepancies in the actual names they use to describe the two establishments. While both refer to (Le) Perroquet (Cinema Empire) as being run by Madame Idot; Waugh refers to ‘Madame Moriatis’ (likely a misspelling of ‘Moraitis’) as the manager of ‘Le Select’, whereas Deedes refers to her cinema as being the aforementioned Mon Ciné. Both cinemas are described as being centres of entertainment in Addis during 1935, seating roughly 150 people each and having their own bars (Le Perroquet was actually the name of the bar at Cinema Empire) that also doubled-up as nightclubs (AACHA 2007; Reta 2013; Deedes 2003). Waugh paints vivid images of the roles these cinemas played in this period as they attracted a mixture of local Ethiopian aristocrats and foreigners. One description explains that in Mon Ciné, while Mme. Moraitis ‘was showing a French version of Peg o’my Heart, her cinema was visited by the picturesque retinue of one of the provincial magnates, who came with women, bodyguard and two half-grown lions who were left on the steps in charge of his slaves’ (2012 [1936]). Another of Waugh’s tales that places cinema at the heart of high society in the Addis Ababa of the early 1930s tells of an event hosted by Haile Selassie I: ‘It was said that the Emperor had intended to give a cinema show after dinner and M. Idot wanted to deflect his guests to the Perroquet [Cinema Empire]. In this he was certainly successful. It was a rowdy night both there and at Mme. Moriatis’s [Mon Ciné]’ (2012 [1936]). This account suggests that Addis Ababa’s high society were patrons of these establishments and that there was enough such clientele to sustain a few cinema businesses in the city at the time. There was allegedly fierce competition between Mme. Idot of Le Perroquet (Cinema Empire) who was from Marseille, and Mme. Moraitis of Mon Ciné (Le Select) from Bordeaux (Waugh 2012 [1936]). In Waugh’s usual sharp style, he remarks: ‘Le Select had pretensions to respectability and occasionally held charity matinées attended by members of the diplomatic corps. There was no nonsense of that kind about the Perroquet. Both prospered on the contrast, because, after an hour in either place, one longed for the other’ (2012 [1936]).

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The more upstanding Mme. Hélène N. Moraitis was married to a member of the longstanding Greek community, the pharmacist, Georges P. Athanassindes, who, nevertheless, was described by Waugh as a ‘handsome cad-Greek’ (2012 [1936]).While Monsieur and Madame Idot were both described in unfavourable terms by Waugh, M. Idot as a ‘hideous cad-Frenchman’ and Mme. Idot as one who ‘indulged in free criticism’. During this time, war between Ethiopia and Italy was well underway (beginning when Italy invaded on 3 October 1935). Waugh describes the effect on these cinemas after riots erupted in Addis Ababa in the wake of Haile Selassie’s evacuation on 2 May 1936 prior to the Italians entering the city on 5 May: ‘The Idots had gone [. . .] M. and Mme Moriatis survived but in sadly reduced circumstances. Le Select had been completely sacked by the riots. Moriatis [. . .] still spoke hopefully of the chic bar, restaurant and cinema which he would build after the rains’ ([1936] 2012). There was such devastation in Addis Ababa due to the lawlessness that swept through the city upon Haile Selassie I’s evacuation that few buildings in central Arada (Piassa) survived. Ironically, looking at photographic evidence from this time shows that the building housing the Cinema Empire was one of only a few to remain relatively intact in central Addis Ababa during this period of upheaval.

The Hellenic-French connection The Greek influence on Addis Ababa’s cinemas during the pre-Italian occupation era was less evident than the French, but it should not be overlooked. Beyond the presence of Mme. Moraitis’ Greek husband, who owned Mon Ciné, the names ‘Philis’ and ‘M. Georgitsis’ appear to be associated with the ownership of cinemas during the same period (Natsoulas 1975). As previously mentioned, M. Georgitsis was a co-founder of Cinema Empire along with M. Idot. The name Philis, however, does not appear in Le Courrier d’Ethiopie but there is mention of a Philis who ran a cinema in a brief Amharic account of early cinema in Ethiopia in the Ethiopian Film Corporation’s publication (1986/7). This publication identifies that Philis’s cinema was located where the present day Ethiopian Electric Power building stands. This location seems to be roughly that of the previously mentioned Negus Cinema of 1928 which was housed in

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Café de la Bourse and owned by the Greek, M. Makis. However, it is not clear whether M. Makis could have been a Mme. Philis Makis or whether Philis was the manager of the other known Greek-run cinema, Cinema Apollon. Looking at photographic evidence of Addis Ababa during this era seems to show a cinema, possibly Cinema Apollon, located across the road from where the Ethiopian Electric Power building now stands, on the same plot that the Ethiopian airlines building now occupies. The first mention of Cinema Apollon in Le Courrier d’Ethiopie is in November 1927 and it appears to have been in operation at least until June 1934, and probably continued to operate until the Italians entered Addis Ababa in 1936. The earlier date of 1927 corresponds more with the 1919 E.C. date given by the Ethiopian Film Corporation publication in relation to the year Philis began screening films (1986/7). One of Dire Dawa’s two cinemas in the early 1930s was Greek-run (the other cinema in Dire Dawa, the previously mentioned l’Imperial Cinema was collaboratively run by M. Gleyze and the Italian, Mr Umberto). This Greek-run cinema was called Ciné National and it played an important community role in this rapidly growing transit town. The cinema’s proprietor in 1931 was Mr Alexandros who allowed his cinema to be used, for example, to host a matinée for the schools of Dire Dawa organized by the Hellenic Community, in which a Charlie Chaplin film was screened (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 20 November 1931). There are then later reports of Ciné National being managed by Mr Koutalis in 1933. The price of admission is recorded as being 1½ thalers before the introduction of talkies (Le Courrier d’Ethiopie 18 August 1933: 4). Although the price of entry seems relatively high at the Ciné National compared to the cheapest tier at M. Gleyze’s Addis-based, talkies-showing Royal Cinema a year later, it is difficult to ascertain the relative costs in each locale during these two periods due to the volatility of the silver-based thaler in the early 1930s. It is clear that before the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in 1936 there was much interest in film, particularly from Ethiopia’s modernizing elites and those foreigners who courted their interests. In Addis Ababa, as well as the long-running Cinema Apollon, the enterprising exploits of Georges Gleyze at the Royal Cinema (later the Pathé Cinema), and the later arrivals of the Cinema Empire and Mon Ciné, hotels had long hosted screenings and, indeed, hosted cinemas since the Cinéma Terras which was run out of the Hôtel de France in the early 1920s. Likewise, in Dire Dawa, the hotel ran by Mr Umberto,

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seemingly a subsidiary of George Gleyze’s hotel portfolio in Addis, also had a cinema, l’Imperial Cinema, which competed with the Ciné National for the cinema-going public of Dire Dawa. Most significant of these early film exhibition spaces in Addis Ababa for the future cinema of Ethiopia, however, is perhaps the little-mentioned intermittent film shows at the Hotel Majestic, owned by the Greek-born Asterios Papatakis and his Ethiopian wife Weleta Amanuel Weldeyes. As the parents of one of Amharic cinema’s pioneers, Michel Papatakis, director of the first Amharic colour film ጉማ – Gouma/Blood Money in 1974, Michel refers to the Majestic Hotel as providing an early film education for him and his cineaste brother, the noted director of French films from the 1960s onwards, Nikos Papatakis (Michel 2013).

Italian occupation The cinema landscape in Ethiopia experienced a tremendous upheaval (along with much of the country) in 1936 after all the cinemas were damaged or destroyed (along with most of downtown Addis) in the wake of the Fascist Italian regime taking control of the city (AACHA 2007; Lentakis 2005). Despite the city suffering severely, the Italians sought to make Addis Ababa the capital of their new colony, Africa Orientale Italiana (AOI),14 as it symbolized the birth of a new Italian Empire whilst inheriting the apparatus and high stature of the old regime. By this time, however, Addis Ababa was much more than the ‘non-urban city’ or even ‘nearly blank slate on which they [the Italian planners] laid out their grand designs’ (Fuller 2007: 197). On the contrary, as we have seen with the early history of cinema in Addis Ababa, the city had grown and cautiously adapted to social changes brought on by Ethiopia’s engagement with modernizing ideals. Indeed, Menelik II and his successors (particularly Haile Selassie I) had encouraged and integrated a mix of populations from all over the Ethiopian Empire and Europe; these people spoke a wide variety of languages, including Amharic, Oromiffa, Tigrinya Gurage, Greek, Arabic, Armenian, French, English, Italian, Russian and various Indian languages; and many religious groups were represented in Ethiopia, including Ethiopian, Greek, Armenian, Egyptian and Russian Orthodox Christianity, Beta Israel (Ethiopian Judaism), Islam, Roman Catholicism and

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non-monotheist religions. This created a far more cosmopolitan city than many European cities. Addis Ababa, then, was hardly the static social entity Italian planners had supposed it to be in 1936 when the city fell, failing to comprehend ‘the city’s boomtown atmosphere’ (Fuller 2007: 199) that the account of cinema’s establishment in the city in this period affirms. It was at this time that the dynamics of cinema and cinemagoing in Ethiopia changed radically as the Italians adopted the large-scale use of cinema as a crucial instrument of propaganda, aimed at their own nationals as well as the ‘natives’ (Bonnano 2003). The Italians re-built the old cinemas of Arada (and renamed Arada ‘Piassa’), and such was the proliferation and strict state control of new cinema building by the Italians in occupied Ethiopia, Mia Fuller explains that cinema was promoted in Addis Ababa ‘as though they [the Italians] had first brought it there’ (2007: 198). The French influence on the cinemas of the past was quickly superseded by this Italianization as evidenced with Mon Ciné being rebuilt as the Cinema Romano and the Supercinema Teatro Italia (see Figure 1.3) being built on the site of the Pathé Cinema, while

Figure 1.3 The 1937 grand opening of the Supercinema Teatro Italia, Addis Ababa. Source: public domain. Photo by Jose Antonio.

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the Cinema Empire was simply renamed the Cinema Impero – the only cinema that exists today that has remained largely intact since opening in 1934. Salvatore Ambrosino’s research on the subject describes the Italian obsession with promoting cinema as films became ‘boom business in Italian Africa’ (cited in Ben-Ghiat 2003: 54). Ruth Ben-Ghiat furthers this research, explaining, By March 1939, there were forty cinemas in Ethiopia with a total of 30,000 seats; by 1940, this number had grown to fifty-five cinemas with 60,000 posts. The Supercinema Teatro Italia in Addis Ababa held 1,200 people alone, and by 1940 plans were under way for structures that held up to 2,400 people. Racial politics dictated separate seating areas for Italians and Africans, and as the number of theatres grew, colonisers and colonised increasingly saw films in separate venues, although local notables had places reserved for them in Italian cinemas. Ben-Ghiat 2003: 54–5

The built space of cinema, therefore, became imbued with an aura reflecting the power dynamics of colonial supremacy, with even the infamous Italian collaborator, Ras Hailu Tekle-Haymanot,15 becoming the first Ethiopian proprietor of a cinema, Cinema Ras Hailu, in the Addis Ketema district of Addis Ababa, built in 1938 (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7; AACHA 2007). Cinemagoing was popularized by the Italians throughout Ethiopia in this era, not only due to the increased number of urban, built cinemas (in Addis Ababa, Adwa, Bahir Dar, Dessie, Dire Dawa, Gondar, Harar and Jimma to name only a few locations) but also because the Italians provided statefunded travelling cinemas which toured rural Ethiopia, projecting their propaganda where the majority of the Ethiopian population lived, drawing crowds in their thousands (Ben-Ghiat 2003, 2015). Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s work explores many impacts of cinema under Italianoccupied rule (2015). She highlights the dichotomy between the Italians’ concept of cinema as a powerful tool of conquest, fascist propaganda and white supremacy, and the interpretation of cinema by Ethiopian spectators positioned in an alternative sociocultural context, enjoying the spectacle and even subverting16 the narratives of films (Ben-Ghiat 2003, 2015). Ben-Ghiat concludes that because of the Fascist Italian film policy being under-funded and unrealistic, ‘films would be ineffectual agents of collective change’ (2003: 59). This idea resonates with Lentakis’ experiences of cinema in Italian-occupied Addis Ababa

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as he mentions being shown ‘films of their army and industry, but we were most interested in watching the cartoons. These [cartoons] of course were a tremendous improvement over what we had been watching’ (Lentakis 2005: 58, my emphasis). Despite the fascist Italian regime’s intentions for cinema as propaganda, like other Italian legacies in Addis Ababa, it had a greater impact on the particular modernizing experiences in the country by reaching more urban and rural audiences. Lacking the financial commitment to set up film production units in Ethiopia and due to the popularity and cost-effectiveness of Hollywood films compared to the relatively small size of the Italian film industry, the Italians opted to screen a majority of American films during this period (BenGhiat 2015). These films, as a result, arguably had a greater influence on Ethiopian society than did Italian films. It is perhaps the influences rooted in American materialist society, deemed immoral and ‘un-Ethiopian’, which dominated the understanding of cinema within the Ethiopian cultural imagination in the years which followed.

Reclaiming and renaming cinemas After Haile Selassie returned from exile in 1941, cinema and the Italiancontrolled distribution and exhibition structures suffered near-collapse as it was no longer supported by state sponsors. Furthermore, in 1943 proclamation No. 37 was passed and became the Entertainments Censorship Law which granted government legal power to censor and collect fees from films and theatrical works. The two main criteria by which censors judged works continued to be vaguely related to ‘public security and decency’ (Reta 2013: 158). Cinema in Ethiopia was, once again, left to private, business-minded foreigners who had to forge links with global distribution circuits. Despite cinemas being run by foreigners, tickets became much more affordable which helped to sustain an emerging cinemagoing culture amongst Ethiopians, particularly within the growing student demographic. The previous Italianized names of cinemas were quickly replaced with Ethiopian ones. Cinema Cinque Maggio (also known as Cinema Camboni and situated in the old AAU Science Faculty building at Arat Kilo) became Cinema

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Ejersa Gorro (also known as Cinema Genet). Monsieur and Madame Idot returned to Addis Ababa with the liberation forces and took control of the Supercinema Teatro Italia, changing its name to the Cinema Ethiopia (AACHA 2007). M. and Mme. Idot later left for Djibouti in 1949, leaving the Cinema Ethiopia in the hands of Djibouti nationals Hussein Kassim and his son Nadim Kassim, who continued to operate the cinema until the end of Haile Selassie I’s reign in 1974 (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7). The Cinema Empire, in the meantime, was administered by Armenian nationals, first by a Mr Bilalyan and then by George Marialis and Artin Ashavian until around 1971 when an Italian couple from Asmara took over the cinema’s management (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7, AACHA 2007: 40). Cinema Marconi, only partly built by the Italians before their expulsion, was amongst the first cinemas to open in post-liberation Ethiopia in 1941, becoming the 350-seater Cinema Adwa, operated by the Armenian Robert Djerrahian. The building was later taken over by the Addis Ababa Municipality, expanded to a capacity of 1,260 seats and renamed the Haile Selassie I Theatre in 1955 (changed to the Ethiopian National Theatre in 1974) to mark the occasion of the emperor’s silver jubilee. The theatre was predominantly used for theatre and the promotion of Ethiopian music but also frequently hosted film screenings (today, it remains a popular venue for film premieres). According to Aboneh Ashagrie (2020), Robert Djerrahian took over Cinema Ras Hailu (known as the Cinema or Theatre Ras after Ras Hailu TekleHaymanot was arrested on Haile Selassie I’s return from exile) in 1966, after it had intermittently operated as a cinema since 1941. Robert Djerrahian then opened two new low-cost cinemas in the same district as Cinema Ras called the Cinema Addis Alem and the Cinema Addis Ketema (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7). The cheap construction of these cinemas meant that they were not well ventilated and despite their cheap tickets of between twentyfive and fifty centimes, they ceased operations after about four years (Ashagrie 2020). Another short-lived and novel attempt to attract Ethiopian cinemagoers during this time was the Drive-In Theatre, which as the name suggests, was a drive-in cinema in Kotebe (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7). The more successful cinemas established during Haile Selassie’s postliberation reign between 1941 and 1974 were the big capacity projects. Robert Djerrahian and Tesfaye Kejela jointly operated the 1,447-seater Ambassador

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Theatre, built in 1966/7 (see Figure 1.4) which, to this day, remains the cinema with the largest capacity in Ethiopia. The Addis Ababa City Hall, completed in 1964, is still a social and administrative centre around Piassa, housing the Addis Ababa municipal offices along with a cinema-theatre auditorium on the second floor. The renovated Hager Fiker Theatre (1954) and other theatres primarily hosted stage plays but also had regular film screenings from the late 1960s (AACHA 2007). By 1978, there were at least eight permanent built cinema-theatres operating in Addis Ababa with seven operating throughout other large urban Ethiopian centres (with an extra seven in operation in Asmara); these cinemas screened popular American and Indian films, and to a lesser extent Egyptian and European films (Warren and Warren 1978). As well as Robert Djerrahian and Tesfaye Kejela of the Ambassador Theatre, Nadim Kassim of the Cinema Ethiopia and the Italians at the Cinema Empire, Abdi Udduza and a Mr Ibrahim also managed cinemas at this time (Fantu 2016). Specific cinema managers had agreements with different international distributors. Robert Djerrahian had agreements with 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros while Nadim Kassim at Cinema Ethiopia had agreements with United Artists and Columbia Pictures (Fantu 2016). Egyptian and Lebanese

Figure 1.4 The Ambassador Theatre in the late 1960s. Source and copyright: photo by Ron Hains.

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film distributers also played an important role particularly in providing films that were less likely to fall foul of the Film Review Board’s new policy, that called foul on anything associated with ‘sex or on matters contrary to Ethiopian culture and tradition’ (Ross 1969, cited in Bromber 2013: 1923).

Genre imports Hollywood films and genres were popular in Ethiopian cinemas since the time of the Fascist Italian occupation until commercial Amharic cinema properly established itself in the early 2000s. Looking at the types of films that were screened in Ethiopian cinemas before the emergence of a commercially viable Amharic cinema allows us to consider what trends came before and whether they have influenced the current system of Amharic film genres. I do this by piecing together a potted history, chasing the shadows of past projections by garnering information from interviews with filmmakers, film advertisements in magazines and photographic sources and by interpreting how cinema was written about in popular Amharic novels of the past as a form of reception analysis. Writing in the late 1970s for the journal Horn of Africa, Herrick and Anita Warren (1978) explain that cinemas in Ethiopia ‘all showed American, European, Egyptian and Indian films. The patterns of film distribution are quite inflexible and are not open to innovation. The particular distribution circuit of which Ethiopia is part, originated in Europe’ (57). Although they do not mention which films have been shown, the Warrens cite an Addis Ababa cinemagoer as complaining that foreign educated Ethiopians like him were ‘starving for good movies . . . serious movies . . . but we cannot ever hope to see them in the theaters’ (1978: 57). It seems that genre films were the most common films to be screened, the Warrens mention in particular a well-known exhibitor depending on ‘American adventure films’ (1978: 57). The French films of the 1920s and 1930s introduced cinema to Ethiopian audiences and, despite being only very limited in their reach, the talk about cinema or seytan bet, would have referred to these early French films, mainly from Gaumont, Éclair and Pathé. As well as these, there is photographic evidence from renowned photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt’s 1935 and 1955

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visits to Ethiopia supporting the notion that mainly genre films were shown in these periods. In his 1935 photos, we see the Pathé Cinema and two separate films advertised in French alluding to the cinema’s inclusion in a French distribution network. The films advertised are the ‘thrill’ comedy Never Weaken (1921) starring Harold Lloyd and the science fiction film Midstream (1929), in French A Moi . . . Satan! These French posters may well have played a role in making cinema appear dangerous, and possibly a conscious advertising strategy to play on the cinema’s association with fear, thrills and the work of the devil. There is, no doubt a risqué element to some of these early films, but it is perhaps the Mickey Mouse sound cartoons and the slapstick comedy of Charlie Chaplin that could achieve a wider appeal. Film posters photographed outside Cinema Ethiopia by Eisenstaedt in 1955 advertise the screenings of the crime dramas/film noirs Three Steps North (1951) and Dramma nella Kasbah/The Man From Cairo (1953), and the Italian melodrama Noi peccatori/We, Sinners (1953), these films feature strong Italian connections and are an indication of the links many exhibitors and distributors still had with Italy after the occupation. The adventure/action films, Bengal Brigade (1954), The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1941) and Captain Video, Master of the Stratosphere (1951) also appear in these photos each representing the various spectrums of the adventure/action genre, respectively a war movie, swashbuckler picture and a sci-fi film. Another image depicts an Egyptian musical diffuse with melodramatic tendencies called Habayibi kthyr/MuchLoved (1951), with all these images supporting the claims made by the Warrens that genre films, particularly action and crime dramas/film noirs and even musicals were the norm. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Addis Reporter magazine, published by the Ethiopian Patriotic Association and edited by the renowned writer Baalu Girma, contained information on what films were screening in the city. In the 7 February 1969 issue, the Haile Selassie I Theatre is listed as showing The Liquidator (1965), the Ambassador Theatre – Oceans 11 (1960), City Hall – Hotel (1967) and the Cinema Ethiopia – Kaleidoscope (1966). The Liquidator and Hotel both feature Rod Taylor as the lead in two of his better received films during this era, full of subterfuge and sexual innuendo. The fact that two old Rod Taylor films are playing at two different cinemas in the same weeks suggests that Rod Taylor was a popular actor in Addis at the time, particularly

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known for his suave nature in action and western films in the 1960s and 1970s. Oceans 11 and Kaleidoscope also play on similar themes and ideas, with both their narratives constructed around the central premise of robbing casinos. All these films project images of suave, cunning and virile men who mix with the rich and wealthy but, at the same time, reveal the corruption and folly to which such wealth may lead. Crucially there are strong elements of comedy, action/ suspense and romance in all of these films; elements that have taken central roles in Amharic film genres.

Hollywood allure and corruption Many references to Hollywood films and actors are made within a multitude of Amharic novels throughout the twentieth century. The most prevalent response to Hollywood films in these novels is a moralistic and didactic one, viewing romantic and social elements in American films as being in conflict with traditions in Ethiopian society, and displaying a particular anxiety around the influences of Hollywood in down-town Addis Ababa and on the Ethiopian youth. In the novel መሰላል – Meselal/Ladder, by Mengistu Gedamu ([1959 E.C.] 1966/7), the young protagonist El-Tex (whose name alludes to Texas, a setting synonymous with cowboys and westerns) imitates the Hollywood stars in both his mannerisms and dress after frequenting the cinema situated in the ‘በረሃ – bereha’ (the nickname of the area where the red-light district in Addis used to be). El-Tex is depicted as an honest but unpatriotic man who becomes corrupted by his American experiences. Filled with self-importance after returning from studying in America and marrying an English woman, El-Tex turns his wife into a ‘ladder’ in order to use her wealth and connections to get ahead, with the novel critiquing the way Ethiopians take advantage of foreigners and foreign ideas for their own ends. The message of the story is that foreign influences, epitomized by cinema, lead to moral bankruptcy and a loss of an Ethiopian identity. The example of this novel gives a strong sense of the effect that Hollywood films had on people at the time, encouraging ‘middle-class aspirations’ and inspiring cinemagoers ‘to imagine themselves as international, bourgeois subjects – stylishly dressed, well-spoken, and, most importantly, modern’, not

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unlike the effect that they had on South African audiences of the same era (Dovey and Impey 2010: 60). The cinema is often noted to be particularly popular amongst groups of young women, both today and in the past, with lessons of love, emancipation of youth and the modern, cutting-edge fashion styles of Hollywood attracting them (Fantu 2016). However, it was these same ideological themes of Western individualism, consumer capitalism and implicit erotic desire, innate in the ideology of Hollywood productions, which proved controversial when films were exported to places such as Ethiopia and perceived as propagating forms of moral impoverishment and spiritual desolation.

Socialism on big and small screens The Derg’s rise to power in 1974 brought about a significant ideological change regarding cinema in Ethiopia. Cinemas were nationalized and strict censorship brought in, for a time all foreign films apart from a few Russian films such as the romantic Russian/Japanese co-production Moscow My Love (1974) playing at the Ambassador Theatre in 1974 were banned. The ban, however, spelled financial disaster for cinemas as attendance numbers plummeted. After meeting with film importers, the Derg quickly lifted the ban17 which opened cinemas to American and Indian films again whilst Hong Kong Kung-Fu films also arrived (Dilalew 2008). Despite this U-turn, the Derg maintained strict censorship aimed at rejecting and restricting films that depicted criminal acts, strong violence, subversive political messages and debauchery (Shah 2007). The Soviet influence was also maintained as cinemas such as the Ambassador Theatre held Soviet film weeks during which classic soviet films such as Battleship Potemkin (1925), headlining a 1979 event, were shown. Foreign films have featured prominently on television since the formation of Ethiopian Television (ETV now Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation – EBC) in 1964. During Haile Selassie’s reign, a slot in the daily service, which aired for roughly six hours every evening, was dedicated to foreign films mostly from America (Reta 2013). During the first eight years of the Derg regime, however, all Western films were banned and films from the USSR were featured prominently (Reta 2013). As these films were often documentaries and in

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foreign languages Reta states that the majority of the ‘Ethiopian audience could not relate to them’ (2013: 205). To combat this, ETV produced local dramas and programmes which proved popular successes and were key to the development of production technicians trained on-the-job (Reta 2013). Reta also notes that the demand for films was finally realized when the Derg regime lifted an embargo on the import of certain films from the West ‘that were not considered subversive to the mission of the revolution’, these films along with the Soviet films made up 37 per cent of the daily service’s airtime (Reta 2013: 204). The high profile of foreign films featured in the daily programming of ETV is evidence of the strong demand and high exposure Ethiopian television audiences had to foreign films since the establishment of ETV.

Bollywood and a new love Where Hollywood films often polarized opinions in Ethiopia, Bollywood films proved successful in drawing together larger and more diverse audiences across generational, ethnic, religious and class divides (Shah 2007). The Ethiopian filmmaker, writer, director and actor Michael Million states how Bollywood films inspired him to become involved in making films, particularly referring to the ‘human and moral messages’ the films convey (Michael Million, interview, 15 February 2016). Before the term ‘yefiker film’ (love film) was used to describe an Amharic film genre, it was in use as a descriptor of Bollywood films by Ethiopian audiences. Kasim Meka, an avid Ethiopian fan of Bollywood, for example, explicitly refers to the Hindi film Gunga Jumna (1961) as a ‘yefiker film’ (Fantu 2016). Even though the film is described as an Indian dacoit (an Indian bandit) crime drama or dacoit western (Teo 2017; Ghosh 2013) and as portraying moments of ‘rustic comedy, romance, tragedy and villainy’ (Mahan 2010), it is Dinesh Raheja’s (2002) interpretation of the film as a ‘morality drama’ that resonates most with the contemporary Amharic yefiker film. It is these moralizing tendencies of popular Amharic films, entwined in competing conceptions of fiker that may be similarly recognized in the melodrama of such Indian films. Typically, the core melodrama of Indian films acts to critique society by representing reified cultural and religious elements in opposition to the

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tensions and global desires of India’s transition towards modernity (Nandy 1998; Vasudevan 2000; Larkin 2008). Likewise, popular Ethiopian films display an affective melodrama that negotiates between traditional concepts of ‘fiker’ and modern notions of ‘love’ to probe questions into contemporary Ethiopian society. The concept of melodrama as an underlying tendency in cinema such as in Hollywood and Bollywood films finds expression in multiple and various contexts and styles, each asking similar questions but representing specific world views. The passions of love often appear through melodramatic modes in different contexts, with similarities also arising in the structure and centrality of melodrama to cinema across the globe. Melodrama as a mode of emotive commercial cinema plays a central role in the negotiation of foreign genres that mix and become hybridized with localized ideologies, resonating through similar narrative structures of moral oppositions, high emotion and sensational events. In this sense then, melodrama becomes a form that goes ‘beyond genre’ (D. Thomas 2000) in the reified, conventional sense, although in the Ethiopian case, it is the yefiker film genre that can be seen as the early progenitor for the system of Amharic genres and the form that planted fiker at heart of Ethiopian cinema. The theme of love in society, represented by Bollywood films from the 1950s onwards, was dealt with differently to Hollywood films of the same era, positioning the extended family as key to any narrative resolution with youths ultimately convincing older generations of the virtues of marrying for love (Fair 2009). Instead of a flagrant disregard for (or even absence of) parents and the family, as often seen in Hollywood films of the era, Bollywood films shown in Ethiopia resonated with the moral, cultural and perhaps most importantly spiritual sensitivities of both Orthodox Tewahedo Christian and Muslim Ethiopia. Despite many Ethiopians not being familiar with Hinduism, the religion was often read as a traditional element in films as opposed to the ‘Westernization’ and secularization represented by Hollywood. Major Bollywood themes, such as generational struggles, class divisions and a changing conception of love (Nandy 1998; Dwyer 2000; Vasudevan 2000) crucially reflected issues experienced in Ethiopian society. As Laura Fair notes when explaining the popularity of Bollywood in Zanzibar: ‘Indian films addressed global generational tensions, yet resolved them in ways that affirmed local moral codes’ (2009: 66). These observations are similar to what Brian

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Larkin notes in Hausa society where Bollywood is favoured over Hollywood as the ‘images of modernity they [Indian films] offer are mediated through a concern for maintaining traditional social relations and so they run parallel to, similar yet different from, the modernity offered by westernization’ (1997: 433). The reception of Indian films in Ethiopia throughout the 1970s until the early 2000s certainly echoed Larkin’s and Fair’s remarks. That being said, Cinema Ethiopia was still screening the moralizing Hollywood romantic comedy A Blast from the Past (1999) alongside the Bollywood ‘action’ (Times of India 2016) film Chamku (2008) in 2015 (Fantu 2016). It is particularly action films or romantic comedies/dramas from Hollywood and Bollywood that were traditionally screened in the morning slots of the three large government-owned cinemas of the Cinema Empire, the Cinema Ethiopia and the Ambassador Theatre, while the Matti Multiplex (and a couple of more recently opened mall-based cinemas: Century Cinema and GAST Cinema) ran their business based on screening mainly Hollywood blockbusters. These Hollywood films, however, only took up part of the screening schedule of these multiplex styled cinemas with select Amharic films also usually shown. The fact that Amharic films compete with Hollywood films in the most expensive and American-like cinemas in Ethiopia points to the popularity of domestic cinema in the country. It is these popular Ethiopian films, which have emerged into a distinct system of genres that capture the imaginations of most Ethiopian cinemagoers in Addis Ababa as they borrow from global film genres and local sources that this book shall discuss in depth in the following chapters.

The decline of cinemas and the rise of video houses Through the 1990s under the prime ministership of Meles Zenawi, cinemas suffered and even closed, with licensing stipulations forbidding anything other than 35mm film screenings, forcing cinemas to continually screen old celluloid Hollywood and Bollywood films (apart from the occasional premiere of locally produced video films which needed explicit government approval). With the proliferation of video technologies and the desire to watch new content, the rise of cheap, one-birr-per-head18 video-viewing houses across Addis Ababa

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and other urban centres in Ethiopia became instantly popular, catering to the ever-growing numbers of rural migrants coming to the cities, on top of an already large population of poor, largely male urban youth (Dilalew 2008). The Addis Ababa Trade and Tourism Bureau, charged with granting licenses to video-houses, estimated that in the early 1990s there were roughly 25019 such places. These video-viewing houses showed a wide range of films, from freely pirated local productions to pirated Hollywood and Bollywood films, as well as accommodating the sudden influx of pornography in the country. In the face of the video-viewing houses and the licensing stipulation preventing screening VHS and DVDs in the cinemas, locally made video-productions and cinemas struggled for economic viability unless they had implicit government support (Tesfaye 2006).20 Even when regional governments gave permission for certain films to be screened, as with Tesfaye Mamo’s ፍቅር መጨረሻ – Fiker Mecheresha/The Edge of Love (1994), the lack of state funding and the relatively low penetration of VHS players threw up more obstacles for local filmmakers.

New cinemas for a new era The first privately-run cinema in Ethiopia was built in 2002, by the worldfamous marathon champion Haile Gebreselassie. At first the Alem Cinema showed theatre productions and Hollywood films but, after a concerted effort lobbying the government to change the rules governing public film screenings from many budding entrepreneurial video-filmmakers and managers of the cinemas and theatres, the government conceded, allowing cinemas to open up to Amharic productions. The licensing stipulation which prohibited screening video or digital films in the cinema was lifted in 2002 allowing commercially successful screenings of films by filmmakers who had been at the forefront of lobbying the government. Particularly notable is the 2002 releases of Tewodros Teshome’s, ቀዝቃዛ ወላፈን – Kezkaza Welafen/Cold Flame and Tatek Tadesse’s ጉዲፈቻ – Gudifecha/Adoption (2002) which proved to be the first significantly commercially successful Amharic films (being considerably cheaper to make than previous celluloid attempts), ushering in the first boom period for

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Ethiopian cinema and an era of yefiker film melodramas. The success of such films spurred cinemagoing in Addis Ababa in particular, with governmentowned cinemas also now screening domestic productions (relegating foreign films to the most unpopular morning show-times), progressively reconfiguring the cinematic experience in Ethiopia towards popular, Ethiopian made digital film productions in Amharic. Due to the re-birth of Ethiopian filmmaking in Addis Ababa and the hostile stance producers had towards piracy (which is seen as being associated with the video-viewing houses), built cinemas presented the most legitimate space for screening features. Film producers in Ethiopia, therefore, preferred theatrical releases aimed at a narrower demographic, predominantly the growing urban working and middle classes of Addis Ababa, both male and female. This is unlike the early experiences of popular domestic films in Nigeria and Ghana, for example, where screenings in theatres did not provide much economic return and so mostly straight-to-video distribution models were adopted.21 Spurred on by the cinemagoing trend, cinemas were built and operated by local businessmen at a rate not seen since the Italian occupation in 1936. By the end of the 2000s there were roughly twenty cinemas operating in Addis Ababa. Along with the Alem Cinema, other privately-owned cinemas established by Ethiopians in this period were the Yoftahe Cinema, Agona Serawit Cinema, Sebastopol Cinema (see Figure 1.5), Eyoha Cinema (the first cinema in Ethiopia run by an Ethiopian woman (Eyerusaleam 2018)) and Embilta Cinema, all of which exclusively showed Ethiopian films. The Matti Multiplex in Edna Mall was established in 2008, targeting a gap at the higherend of the market, showing mainly the latest Hollywood films. During this early boom period in popular Ethiopian cinema, the government-owned cinemas of the Ambassador Theatre, Cinema Empire and Cinema Ethiopia (see Figure 1.6) did very well due to their lower prices. The latest Ethiopian films were also screened increasingly in traditional theatres such at the Hager Fiker Theatre, Ras Theatre, City Hall Theatre, Mega Amphitheatre (which included the Wafa Cinema, established on the original site of yeseytan bet) and the National Theatre. An important characteristic of the film exhibition sector in Ethiopia is the lack of any exhibitor association. Until Abiy Ahmed became prime minister of

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Figure 1.5 The Sebastopol Cinema, 2006. Source: screenshot from ‘Film Industry in Ethiopia enjoying a Boom’ © AP.

Figure 1.6 The Cinema Ethiopia, 2021. Source: photo by author.

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Ethiopia in 2018 and made widespread reforms, including making it possible to screen a film without a licence in 2018 (Astatike 2018), the previous requirement that films have a screening licence from the government censors, long discouraged filmmakers from exploring issues relating to politics, religion, sexuality and ethnicity (something many filmmakers are still not comfortable exploring). Privately-owned cinemas, however, have also been able to choose what they want to screen. Each cinema usually has their own committee who require a fee from producers for them to consider showing their film. They usually agree to split the box office receipts 50:50 with the producer taking on all costs to promote the film. The lack of an independent regulatory exhibition authority and the total lack of any distribution sector has led to many cases being brought to the courts by producers alleging that certain cinemas do not honour their agreements by not paying the producers their fair share of the money made screening their film. Until early 2021, the governmentowned cinemas operated differently. Administered by the Addis Ababa City Cinema Houses Administration Enterprise (AACCHAE), a financially viable enterprise, it used to operate a booking schedule for a period, taking a fee for the booking and then allowing all box office earnings to be claimed by the producers of films. This system of exhibition allowed many films to have a second run in these bigger capacity cinemas which attract lower income audiences due to their tickets costing less than half the price of privatelyowned cinemas. By 2021, however all cinemas were operating an encrypted digital distribution system centrally controlled by the Film Producers Association. By 2016 there were about fifty cinema-theatres operating in Addis Ababa but this bubble was soon burst by the arrival of new television stations gaining licenses to air in the country. Filmmakers and producers were offered new opportunities to make content for television, and as new TV programmes in Amharic drew audiences away from the cinemas, many privately-owned cinemas failed to be financially viable, due to a drop in attendances and as rental costs also increased drastically for many. Some of the smaller cinemas that showed Amharic films but failed to distinguish themselves against their competitors and/or were in unfavourable locations, became unviable and closed. The largest chain of cinemas, Sebastopol, once operating seven sites, was the biggest name to disappear as Tewodros Teshome sold off the sites

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(some still operating as cinemas) in order to invest in other sectors in 2021. Life in Addis Ababa has also become increasingly more expensive as the urban middle and upper classes of Ethiopia continue to consolidate their wealth. Some have sensed an increasing appetite coming from this more outward looking, wealthy demographic for an updated version of the Matti Multiplex and so a few ‘state-of-the-art’ cinemas have emerged to fill this gap. Interestingly, although some of these new cinemas, such as the Century Cinema and the GAST Cinema, have focused on prioritizing Hollywood blockbusters, others such as the Vamdas Cinema (with five auditoriums) has been more committed to balanced programming, showing higher production-value Amharic films alongside foreign films that would not necessarily be considered Hollywood blockbusters. In 2021, although having re-opened after the COVID-19 pandemic, many cinemas were financially precarious. There were, however, thirty-eight privatelyowned and three government-owned cinemas operating in Addis Ababa (Bineyame Alemayehu, interview, 7 April 2021) with bigger complexes still in development, such as the proposed cinema at the new Adwa centre located in central Arada, close to where the old Mon Ciné once stood in the 1930s. With multiple platforms now offering Ethiopian screen worlds and some young filmmakers content to release films straight onto YouTube, the cinemagoing culture in Addis still has its dedicated followers but the sustainability of certain cinemas may become untenable in the wake of the changing climate.

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A history of film production in Ethiopia

[T]he rarity of bibliographical resources on Ethiopian cinema [. . .] complicates the task of the researcher who tries to set up a precise chronology of Ethiopian cinema’s development. [. . .] [F]ilm practitioners and scholars who witnessed the development of Ethiopian cinema agree only on a few key dates and films, leaving wide space for controversies and debate. Alessandro Jedlowski (2015b: 170–1) The production of films in Ethiopia, by Ethiopians and in Ethiopian languages has only become a commercially viable prospect since the advent of video/ digital technologies in the 1990s. Digital video technologies were, and still are, much more affordable, accessible and simpler to operate than the once ubiquitous celluloid-based technologies. Although a commercially-oriented Ethiopian cinema emerged in 2002 in Addis Ababa with the easing of government restrictions of videos being screened in cinemas, there were notable efforts to produce feature length Amharic fiction films in Ethiopia since the 1960s. This chapter traces the history of film production in Ethiopia from the earliest attempts until the height of the contemporary domestic cinema scene in order to trace the convergences, continuities and divergences surrounding attitudes to Ethiopian filmmaking and to understand some of the driving forces. In March/April 2021, I had the privilege to curate and attend a film week looking back at some of the most influential Ethiopian films, co-organized with the Addis Ababa City Cinema Houses Administration Enterprise (consisting of the Ambassador Theatre, Cinema Ethiopia and Cinema Empire) and Yidnekachew Shumete of Kurat Pictures. As part of the programme for this event I was able to see Hirut Abatwa Mannew? (1964) and Aster (1992), two older celluloid films that I had not previously seen (annoyingly, a middle reel of

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A History of Film Production in Ethiopia

67

Aster was not shown at the screening so I was not able to see the mid-section of the film which is why my comments on the film below are limited). It still remains that all the films that were made in the pre-digital era are in desperate need of preservation and restoration (with even many digital films also in need of archiving), and judging from the positive feedback from our retrospective on Ethiopian cinema, there is a strong appetite from the Ethiopian public to preserve and reflect on this intangible cultural heritage. Films such as Gouma (1974) and Behiywet Zuria (1989) were not available to screen as part of the 2021 retrospective, and although I hope to someday see and help restore all these films, the descriptions of films that follows in this chapter has focused mainly on those films I have been fortunate enough to see and experience in person. A major source of information for the part of this chapter that focuses on contemporary popular Ethiopian cinema has been from my collection of Alem Cinema’s free monthly film schedule brochures (see Figure 0.2), collected from my frequent trips there (see images 2.1 and 7.2). These schedules provide detailed information on the films being screened (including their genre) at the Alem Cinema, the foremost independent cinema dedicated to screening Amharic films, and also feature interviews with film professionals and other film-related articles. I have a relatively complete list of all the films screened at the Alem Cinema in 2014 and 2015 thanks to these brochures. The details in the brochures have helped me corroborate information compiled in the 10th Ethiopian International Film Festival’s New Cinema (Teshome 2015) publication that has a relatively accurate ‘Ethiopian Cinema Catalogue’ of some 760 Amharic films made in Ethiopia up until 2015. Nevertheless, there are some important omissions and inaccuracies in this catalogue which I have been careful to avoid repeating by validating all information after watching and detailing the credits of the films mentioned in the filmography of this book and by attempting to clear up any other inconsistencies in interviews. It is through my experiences with people who play a direct role in Amharic cinema and as an audience member, film festival programmer and researcher, that have enabled me to better negotiate and develop this study in relation to the fast-changing experiences of cinema in Ethiopia. The first film reels to be allegedly shot by an Ethiopian were in 1920 by Tedla Tesemma, documenting Empress Zewditu’s coronation, who had a personal cinematograph operated by an Armenian member of her staff (AACHA 2007;

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Figure 2.1 A queue outside the Alem Cinema, 2017. Source: screenshot from ‘አፄ ማንዴላ ፊልም – Ethiopian Film ATSE MANDELA Trailer HD’.

Pankhurst 1967). Foreign dignitaries and film crews were invited to the more lavish coronation of Teferi Mekonnen as Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1930, the same year that the population of Addis Ababa passed 100,000 (Pankhurst 1965). Although Haile Selassie was said to be ‘fascinated by film and cinema and understood how important film could be’ (Haars et al. 2014: 317), particularly in constructing his image as a modern and benevolent leader, the emperor explicitly supported the theatre, believing it more accessible for educational purposes targeting the Ethiopian public. As it was fashionable at the time to follow the trends of the emperor, and as the local theatrical productions were in Amharic, used little modern technology, were cheaper to produce and celebrated Ethiopian culture, they were more accessible than the technically complicated and expensive mechanisms of cinema, and so it was Amharic theatre that was established during this period (see Ashagrie 1996; Plastow 2020). It was only during the 1960s that feature film production began in Ethiopia. Before this, newsreels and documentaries were shot predominantly by European cameramen travelling in Ethiopia; the earliest on record was shot by Ralph P. Cobbold in 1901 (Haars et al. 2014). Other reels by international film crews from British Pathé and the Italian Instituto LUCE (L’Unione Cinematografica Educativa) were produced in high numbers in the 1920s and 1930s with a few Italian feature films in the late 1930s partly shot in Ethiopia/ Eritrea.1 The important Soviet documentary Abissinija (1936) was also shot at

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about this time by Vladimir Yeshurin and Boris Zeitlin of Soyuzkino Chronika, depicting Fascist Italian war atrocities, including a mustard gas attack and its victims, and the bombing of a Red Cross field hospital, while also capturing an Italian bomber falling at Kakala.

ሂሩት አባቷ ማነው? – Hirut, abatwa mannew? 1964 The first Ethiopian feature-length fiction film, ሂሩት አባቷ ማነው? – Hirut, abatwa mannew?/Hirut, who is her father? (see Figure 2.2) was produced/written by

Figure 2.2 Hirut abatwa mannew? poster outside the Ambassador Theatre, 2021. Source: photo by author.

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Ilala Ibsa (Ilala [1956 E.C.] 1964) and directed by the Ethiopian-born Greek director Lambros Jokaris in 1964. Ilala Ibsa and Lambros Jokaris found the National Film and Publicity Company and through Ilala Ibsa’s connections to the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), secured a loan to produce the film. Despite the film employing foreign technical crew and post-production being carried out in Italy, where allegedly twenty-five copies were made (Bonnano 2003), it remains absent from the history books on African cinema which tend to consider the concurrent cinematic output of Ousmane Sembene as deserving of the title ‘father of African cinema’ and the ‘first’ of many African film accolades (see Murphy 2014). The presence of Hirut certainly seems to disrupt this history, not least the assertion that Sembene’s Mandabi/Money Order (1968) ‘was the first feature film in an indigenous African language’ (Murphey 2014: 50). The circulation and distribution of Hirut, however, was limited to cinemas in the Horn of Africa being seen by an estimated 100,000 people (Warren and Warren 1978). This limited exhibition of the film had both grave consequences for the National Film and Publicity Company, which went bankrupt soon after the film hit Ethiopia’s big screens, due to it defaulting on its loan repayments to the CBE and led to the obscurity of the film outside of Ethiopia. The absence of Hirut in the history books of world and African cinema, epitomizes how Ethiopian cultural products remain hidden and often unknown outside of Ethiopia’s cultural spheres of influence, reinforcing the need to further decolonize and reassess our understanding of African histories where multiple, concurrent and often disconnected developments occurred in different places. The film is a black and white exposé of a modern Ethiopian woman’s urban life spent navigating the Ethiopian bar culture in the early 1960s, starting off in Nazret (Adama) and Debre Zeyit (Bishoftu) before moving between Addis Ababa and Asmara. The story is that of the titular character, a young woman, Hirut (Abebech Ejegu), who falls pregnant after an intense love affair with jazz band leader Gugsa (Alemayehu Assefa). During a week-long trip to Addis Ababa, Gugsa is sent to jail after a car accident and to escape stigmatization as an unmarried pregnant woman at home, Hirut leaves for Addis. She is overcome with exhaustion when she arrives in Addis and after she collapses by a lamppost a woman is seen tending to her. This woman owns a bunna bet (lit. ‘coffee house’ but more akin to a prostitute-run bar) and helps Hirut give birth, offering to take care of her child if she works for her. The narrative then traces

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Hirut’s tenacity and ingenuity over nearly two decades as she deals with drunken clientele, gossip, assault, puts herself through a typist’s course and opens her own bunna bet to pay for her daughter’s education in Asmara. The film is made rich by forging a dualism of traditional and modern conceptions of Ethiopia painted in sounds and images. Hirut’s appearances in traditional Ethiopian dress as she attends formal engagements and when in more rural parts of the country are contrasted with her modern attire when she appears in urban bars and streets (see Figure 2.3). The paradoxes of urban Ethiopian life in the 1960s are further contrasted with inserts of motor vehicles and planes being intercut throughout the narrative alongside other inserts of waterfalls, and a scene, near the midway point of the film, where Meskel is being

Figure 2.3 Old Hirut abatwa mannew? poster with still from the film. Source: screenshot from Tizitachen BeEBS. Season 1, Ep. 9, ‘Cinema Ethiopia’. © EBS.

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celebrated by Ethiopian Orthodox priests, who are shown conducting this old religious festivity around a traditional bonfire when the film then cuts to a modern firework display. The often-jarring contrasting images and fast-moving plot are strung together using telephone conversations that spur the narrative on and keep the film ticking along to the rhythms and staccato pacing of its Ethiopian jazz score. The dualisms and assumptions of modernity that Hirut exposes are perhaps best exemplified in the use of the term አባቷ ማነው?/abatwa mannew?/Who is Her Father? in the film’s title. Such a term is often understood as a derogatory comment and so talking about Hirut in this way would be considered very insulting, but the film addresses the true meaning of the title in a scene when the question ሂሩት አባቷ ማነው? – Hirut, abatwa mannew?/Hirut, Who is Her Father? is actually spoken and addressed to Hirut herself as a harmless enquiry about her daughter, Abeba’s surname (the name of Abeba’s father). Before seeing the film, however, the assumption is that the phrase referred to in the title is a slight against Hirut, seemingly calling her fatherless. The film engages similar tonal and thematic dualities throughout to destabilize oversimplified expectations and assumptions of urban life in 1960s Ethiopia. Alessandro Jedlowski points out the conflicting response of cultural commentators provoked by the release of Hirut in 1964. Citing an exchange initiated by a film review after Hirut’s premiere by Berhanu Zerihun in the Amharic newspaper Addis Zemen, and a response to this review by the film’s writer/producer, Ilala Ibsa, two entrenched views of cinema in Ethiopia emerge. On the one hand, we have the views aired by Berhanu who complains that the film does not properly represent Ethiopian sensibilities and fails to critique the corrupting forces of ‘western modernity’ (cited in Jedlowski 2015b: 180). He even goes as far as saying that the film encourages women to be prostitutes because of how Hirut manages to become successful in the face of society’s scorn and achieve her happy ending. Ilala, in response, argues for the recognition of art as a valuable tool to critically reflect on any society, forwarding nuanced, rational argumentation, more in tune with ideas espoused by Ethiopian philosophers of the past, such as Zara Yakob and Welde Hiwot (see Introduction). For Ilala, then, the fiction of Hirut critically engages with the contemporaneous settings of urban Ethiopia in the 1960s through a syncopated narrative and style that invites audiences to critically engage with the urban experiences of Ethiopian women through the protagonist. In this

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sense, the film does not actively propose didactic moralizations, as many contemporary Amharic films do, but instead presents the complexities and contradictions of life in Addis Ababa in a way that reserves judgement and instead promotes a critical introspection of a changing society. The fact that Hirut’s narrative follows the life of a female protagonist as she negotiates the Addis Ababa and Asmara of her time, culminating in a happy ending where she is reunited with her love Gugsa, does, however, strike many parallels with contemporary Ethiopian films. Fiker (love) and what it means in modern society is a central theme. In Hirut, the rural existence where women seem to have little agency is sharply contrasted with the portrayal of an urban life where, despite being left little choice but to sell her body as a commodity in a male dominated world, Hirut manages to forge her own path to redemption. The film also contains many of the elements that can be found in contemporary yefiker film (love film) and yebetseseb film (family film) genres today, such as the romantic narrative between Hirut and Gugsa that bookends the film and the central desire of Hirut to provide a future for her daughter, Abeba, focusing on their familial love. The romantic fiker between Hirut and Gugsa is also somewhat idealized. Despite their lengthy separation due to Gugsa’s jail term, the image of a family reunited at the film’s end unquestionably assumes love has endured. The cast of the film also became local celebrities, with the onscreen romance between Hirut and Gugsa reflected in the real-life romance that developed off-screen between the lead actress Abebech Ejegu and actor Alemayehu Assefa, culminating in their marriage (Milkias 2011). Hirut also featured the first on-screen kiss between an Ethiopian couple, still a rare phenomenon in contemporary Amharic cinema. At the time this caused much consternation within conservative-leaning circles, anecdotes from audience members described how the scene was usually censored by the projectionist during the film, momentarily sliding a piece of paper in front of the projector while Hirut’s comment about the kiss could still be clearly heard. This anecdote is often brought up in relation to the double standards the censors showed towards Ethiopian works of art and foreign works of art, an attitude which has still not disappeared. The on-screen act of smoking cannabis in በጭስ ተደብቄ – Bech’irs Tatebeke/I Hid in the Smoke (2014), for example, comes to mind as a similar case which inspired conservative commentators in the country to condemn the actions of the popular actor, Girum Ermias, for

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his commitment to method acting. These criticisms chime with the words penned by Lakew Desalegn in 1964, writing a further rebuke to Ilala Ibsa in Addis Zemen critical of Hirut and condemning the film as a roadmap for the younger generation on how to get dirty and make money at the same time. Such closed-minded criticism only understands films as encouraging any ‘bad behaviours’ they may happen to exhibit in the context of a narrative, failing to empathize with dilemmas confronted by characters. Instead of understanding how scenarios depicted in film are allegories of society, showing the symptoms of ill health, critics such as Lakew Desalegn expect the films themselves to be the medicine that cures society’s diseases. Despite Ethiopia’s undergoing massive transformations over the past half-century, the conflicting perceptions of film’s role in Ethiopian society – between art, commercialism and instrumentalism – continues to be a major point of contestation both within the filmmaking community and society at large.

Television, training and foreign film productions The lack of dedicated and fully-equipped production facilities and trained technical crews in Ethiopia remains an issue that requires attention, largely due to popular Ethiopian cinema’s poor social standing and lack of production infrastructure, but this was not always the case. Early efforts to fund training started with the introduction of television in 1964, fostering technological infrastructure investments and training opportunities (Reta 2013). Haile Selassie, however, mainly used these developments as an opportunity to promote Ethiopia as a location for foreign film productions in the 1970s, culminating in a mixture of disparate, foreign feature films partly or fully shot in the country. There was the epic Una stagione all’inferno/A Season in Hell (1971), depicting French poet, Arthur Rimbaud’s later life in Ethiopia with Debebe Eshetu playing Menelik II (see Figure 2.4), and, a few years later Debebe featured, with Zewditu Asla, in the surreal exoticizing murder-mystery, shot completely in Ethiopia, called Afrika (1973). Debebe plays a crucial supporting role in Shaft in Africa (1973) which also prominently features Addis Ababa and the northern Ethiopian highlands. Shaft in Africa proved to be a big hit in cinemas throughout Ethiopia despite

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Figure 2.4 Screenshot of Debebe Eshetu as Menelik II in Una stagione all’inferno. Source: screenshot from Una stagione all’inferno directed by Nelo Risi, 1971. Difnei Cinematografica and Ancinex. All rights reserved.

Haile Selassie walking out half-way through its Ethiopian premiere after a scene in which an Ethiopian actress playing a prostitute bears her breasts. Roughly a third of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s critically acclaimed Il fiore delle Mille e una notte/Arabian Nights (1974) was shot in Eritrea, but due to its frequent use of nudity and multiple sex scenes it remains a controversial and ethically problematic film. Apart from Shaft, it is not clear if any of these other aforementioned films were screened in Ethiopia. Instead, it seems that Haile Selassie was keen to promote Ethiopia as a location for foreign films to maintain Ethiopia’s mythical image but also for economic gain and tourism. Indeed, many of these films cultivate a representation of Ethiopia to outsiders as a land of mythical beauty steeped in exoticism.

ጉማ – Gouma (Gumma), 1974 and Michel Papatakis The second Amharic fictional feature film was made by the Ethiopian-Greek, Michel Papatakis’ ጉማ – Gouma/Blood Money (1974). The film also featured Debebe Eshetu and was very well received in Ethiopia and in select international

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film festivals (specifically the Carthage Film Festival, the Moscow International Film Festival and the Cork International Film Festival). Billed as the first Ethiopian colour film (see Figure 2.5), it is the polar opposite, in terms of its story and style, to the black and white Hirut that arrived ten years earlier. Gouma follows the story of a young man, Tariku who, after accidentally killing his closest friend, Zewude, while out hunting, is condemned to forfeit his life and pay reparations to the bereaved family in a tradition known as gumma. In keeping with this tradition, he sets out in search of ‘blood money’ in order to compensate the family for the loss of their son all the while being harangued by Zewude’s uncle, played by Debebe Eshetu. Shot in rural locations in Wello, around the town of Dessie where the practice of gumma is commonplace and even featuring the famous rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the production was confronted with many issues that Michel Papatakis had to overcome, ranging from a lack of finance from a deceitful producer to the accidental death of the assistant director Amare Techane while out scouting for locations (Michel 2013). The technical aspects of the film’s production and the post-production

Figure 2.5 A poster for Gouma (Gumma) on display in the foyer of the Ambassador Theatre. Source: photo by author.

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of the film were assisted by a team of four French crew, along with Michel himself and his camera operator son Anastasios ‘Tasso’ Papatakis, all of whom worked on the film without down payment, due to lack of funds available to pay them upfront. Unfortunately, the film failed to succeed financially, due in part to the underhand dealings of the producer, who Michel Papatakis explains in his memoir, attempted to sell the rights of the film behind his back, and also due to the toppling of Emperor Haile Selassie’s regime not long after the film’s premiere. The film does not feature romantic notions of fiker. Nevertheless, the themes of cultivating peace between wronged peoples and those judged to have wronged them, through a tradition practiced in a famous interethnic and interreligious part of Ethiopia, necessarily explores issues of forgiveness rooted in love and is personified in Zewude’s father, who forgives Tariku for killing his son. In this way, Gouma offers insights into how Ethiopians can come together through a brotherly love based on a shared history, ancestry and geography. This theme was greatly appreciated by Ethiopian critics, with even the emperor staying until the end of the film and personally congratulating the director. Princess Tenagnewerk even pledged financial support to Michel for his next project, but due to the Derg taking power, this royal support was no longer possible (Michel 2013). Michel Papatakis became an active member of FEPACI (Pan African Federation of Filmmakers) after Gouma, and decided to be mainly based in Ethiopia during the Derg period. Paptakais found it difficult, however, to maintain any freedom during this period, with his first job during the Derg era being a propaganda film about a Czech doctor working in rural Ethiopia commissioned by Ethiopian Television in partnership with Czechoslovakia National TV (Michel 2013). In his attempt to forge a more freelance path as an independent filmmaker, Michel Papatakis largely struggled, and only produced two documentaries during the Derg era, as his talents were co-opted into the state’s film production enterprise. These films were ያለፈው ሸኪመና የሚመተው ጉዞ – Yalefew Shekimena Yemimetew Guzo/The Past Burden and the Journey Ahead (1975) and a film shot on the battle field in the Ogaden, ትግል ድል ፤ ድል ትግል – Tiggil Dil, Dil Tiggil/Struggle Victory, Victory Struggle (1978). After the end of the Derg, Michel was able to film an ethnographic documentary on the Konso people of Southern Ethiopia called Konso (1993) in co-production with the

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French company Zaradoc, but he struggled to fund later projects despite having ideas for films that were never produced (Michel 2013).

The Derg and state-funded film production Michel Papatakis was amongst the first of three generations of Ethiopian film professionals to train in the Soviet Union (also gaining experience in France and Greece), whilst Solomon Bekele Weya, maker of the short film Rotten Existence (1968) and who became prolific in this period, was trained in Germany and France. After Haile Selassie was toppled by the Communist Derg regime in 1974, cinema again became a key tool of state propaganda. Unlike under the Italian occupation, however, the Derg regime nationalized all aspects of the film industry, showing a commitment to produce their own films and propaganda from within Ethiopia. The Minister of Culture, Desta Tadessa, one of the few Moscow-trained film professionals in the country, established the Film Development and Control Board2 (FDCB) within the Ministry of Culture and Sports Affairs in 1975. The FDCB was created to support the state’s ideological goals but the reality was that some filmmakers managed to occasionally be subversive (see Kassahun and S.W. Thomas 2022). The FDCB’s main impact was the sponsorship of training personnel abroad and a change in the distribution and exhibition landscape in Ethiopia to focus primarily on screening documentaries in the cinemas throughout the country. Apart from Michel Papatakis’ aforementioned Yalefew Shekimena Yemimetew Guzo/The Past Burden and the Journey Ahead (1975), the landmark project to be completed by the FDCB was the 16mm colour docu-drama, 3002: Wondimu’s Memories (1976), directed by Teferi Bizuayehu who, like Desta and Michel was trained in the Soviet Union. The film was made in homage to the 1974 revolution and was the first fully Ethiopian-made film (in terms of crew and funding).3 The political leverage the Derg maintained over cinema signalled Ethiopia’s participation in the Cold War iconography. In 1978, after the signing of diplomatic accords between Ethiopia and the USSR, the Ethiopian experience reinforced the Soviet Union’s attempts to create a ‘socialist cinema’, which had the effect of promoting Ethiopian films on a global stage. The Ethiopian Film Centre

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was also established in 1978 which moved the FDCB’s centre of operations to the Ambassador Theatre, creating an institution entirely dedicated to film production for the first time in Ethiopian history (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7). The Ethiopian Film Centre was equipped with both production and post-production equipment with the final editing and printing of film completed in London (Abebe Beyene, interview, 28 July 2014). The Film Centre produced around twenty-four documentaries including Michel Papatakis’ feature documentary ትግል ድል ፤ ድል ትግል – Tiggil Dil, Dil Tiggil/Struggle Victory, Victory Struggle (1978) which was awarded an ‘honorary diploma of the 11th International Film Festival in Moscow’ (Nikolayeva 1986: 158). Kate Cowcher (2018) makes the important observation that during the Derg there was ‘key slippage occurring between documentary and fiction’ (p. 57). The Derg had co-opted Gouma and Haile Gerima’s Harvest: 3000 Years (1976), without the consent of the directors, to promote them as examples of Ethiopian socialist cinema that showed the true plight of impoverished Ethiopian peasants (Nikolayeva 1986). The docu-drama 3002: Wondimu’s Memories was also described as an acclaimed ‘documentary’ in a Russian account celebrating the revolutionary advancement of cinematography in Ethiopia (Nikolayeva 1986). The fictionalized elements of these films were championed in social realist terms, forwarding an interpretation of cinema as a simple and unobtrusive instrument that documents actual events. This affinity with instrumentalist notions of cinema that were also recorded in earlier criticisms of Hirut were now the same arguments used to fully support the use of cinema as bare-faced, state-controlled propaganda.

The Ethiopian film corporation Later, in 1986, the Ethiopian Film Corporation was established (see Figure 2.6), adding feature film production to its mandate, whilst also gaining full post-production capabilities, apart from the printing of films which was still carried out in London (Abebe Beyene. interview, 28 July 2014). By the mid1980s, the Derg claimed to have allocated around 49 million Ethiopian ETB (around 28 million US dollars according to the 1986 exchange rate) to film production, distribution and exhibition, of which 19 million ETB was spent

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Figure 2.6 Old Ethiopian Film Corporation sign on top of the Ambassador Theatre, 2021. Source: photo by author.

on capital expenditure (around 11 million USD) (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7). This high spending is evidence of the regime’s strong commitment to the production and power of films with around forty short/medium length documentaries made and twenty-five cinemas operating in the country (Ethiopian Film Corporation 1986/7: 19). Only three feature length productions, however, were produced by the Ethiopian Film Corporation from its establishment in 1986 until its liquidation in 1999. Two of these films were, በህይወት ዙሪያ – Behiywet Zuriya/Around Life (1989), which was adapted by Birhanu Shibiru from an Ethiopian television drama tracing the tragic life of its protagonist, Almaz4 (see Figure 2.7) and አስቴር – Aster (1992) by Solomon Bekele Weya (see Figure 2.8). The third feature film, ፈረንጅ – Ferenj/European Foreigner, a co-production by the Ethiopian Film Corporation and a French production company known as Medaco is more obscure. Little has been written about the film apart from the fact that it is a 35mm bilingual (French and Amharic) colour film starring two of the most prolific, early Ethiopian stage actresses, Asnakech Werku and Nigatwa Kelkay (Fikadu 2013: 185). The film appears to have been another biopic centred on the life of Arthur Rimbaud and his life in Harar, but was never screened in Ethiopia.

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Figure 2.7 A poster for Behiywet Zuriya in the foyer of the Ambassador Theatre. Source: photo by author.

Aster, like Behiywet Zuriya, is a family drama that follows the ordeals of a female protagonist (Aster). When Aster’s relationship with her husband turns abusive it forces her to take drastic measures to escape. Aster is often noted as being the first truly Ethiopian-made fictional feature film as the cast and crew were all Ethiopian nationals (Fikadu 2013). Both Aster and Behiywet Zuriya were screened in cinemas and widely popular throughout Ethiopia (Abebe Beyene. interview, 28 July 2014). Marking a return to the urban-set, femalecentred narratives of modern love in Ethiopia first displayed in Hirut, the theme of fiker reappears with full aplomb in these films, ushering in the postDerg era.

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Figure 2.8 A poster for Aster in the foyer of the Ambassador Theatre, 2021. Source: photo by author.

The video revolution and the regime change The advent of analogue video technologies in Ethiopia in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the consequential successful distribution of pirated Hollywood and Bollywood films on VHS for rent or for screening in informal videoviewing houses, created infrastructural and economic incentives for local video producers. As in other African contexts at this time, local video and music distributors saw the economic potential of locally produced and commercially orientated video films (Garritano 2013; Larkin 2008; Haynes 2007, 2016). First

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attempts at local video film production were typically the recording of stage productions, such as የክትነሽ – Yekitnesh/The Ordinary by Wibshit WerkAlemahu with one of the first video features, መሰናክል – Mesenakil/The Obstacle by Abreham Tsegaye and his theatre group አፍለኛው ቲያትር – Afleññaw Tiyatir/ The Prime of Life Theatre in 1982 E.C. (1989/90). To this extent, the early development of video film production similarly mirrors events in Nigeria, mentioned by Karin Barber (2003) and Biodun Jeyifo (1984), with many of the first Yoruba video filmmakers drawing inspiration from theatre. Local video film features in Ethiopia, like in Ghana and Nigeria, had low production values, but many proved to be relatively well made5 due to collaborations with trained television and celluloid film professionals, who had gained experience working under the Derg regime. Tesfaye Sinke, for example, was trained under the Ethiopian Film Corporation and directed the 1985 documentary አዲስ አበባ – Addis Ababa and then later directed one of the earliest video films, ፀፀት – Tsetset/Remorse that was premiered in Addis Ababa in 1990/91 (and later toured America in 1993/1994). Perhaps more well-known was the transition from celluloid to video film production (and then ultimately to TV) made by Birhanu Shibiru, director of the aforementioned በህይወት ዙሪያ – Behiywet Zuriya/Around Life (1989) under the Ethiopian Film Corporation and then later with his video feature የሞት ፍቅር – Yemot Fiker/Death’s Love (1996/97). Birhanu later moved into television, working on the highly acclaimed popular drama ገመና – Gemena/Family Confidences first airing in 2009, spanning almost two years and often credited for raising the status of television production in Ethiopia and nurturing the careers of many successful film and TV people (Tadesse 2018). The aforementioned film actor of the 1970s, Debebe Eshetu, also made his own foray into filmmaking with his 1996 video film ሥጋ ያጣ መንፈስ – Siga Yata Menfes/Bodiless Spirit written by Demere Tsigie who has since established himself as both a screenwriter and director of many notable Amharic films.6 Siga Yata Menfes most markedly features an indomitable performance by the renowned krar7 player, actress and cultural personality Asnekech Worku, with the film also enjoying a screening tour of America. The period immediately after the fall of the Derg in 1991, however, meant that a vacuum appeared in film funding and training with the biggest formal training institution, the Ethiopian Film Corporation, formally dissolved in 1999. The few private

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training institutes that emerged in the following years (such as Tom Photography and Videography Training Centre and Master Films and Communication) only gave short courses on a few technical aspects of filmmaking, typically directing, lighting and camera operating leaving young aspiring Ethiopia filmmakers no domestic access to full-time technical film training programmes and reliant on filming weddings for their livelihoods.

Commercial Amharic cinema begins – 2002 to 2007 The period between 2002 and 2007 was when commercial Amharic cinema emerged and established itself across the country and spread through diaspora communities abroad. This early era saw the yefiker film as the most prolific genre, led by Tewodros Teshome’s ቀዝቃዛ ወላፈን – Kezkaza Welafen/Cold Flame (2002) and Tatek Tadesse’s ጉዲፈቻ – Gudifecha/Adoption (2002). The success of these films proved that filmmaking in Amharic could be commercially viable, and the demand for such products were clearly obvious as they filled the cinema-theatres of Addis Ababa before they toured across Ethiopia and even to places with big Ethiopian diaspora populations, such as Washington, DC (Tewodros Teshome, interview, 18 February 2016; Tatek Tadesse, interview 12 March 2016). As well as these two most successful films (which will be discussed in more depth in the following chapter), that were still playing in cinemas in 2004, roughly fifty Amharic films played in local cinemas in the period 2002–2006. Some twenty films released between 2002 and 2006 can be understood to be clearly participating in conventions associated with the yefiker film. Narratively, these films contain dominant romance through lines obstructed by; family issues, crime/violence, medical issues (particularly HIV/AIDS), competing suitors, the death of a loved one or a mixture of similar such circumstances. Apart from Kezkaza Welafen and Gudifecha, other films associated with the yefiker film during this period include የ’ሾህ አጥር – Ye’Shoh Atir/Thorny Fence (2004); አስራ አንደኛ ሰዓት – Asra Andeñña Se’at/Eleventh Hour (2006); ዕጣ ፈንታ – Eta Fenta/Destiny (2005); መሥዋዕት – Meswe’at/Sacrifice (2006); ፍቅር ሲፈርድ – Fiker Siferd/When Love is Judged (2005); ፍቅር እና ዳንስ – Fiker ena Dance/Love and Dance (2006); ትንቢት – Tinbit/Prophecy (2005); ጩኸት – Chuhet/Shout

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(2005); ታጋቹ – Tagachu/The Hostage (2005); የፍቅር ነገር – Yefiker Neger/Love’s Thing (2006) and ኤልሻዳይ – Elshaday (2006). These films detail tragic as well as positive scenarios that do not always resolve in romantic couplings but almost always warn of modern society’s ills and end with didactic moralizations bound in nationalist or local religious/philosophical sentiments. The concluding moralizations of Amharic films are common across genres and the role of fiker can be regarded as a central catalyst for reaching resolutions that resonate with domestic audiences. Whereas the yefiker film often enacts these moralizations through pathos; action and suspense are the primary vehicles for such moralizations in the second most populous genre during this period (which emerged before the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film)), the lib anteltay film (suspense film). The primary narratives common in this genre are fuelled by suspenseful sequences of threat, underhand or illicit activity and violence which are also often intertwined with secondary romantic narratives (leading to the existence of the near-duplicate term lib anteltay yefiker film (suspenseful love film)). There were some ten lib anteltay films during this period with the notable examples being: ሔርሜላ – Hermela (2005); ሰማያዊ ፈረስ – Semayawi Feres/Blue Horse (2005) and ሾተላይ – Shotelay/Demon (that inflicts disease on a new-born child) (2005). The other genre of note early on was the akshin film/action Kung Fu film with አላዳንኩሽም – Aladankushim/I Didn’t Save You (2005) and ታዳኞቹ – Tadañochu/The Hunted (2005) being good examples of films from a genre defined by its martial arts fight sequences. Comedies were rare, with ካምፑስ – Campus (2004), ስለማይዘነጋ ውለታ – Silemayzenega Wileta/The Unforgettable Favour (2004) and ሰው በልኬ – Sew Belké/Someone to Suit Me (2006) being the few examples I have come across. Films set purely in rural Ethiopia were also not common, despite ብራ – Bira/Brightness (2006) and የነፃ ትውልድ – Yenetsa Tiwild/The Free Generation (2002) being examples of this type of film from directors who had made similar VHS movies in the 1990s (before films were permitted a general theatrical release). The film ሳራ – Sara also released in 2006 is considered one of the few, and most acclaimed, Amharic ‘horror’ films as it came runner-up in the Best Feature Film category to the lib anteltay film ስርየት – Siryet/Absolution (2007) at the second Ethiopian International Film Festival in 2007.

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The golden years – 2007 to 2011 The next period in popular Ethiopian cinema from 2007 to 2011 saw a substantial increase in films being produced and released in cinemas, roughly 290, nearly six-times the estimated fifty of the first five years. This spike in film production can be attributed to the arrival of the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) after the success of የወንዶች ጉዳይ – Yewendoch Gudday/Men’s Affair in 2007 and the general expansion of the film sector that also gave rise to the yebeteseb film (family film) after the success of ውሳኔ – Wisané/Decision and ኮሞሮስ – Comoros in 2008. Films associated with the yefiker film (love film) and lib anteltay film (suspense film) still proved successful and were produced in greater numbers than previous years, but the market seemed saturated with the sudden arrival of the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) and its relatively low-cost economic model. This low-cost economic model, as discussed in Chapter 4, meant that the production values of films associated with the assikiñ yefiker film genre varied greatly with many in this period finding success through investing budgets primarily in securing popular comic actors such as Netsanet Werkneh or those who became well-known through the success of Yewendoch Gudday, such as Mesfin Haileyesus, Zerihun Asmamaw, Tewodros Seyoum and Elizabeth Getatchew. Netsanet Werkneh fronted two of the first comedy films to be released in Ethiopia (and above-mentioned Campus and Silemayzenega Wileta) and his films are a good example of the varying production values of successful assikiñ yefiker films (humorous love films). Early assikiñ yefiker films that featured Netsanet in the lead male role relied heavily on his status as a comic which he had fostered in the theatre (Fresh Man Theatre). Examples of these lower production value, yet popular films, featuring Netsanet and a strong ensemble cast are ከማደርሱበት – Kemaydersubet/Unreachable (2009); ባለቀለም ህልሞች – Balekelem Hilmoch/Colourful Dreams (2010); F.B.I. (2011); ያንቺው ሌባ – Yanchiw Léba/Yours Thievingly (2011) and ሚስተር ኤክስ – Mister Eks/Mr. X (2011). With the success of the big-budget አባይ ወይስ ቬጋስ – Abay vs Vegas in 2010 there was a shift towards higher production values across Amharic film genres, particularly evident in the more popular assikiñ yefiker films (humorous love films) than was the case previously, such as in ፔንዱለም – Pendulum (2011); ሰላዮቹ – Selayochu/The Spy (2012); ሲቲ ቦይዝ – City Boyz (2012); የፍቅር ABCD –

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Yefiker ABCD/Love’s ABCD (2012); ያ ቀን – Ya Ken/That Day (2013) and ታስጨርሽኛለሽ – Taschershiñalesh/You’re Going to Finish Me (2013). The popularity of the assikiñ yefiker film was such in this period that the box office takings of ህይወቴ – Hiyweté/My Life (2012) of 1.2 million birr (roughly $66,000), according to Fikadu Limenih (2013), made it the highest grossing Amharic film, although this claim has been highly contested.

Reaching a plateau and diversifying The period 2012 to 2015 saw roughly 100 films made per year and this signalled a plateauing of the domestic film market in Ethiopia. In 2016, new Amharic TV stations were given licenses to transmit content and offered another avenue for producers that was predicted would adversely impact on the domestic film market (see Tadesse 2018). Critically-acclaimed filmmakers such as Behailu Wassie and Abraham Gezahegn made early moves into TV content production, later joined by Sewmehon Yismaw’s work on a drama DSTV’s Amharic channel Abol launched in 2021 and Kidist Yilma’s star-studded and rurally set Arts TV World hit series እረኛዬ – Eregnaye/My Shepherd. The signs are that larger budgets and more experimental Ethiopian screen worlds are being produced as a result of this diversification of screen media production. The first period drama set around 1916, during the reign of Empress Zewditu, ቁራኛዬ – Kuragnaye/Enchained (2019), sparked curiosity from both within and outside Ethiopia, screening in film festivals, Ethiopian cinemas and on demand (see M.W. Thomas and Asteway Mellese forthcoming). Then, in 2019, after a more laisse-fair censorship approach was adopted, the explicitly political ወጣት በ97 – Wetat be97/Youth of 2005 was released, set after the events of the disputed 2005 Ethiopian election and tackling the resulting trauma that arose from the violence and punitive measures that ensued. This experimentation also translated into attempts at new genres with perhaps, most striking being the release of ህዳር – Hidar8 (2019) with its highly choreographed musical sequences. From this brief overview of Amharic film productions targeted at the domestic Ethiopia market, it is evident that a system of Amharic genres has emerged that helps both audiences, exhibitors and producers of Amharic film navigate its rather informal organization. These films are not so far removed

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from the once ubiquitous Hollywood, Bollywood or even French films that were shown in Ethiopian cinemas before the rise of commercial Amharic cinema. The theme of love has remained a major attraction for Ethiopian audiences, whether it be that of the romantic escapades of Hollywood debonairs in the 1960s or the conflicts between familial loyalties and romantic urges in Bollywood films and celluloid Ethiopian films. The Ethiopian films of the last two decades have successfully built their commercial success on the centrality of an Ethiopian love – fiker – dealing with how love is presented in contemporary Ethiopia, as negotiating between the realities and fantasies of romantic, filial, patriotic and spiritual notions of fiker. It is necessary here to emphasize the commercially oriented structure of the popular film sector centred in Addis Ababa and its relationship to the Ethiopian state. Due to the restrictions of state censorship (formally abolished in 2018) or self-imposed censorship that film professionals have long navigated and the position of state-owned cinemas and theatres, rubbing shoulders with entrepreneurial-minded filmmakers and privately-owned cinemas, there is an ad hoc relationship between the film sector and the Ethiopian state. Steven W. Thomas points out how this arrangement is significant to how Amharic cinema has developed its specific aesthetics and tone; more reserved and cautionary than Nollywood and less politically provocative than African art house/festival films (S.W. Thomas 2020). The Ethiopian state, however, is less strategic and invested in the film sector than compared with larger industries in the country. The Ethiopian government’s protracted consultations on an Ethiopian film policy, starting in 2013 and ending in 2017 (and yet to bear tangible fruits at the time of writing), exemplifies the abstruse role the state plays in the sector. The mixture of such policy implementation evasiveness while maintaining longstanding high taxation and perception that film production is a luxury instead of a cultural imperative, leave the film sector often appearing inert and leaving film workers in constant limbo. Privately-owned cinemas have, up until the COVID-19 pandemic, asserted a lot of power and influence on the domestic film sector in Ethiopia adding their own particulars onto day-to-day operations. Each private cinema company, for example used to have its own screening committee, maintaining a prerogative on what films are shown and at what times prior to distribution

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becoming centralized and monopolized by the Ethiopian Producers Association, resulting in other issues. Filmmakers and producers habitually accuse certain cinema committees or associations of being heavy-handed in their dealings and they are often ‘criticized for their lack of transparency’ (Jedlowski 2015b: 177). Due to the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) genre being regarded as a blueprint for commercial success, cinema proprietors as well as producers, scriptwriters and directors are made acutely aware of the economic risks involved in experimenting with other themes and genres (Jedlowski 2015b). Haynes’ statement about Nollywood, that ‘individualizing a film takes both time and money, complicating a system that works fast because everybody knows what to do’ (2011: 74) resonates with many Ethiopian experiences of film production in the mid-2000s, highlighting the significance of genre to the industry. More recently, however, this trend has begun to shift as a greater variety of genres emerges and as groups of more artistically committed and driven filmmakers achieve critical acclaim for their features. Many filmmakers also offset the commercial risk of the film industry by profiting from documentary filmmaking funded by the many NGOs that operate in Ethiopia and by making television commercials. Adding to the increased visibility of the Ethiopian film sector has been the creation of the Gumma Film Awards in 2014 and other similar film awards since. These film awards, often funded by wealthy benefactors and lacking in transparency, celebrate the industry by recognizing and nurturing an Addis Ababa centred star-system. The Gumma Film Awards, in particular, also helps to raise awareness of cinema’s history in the country by distinguishing pioneers of Ethiopian cinema with the Lifetime Achievement Award, which in 2014 was given to Michel Papatakis, in 2015 it went to the aforementioned actor, Debebe Eshetu and in 2016 it went to one of the first female film actresses, Askale Ameneshewa. The growing media attention and wider public interest in Ethiopian productions are further fuelling the industry with new television shows now dedicated to reviewing new film releases as well as a couple of television documentaries discussing the significance of certain aspects of the film sector. Furthermore, the proliferation of film festivals in the country is also a sign of the increasing awareness and interest in issues relating to film and the role films can play within society.

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Amharic festival films Amharic films that play in international film festivals are generally better known and more widely seen outside of Ethiopia rather than in the country. It could be argued that these films form a certain genre of their own if their contexts of production, distribution and exhibition are considered, but the films themselves are varied, often not directly dealing with themes such as fiker and sometimes, arguably offering more style over substance. Many of these films are directed by members of the Ethiopian diaspora who have spent significant parts of their lives in America. Rasselas Lakew who made the sports biopic አትሌቱ – Atletu/The Athlete (2008), Zeresenay Berhani Mehari, director of the human rights film ድፍረት – Difret (2014) and Yared Zeleke, who directed Lamb (2015) all infuse their films with broader, internationalist themes such as Pan-Africanism (Atletu), girls’/womens’ rights (Difret) and gender stereotypes and animal rights (Lamb). Although these films often secure limited theatrical release in Ethiopia, they do not compete with domestically produced popular Ethiopian cinema, that balance themes that resonate with contemporary Ethiopian experiences, such as fiker with a melodramatic style. Separate from these Ethiopian diaspora filmmakers based in America, are Ethiopian diaspora Amharic films from Israel. These films are not often screened in local Ethiopian cinemas and only get picked up by a few international film festivals, more targeted at Israeli audiences. Two recent and fine examples are, ዋያይ ዋምቦጦች – Wayay Wambot’och/Red Leaves (2014) directed by Bazi Gete and የሾላ ዛፍ – Yeshola Zaf/Fig Tree (2018) directed by Alam-Warqe Davidian. Both these films are typical of Israeli produced Amharic films as they chronicle the migratory and minority group experiences of Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jew) families who face persecution in both Ethiopia (for being Jewish) and Israel (for being black). Films will, inevitably, play differently to different audiences depending on time and place and their subject matter. The Ethiopian-born, American-based Haile Gerima and his Golden Stallion of Yennenega winning ጤዛ – Teza/ Morning Dew (2008) which also won a special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival is a case-in-point where the themes of diasporic dislocation and white supremacist racism may not be so readily relatable to the average cinemagoer in Addis Ababa. Bearing the true hallmarks of independent cinema, Teza,

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along with Haile Gerima’s first Amharic film, ምርት ሶስት ሺ ዓመት – Mirt sost shi amet/Harvest 3000 Years (1976), are remarkable achievements in and of themselves, but neither of them have been widely exhibited in Ethiopia (see M.W. Thomas 2014, Belachew 2021). Haile Gerima’s more auteur-like sensibilities and steadfast approach to independent cinema sees him controlling most aspects of a film’s life-cycle, from the pre-production, production, postproduction, distribution and often elements of a film’s exhibition. Not always seeing eye-to-eye with differing Ethiopian regimes and openly regarding many Ethiopian-based filmmakers and their Amharic genre films with low regard has resulted in prickly relationships forming between Haile Gerima and many influential film people in the land of his birth. A wave of Amharic films by white male European directors have also toured film festivals since the early 2010s. These films have been either sci-fi, such as Beti and Amare (2014) directed by German, Andy Siege and Crumbs (2015), directed by Spaniard Miguel Llansó or sport films, such as Horizon Beautiful (2013) by Swiss filmmaker, Stefan Jäger and Running Against the Wind (2019) by German, Jan Philipp Weyl. These films tend to implement genre conventions from these internationally recognizable film genres and do not feature the elements of fiker associated with Amharic genres. Sci-fi films, specifically, have an international cult following and, despite the recent success of the ዴርቶጋዳ – Dertogada (2009), the sci-fi/spy thriller series of Amharic novels by Yisma’ekä Werku, Ethiopian produced Amharic sci-fi films have yet to break into the domestic Ethiopian film market. Apart from Crumbs, that paints a dystopian image of an Ethiopia haunted by artefacts and symbols of Euro-American culture (presented in an abstract and disorienting style), these other three European directed Amharic films all feature problematic elements of a ‘white saviour’ narrative that ultimately undermines the agency of Ethiopians. The Amharic festival films that do best in the domestic Ethiopian box office are those directed by filmmakers based in Ethiopia and who have had previous commercial success in the country. Of these films, the most widely toured internationally was Hermon Hailay’s የፍቅር ዋጋው – Yefiker Wagaw/Price of Love (2015). Notably, the film features fiker in its title and a romantic relationship between the two protagonists, the prostitute Fere and the taxi driver Teddy, drive the film’s narrative. Although Price of Love was screened for a few months in the cinemas of Addis Ababa, it did not resonate with local cinemagoing

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audiences and critics on the same scale as Hermon’s previous films. Although a romantic and companionate fiker takes centre stage in the film’s narrative, the dénouement does not offer a didactic message or clear deeper meaning relating to love, as is common in the most popular Amharic films but instead proffers existentialism. ኒሻን – Nishan/Medal of Honour (2013) and የነገን አልወልድም – Yenegen Alweldim/I Will Not Bear Tomorrow (2016) enjoyed a more limited tour of African-focused film festivals but did manage to achieve high exposure in Ethiopia upon their release. The moral messages of Nishan and Yenegen Alweldim directly address Ethiopian audiences, pulling on the heartstrings of fiker narratives while encouraging young Ethiopians not to migrate but to stay and work for Ethiopia (Nishan) and to never give up on democracy (Yenegen Alweldim). The success of these films in managing to bridge both the domestic Ethiopian market and film festivals (to varying degrees), results from a combination of details. First, the filmmakers were already amongst the most established and critically acclaimed in Ethiopia and so embedded within Amharic commercial cinema. Secondly, they all had direct strategies to target film festivals for prestige and local Addis Ababa cinemas for financial reasons. To appeal to the domestic audience more viscerally they didn’t venture too far from the tried and tested methods of Amharic cinema and so maintained strong narrative elements of fiker and a melodramatic style pervasive across the system of Amharic film genres.

Part Two

The films You start with the seed that is the idea and the story. Then, like the tractor or the plough, we use the camera and other technology to develop the seed into the fruit. But we cannot just be satisfied with a beautiful fruit; the fruit has to taste good. I believe that we all have our separate tastes depending on the cuisine of our culture and as I have Ethiopian culture in common with my audiences, my films and the ideas they communicate share the flavours and tastes of our cuisine. Behailu Wassie cited in M.W. Thomas (2018: 263)

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The የፍቅር ፊልም – yefiker film (love film)

What happens if we accept melodrama’s commitment to emotionality not as excessive but as key to its aesthetic and cultural value? E. Deidre Pribram (2018: 237) The yefiker film (love film) is the mother of all Amharic film genres. The first commercially successful Amharic films were attributed to the yefiker film genre, and its main theme of coming to terms with fiker (love) in contemporary Ethiopia resonates in every genre that followed. The melodramatic tendencies of the yefiker film – including suicide-attempts, revenge, death and other traumatic and fatalistic occurrences – interrupt romantic through-lines, which fundamentally posit ideas of marrying for romantic love against more traditional marriage values and patriarchal dominance in Ethiopian society. Central to yefiker films of the early 2000s were explorations of the tensions between youth and the traditional family nucleus, as university and other settings of greater individual freedom encouraged a disobedience within the realms acceptable to Ethiopian society. Instead of a total dissociation from and rebellion against the family, film narratives often resolved through compromise and understanding being reached between younger and older generations. Love posited as true, unconditional and spiritual (often inspired by Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity) paves the way for the healing of all wounds and liberation from strict traditions, resolving the complications between young lovers and their extended families/society through moralizing dénouements. The contrast in the more repressive nature of the yefiker film that stimulates pathos, compared with the playful rambunctious nature of the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) that came after (see Chapter 4), points to the different emotional states pre-conditioned by an audience’s expectations of each genre.

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As such, the tones of film posters are crucial paratexts used to communicate a film’s specific genre-associated expectations and thus prepare their audiences for different emotional and thematic experiences. Compared to the light colours (vivid blues and reds) deployed in the posters of the assikiñ yefiker film and direct address of specific actors, seemingly cast their smiles directly at prospective audiences (see, for example, Figure 0.1 and 7.3), the posters of the yefiker film communicate a more sombre and brooding atmosphere. These posters rarely depict smiling faces, are much more atmospheric, bleached in uniform tones and are commonly constructed around a central image of the male and female protagonists wearing serious, contemplative expressions or silhouetted against a setting sun (see images 3.2, 3.6 and 9.1).

Frontrunners The commercial viability of filmmaking in Ethiopia was facilitated after cinemas were allowed to screen Amharic digital films in cinemas (see Chapter 1 and 2). A pre-cursor to this regulatory change was Tesfaye Mamo’s ፍቅር መጨረሻ – Fiker Mecheresha/The Edge of Love (1994), an Ethiopian melodrama that negotiates between individuals marrying for reasons of love and traditional values of family arranged marriages. The film was one of the rare cases of a public screening of an Ethiopian video film before the stipulation change in 2002, receiving a positive reception after it was allowed to be screened at Hager Fiker Theatre for its premiere (Tesfaye Mamo, interview, 9 March 2016). Adapted from a folktale and shot on location in Bahir Dar (the capital of the Amhara region), the film follows the story of a young couple, Abaynesh (Meseret Mulugeta) and Habtamu (Haile Abera), who defy their families’ wishes for them to separate by escaping to an island in Lake Tana. After their papyrus tankwa (canoe) drifts away they become marooned. Habtamu soon succumbs to illness while Abaynesh is left alone, mournfully despairing Habtamu’s death, with the film’s tragic ending showing the discovery of the couple’s remains on the island. The film’s consideration of fiker is complicated. On the one hand, fiker is depicted through the young couple when they are together. They are more liberated and expressive in each other’s company as they speak their mind to

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each other while relaxing by the shore of Lake Tana or cast in bright sunshine as they take an excursion to a waterfall. When Abaynesh and Habtamu are portrayed in their respective family environments, however, they are ordered to listen and respect the decisions of their elders. This conformity to societal norms and deference to elders also draws upon notions of fiker and so casts the central dilemma of the film’s narrative between a love of, and respect for, family and the pursuit of a true romantic love. The family scenes feel more claustrophobic and stifling. The natural dim lighting and small indoor fire-light of interior shots are not able to stave off the darkness that crowds around the corners of the frame. Because these scenes depict how the love of the young couple is complicated by the love, loyalty and commitment they show to their extended family, they are not victims of evil deeds but victims of circumstance and of society. It is this struggle between satisfying an individual desire for romantic love while staying true to familial, social and national expectations that places the generational struggle, their evolving notions of fiker and ambivalence of urban Ethiopian youth centre screen. Despite the successful, if short, screening of Fiker Mecheresha, it was unable to be screened in Bahir Dar or other cities due to a lack of projectors (Tesfaye Mamo, interview, 9 March 2016). Low-cost budgeting was crucial in the making of commercially successful yefiker films as audiences were attracted more by the Ethiopian specificity of the love story rather than the production value (Gebre-Egziabher 2006). ፃማኮ – Tsamako (2001), for example, was by far the most expensive film of this era, costing an alleged 250,000 ETB (roughly $33,300) and taking six months to produce. Although Tsamako was first premiered at the Imperial Hotel in 2001, due to the director and producer’s affiliations with the government, it was permitted to be screened at the Mega Amphitheatre (built on the site of the original yeseytan bet) in early 2002. Proving popular and signalling the impending relaxation of stipulations barring the screening of video films in cinemas and theatres across the country the film, however, did not represent a viable economic model because it was too costly to produce. Tsamako’s narrative, set in the Communist Derg era of the previous government, follows the female protagonist, Tigist, as she searches for her lost love Tewodros, after he escapes from a military prison. Finding refuge with the Tsamako people of southwest Ethiopia who nurture Tewodros as one of their own, he proves himself to such an extent that the elder of the community promises his

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daughter’s hand in marriage to the outsider. In true melodramatic form, Tigist manages to track down Tewodros with the help of a journalist and arrives at the village on the eve of the planned wedding. The love triangle of this film again represents the tensions between romantic love between two individuals, and love and respect for societal obligations within the setting of a small ethnic group outside mainstream nationalist notions of Ethiopian culture in which a hopeful and inclusive image of Ethiopia is projected and through which, in director Zekarias Haile-Mariam’s own words, one is encouraged to ‘measure the depth and might of love’ (cf. Yared 2001).

Commercial viability and the melodramatic mode It was only in 2002, after the screening of five different films in four different cinemas/theatres, that theatrical releases of Ethiopian films became the norm. The theme of fiker was central to all these films. By far the most popular were the ones that could be identified as belonging to the yefiker film genre: Zekarias Haile-Mariam’s ፃማኮ – Tsamako (2001); Tewodros Teshome’s ቀዝቃዛ ወላፈን – Kezkaza Welafen/Cold Flame (2002) and roughly three months later, Tatek Tadesse’s ጉዲፈቻ – Gudifecha/Adoption (2002). The other films screened were Helen Tadessa’s family comedy, የበረዶው ዘመን – Yeberedow Zemen/The Ice Age (2002)1 and Abreham Tsegaye’s rurally set action/war film produced by Haile Gebreselassie, የነፃ ትውልድ – Yenetsa Tiwild/The Free Generation (2002). Despite these five films being released at a similar time it was mainly the commercial success of Kezkaza Welafen and Gudifecha that helped establish a generic and economic blueprint for Amharic cinema in the form of the yefiker film. In a conversation between the writer/director/producer of Kezkaza Welafen, Tewodros Teshome, and Haile Gebreselassie in the documentary Cinema Addis Ababa (2022, see Figure 3.1), Haile makes the point that audiences were not interested in a war film such as Yenetsa Tiwild and that his cinema (Alem Cinema) would have gone out of business if it wasn’t for the profitability of the yefiker film. He then goes on to credit the commercial success of Kazkeza Welafen and of domestic Ethiopian cinema to the emergence of the yefiker film and their narratives of romantic love. Evident across all these early films is a similar melodramatic style, or mode, that employs dialogue-driven plots and

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Figure 3.1 Haile Gebreselassie and Tewodros Teshome in discussion at the Alem Cinema for the documentary Cinema Addis Ababa. Source: photo by author.

fast-paced editing patterns dominated by shot-reverse-shots of two characters framed in medium and close-ups, typically before an emotional reaction or physical action propels the narrative forwards. The cultural specificity of this melodrama lies in its engagement with different elements of fiker. Characters, settings and sounds are rooted in the day-to-day sociocultural realities of contemporary urban Ethiopia, embodying the contradictions of love in Ethiopia. The emergence of the yefiker film as the first commercialized and widely recognized genre in Amharic cinema resulted from the adoption of a melodramatic mode within Ethiopian scenarios harnessing strong moralizing tones attached to ideas of fiker. The melodramatic mode is understood here as an expressive mode articulated through cultural products that personalize an individual’s experiences of modern life. The melodramatic mode arises from the move away from hierarchical structures of governance dominated by Church and crown to a society orientated towards an individual’s rights as a modern citizen

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(Brooks 1976). As Gledhill points out, however, ‘[t]he irony, not lost in melodrama, is that the newly forming, discrete individual becomes mired and imprisoned as under previous hierarchies in the by now abstracted economic and political forces that justify inequalities and inequities in the name of personal freedoms’ (Gledhill 2018: x). This understanding of melodrama positions it at the vanguard of recalibrations in cultural practices that address the everyday concerns of the newly empowered individual in modern societies. Thomas Elsaesser ([1972] 1987) and Peter Brooks (1976) both employ the term ‘melodramatic imagination’ in their seminal contributions to the study of melodrama as referring to cultural permutations of the melodramatic mode. In understanding the melodramatic mode as the formal expression of intense and public emotionality in textual representation, I see the melodramatic imagination as referring to the broader culture in which people live. My understanding of ‘imagination’ is conditioned by cultural specificities and experiences, inspired by global and local flows of media representations and communications technology through which people formalize their own identity and views of others. As Shani Orgad explains, an ‘imagination must be nourished by personal experience, but also, fundamentally, by collective cultural representations’ (2012: 3). In Ethiopia, the domestic cinema is a key cultural producer that thrives on addressing collective Ethiopian sensibilities that resonate with Ethiopian experiences at home and in the diaspora. ‘In order for imagination to play its role in the coordination of emotional commitments, different persons must be able to nourish their imagination from the same source’ (Boltanski 1999: 50). I argue that popular Ethiopian films, through their use of a melodramatic mode imbued by fiker (love), provide preeminent sources that help sustain an Ethiopian melodramatic and cultural imagination. To borrow Orgad’s description of a global imagination, likewise, an Ethiopian melodramatic imagination ‘is enabled through, cultivated by, and emerges via an ongoing process of symbolic construction of the real and the possible in [melodramatic] image and narrative’ (2012: 3). The melodramatic imagination of popular Ethiopian cinema takes on nationalist and introspective dimensions due to the economic and sociocultural pressures on films to speak to the common experiences of audiences. The continual process of sustaining collective cultural imaginations imply a mediation between global imaginations

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of modernity and globalization, and the diverse cultural imaginations that contest the national hegemony in the country.

Love and money in ቀዝቃዛ ወላፈን – Kezkaza Welafen (2002) The romantic social narratives and moralizing resolutions commonly associated to the yefiker film (love film) are evident in both Kezkaza Welafen (see Figure 3.2) and Gudifecha. Largely set between the domestic space of the female protagonist Selam’s home and 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 Selamawit ‘Selam’ (Lulit Aseffa), a promising university student and advocate for the prevention of HIV/AIDS at university. The film opens with Selam and her friends driving back from Sodere to Addis Ababa. As Selam stares out the window, wiping a tear from her cheek, her friend Hirut (Aster Bedane) talks flippantly about AIDS only for the driver of the car, Selam’s boyfriend (Solomon Bogale), to lose control and crash. After the opening title sequence, we see Selam returning home from hospital relatively unscathed. Her possessive godfather, Ashagre (Tesfu Berhane), is waiting for her, unable to understand why Selam would travel to Sodere with such reckless friends. The low-angle shots used to depict Ashagre emphasize his status and it soon emerges that he has been entrusted to look after Selam and her family by her late father. However, unbeknown to Selam, Ashagre has also been promised her as his wife and becomes impatient after waiting five years. Selam does not react well to the news and refuses his proposal. Infuriated, Ashagre gives Selam an ultimatum, demanding reparations for the time and money he has spent supporting her family unless Selam agrees to be his wife. Succumbing to Ashagre’s threats to cut off the financial support he gives to Selam and her mother, Selam struggles at university and eventually agrees to marry Ashagre. The film’s turning point occurs when, on the wedding day, and just when their marriage service is about to be consummated with a kiss, Selam’s mother intervenes by calling the wedding off due to Ashagre not providing a certificate proving he is HIV negative.

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Figure 3.2 A poster for Kezkaza Welafen outside the Ambassador Theatre, 2021. Source: photo by author.

Behind the mother’s sudden assertiveness was a financial guarantee by another of Selam’s admirers. A fellow university student and classmate of Selam, Brook (Shimeles Abera), whose family owns and runs a successful business, secretly pays the family’s debts Ashagre demands he is owed and also covers the costs of Salem’s mother’s medical expenses. Although Brook has been awkwardly pursuing Selam’s affections throughout the first half of the film, his attempts to court her have only previously resulted in comical failure. When Selam discovers that Brook is her and her mother’s secret benefactor, she begins to pay him more attention. Brook offers Selam financial security, like that offered by Ashagre, the difference being that the friendship and mutual respect with which Brook conceives the relationship. The relationship between Brook and

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Selam, nevertheless, seems to be rooted in a patriarchal society where the promise of wealth provides the pre-conditions for marriage proposals. In the latter part of the film, after Selam’s close friend, Hirut passes away due to AIDS, a flashback occurs showing that Selam believes she is also living with HIV. The flashback shows an event that took place before the film’s opening scene (explaining Hirut’s tears), depicting an incident in Sodere where her exboyfriend forced her to have sex with him whilst he was drunk and knowingly HIV positive. Kezkaza Welafen, then, reaches its climax after Selam confesses her love for Brook (a feeling she links to being indebted to him), but tells him she’s not worthy of his love, further explaining her condition to him in a letter. A montage then begins of a pensive Brook driving aimlessly on a road out of Addis intercut with flashbacks of Selam and him enjoying dates together. After he is shown wondering along a train-track, he narrowly misses being hit by an onrushing train, a moment that jolts him to his senses. Selam, unable to cope with her shame and feeling of unrequited love, attempts to commit suicide only for Brook to arrive back in time to smash through her bedroom window and rush her to hospital. The film’s ending resolves with Selam’s recovery in hospital, negative HIV test result and marriage to Brook all happening in quick succession. The real evil in this film is the HIV disease and its effects on Ethiopian society, but beyond this, the filmmakers show that the social insecurities of everyday life create a world in which Selam (representing Ethiopian women) cannot survive. Using the visual trope of blind characters to symbolize the blindness of youth and Ethiopian society to HIV, and after Selam demonstrates a moral strength in her abstinence and other virtuous acts throughout the film, she is rewarded, somewhat fatalistically, through a negative HIV test result. This result opens the way for Brook and Selam to be wedded as the film rushes to its ‘happily-ever-after’ finale. Selam has very little agency in the film, cast as an innocent, beautiful and unfortunate victim of material circumstance and male malevolence. She even fails in her attempt to end her own life. Instead of exploring the reasons why Selam may feel a love towards Brook and the implications of love and money in their relationship, the film’s ending bypasses this moral dilemma and instead suggests that women should be grateful for a more benevolent patriarchy. From this early success in the yefiker film genre, a firm conservative logic emerges that dictates resolutions must be affirmative of

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local, Ethiopian moral codes, while at the same time experimenting with how love and money act as the driving forces in modern Ethiopian life.

ጉዲፈቻ – Gudifecha (2002) a family affair In Gudifecha, as in other yefiker films, couples do not always live happily ever after. Like Kezkaza Welafen, Gudifecha similarly adopts a romantic social melodrama mode with its narrative focusing on a wealthy family and the various issues of love that ensue after Meron (Meseret Mebraté) and her adopted brother Josie (Tesfu Berhane) have a romantic affair. Meron’s circumstances complicate the situation further after she becomes pregnant with Josie’s child, forcing them to go into hiding and Meron to drop out of university. Meron’s wealthy father Meshesha (Fekadu Teklemariam) then manipulates the couple, forcing them to abort the baby despite Meron knowing that, because of her haemophilia, it will most likely cause her own death. Left with little choice and cutting a tragic figure (see Figure 3.3), Meron decides to take traditional medicine in an attempt to abort her child. In a highly stylized scene, accented by low-key lighting and strong shadows, Meron and Josie

Figure 3.3 A profile shot of Meron (Meseret Mebraté) and her tear-stained cheek. Source: screenshot from ጉዲፈቻ – Gudifecha, directed by Tatek Tadesse. 2002. Combe Pictures and Black Lion Film Production. All rights reserved.

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arrive at the house of the medicine woman. After Meron commences her procedure, Josie explains that Meshesha had told them to abort after revealing that he (Josie) is actually Meshesha’s real son, given birth to by Meron’s aunt, thus making Meron and Josie agnate siblings. The film then cuts to a lake-side resort two years later where Josie explains his life to his new partner (intercut with flashbacks) describing that after Meron’s death he was deemed mentally unstable and forced to undergo both Orthodox and Pentecostal Christian healing which he found to be of little use compared to the help he received from a psychologist, augmenting the film’s advocacy of modern medical techniques over traditional and spiritual practices. Much like in Kezkaza Welafen and central to both plots are their youthful perspectives and outlooks (reflecting the young population of Ethiopia with over 70 per cent of its estimated 115 million people in 2020 under the age of thirty). It is the youth who are burdened with the problems of older generations, and who explore the impacts of both modern and traditional medicine and express their desire to marry for romantic love and not for family. Whilst in Kezkaza Welafen all these competing claims are happily resolved through good fortune and a new, more benevolent patriarchy, in Gudifecha, the death of Meron is deeply symbolic and fatalistic as she is the victim of her father’s patriarchal sins (adultery with his wife’s sister) and lies (withholding that he was in fact Josie’s legitimate father), with Meshesha ultimately becoming paralyzed due to the stress of the situation and paying the price for his daughter’s death. In Gudifecha, the opening sequence uses sweeping crane and tracking shots to frame the familiar location of the Sidist Kilo campus of Addis Ababa University, symbolizing, as in Kezkaza Welafen, a prototype of modern Ethiopia where lived tensions between Ethiopia’s modern society and past traditions come to the fore in what was once the palace grounds of the last emperor of Ethiopia. This university setting is central in many Ethiopian films, engaging the aspiring younger generations as well as older generations familiar with the history of the location. Through their urban contemporary settings, often revolving around the private domestic spaces, the yefiker film proves successful as it attempts to rationalize and comprehend the social and cultural insecurities of everyday life. A moral structure is established through characters and locations that reflect and express the hopes, dreams, pressures, anxieties and vulnerabilities of contemporary urban Ethiopian experiences. The moralizing structure places

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notions of fiker in relation to Ethiopia’s broader opening up, both culturally and economically, to an ‘imaginaire of consumption’ (Mbembe 2002: 271) and echoes Garritano’s observations in the Ghanaian context where moralizations are often ‘highly critical of materialism and capitalistic values’ (2013). The genre’s early prevalence and patriotic sensibilities were also forged in an era of hostile tensions following the aftermath of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War,2 breaking out in 1998 and informally ending in 2000,3 which destabilized the very fabric of Ethiopian national identity and created social and economic uncertainty. In both Kezkaza Welafen and Gudifecha, a romantic based love becomes a social ideal and the emotional charge that leads the female protagonists down paths strewn with melodramatic extremes of self-sacrifice as Selam fortuitously comes out of her ordeal with her ‘happy ever after’ while Meron suffers the ultimate price for her father’s lies and manipulations. It is in coming to terms with emotional anxieties and exploring the social and moral consequences of romantic love in Ethiopian scenarios that the yefiker film resonates with Ethiopian audiences. The success of popular films lies not only in their moralizations of social norms within contemporary Ethiopian communities but also in creating a crucial continuity with hegemonic nationalist and religious sentiments. This combination creates an imaginative stability by rooting this commercially incentivized film sector in the mythologized narratives of Ethiopia’s past and the contemporary developments of it present.

Philosophizing fiker in እቴጌ ፪ – Etege 2 (2010/11) The film እቴጌ ፪ ዘመቻ ድንግል ፍለጋ/Etege 2: Zemecha Dingil Filega/Empress 2: In Search of Purity (2010/11) stands out as an important film for its ideological and formative influences in the yefiker film genre. This is particularly apparent in the film’s dénouement, as it distils an emotive nationalism through a combination of fiker, tizita (nostalgia) and religious Orthodox Tewahedo Christian overtures in opposition to modern materialistic urban lifestyles, a function that has since become more common in popular Ethiopian cinema as a whole (Behailu Wassie, interview, 8 March 2016). The closing sequence of the film exemplifies how the concept of fiker emanates in popular Ethiopian films. Ethnographic-style footage, coloured in warm, golden rays of sunlight depicts

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Figure 3.4 A screenshot from Etege 2 of Addis (Alemseged Tesfaye) silhouetted by a setting sun over a lake. Source: screenshot from እቴጌ ፪ – Etege 2, directed by Abiye Fenta. 2010/2011. Studio A. All rights reserved.

rural inhabitants in montage, both doing pastoral tasks such as farming and fetching water but also enjoying a simple life as they dance eskesta and offer broad smiles to the camera. Images of this simple rural existence are then silhouetted in posterity against the picturesque backdrop of the sun setting over a lake (see Figure 3.4). One of the key characters, Mesfin (Yonas Solomon), is heard in voice-over narration saying: ‘While I was in the countryside, I noticed severe poverty, disease and similar hardships, but what surprised me was the peace, love, contentment and satisfaction people had!’ He continues to talk of the artificial pleasures of urban life which drive people to addiction and sinful acts. Referencing the Ethiopian Orthodox teachings of the virtues of poverty, Mesfin goes on to venerate the wise old character of Aba Sahilu (Seyfa Araya) for his teachings throughout the film. The images of the film then focus on close-ups of Aba Sahilu looking into the camera intercut with shots panning meditatively up and down, framing the elder and his windswept grey hair, strongly backlit by the setting sun (see Figure 3.5). These iridescent images paint Aba Sahilu as an enlightened, almost saintly figure who represents a font of Ethiopian wisdom. Finally, Mesfin’s narration questions the very concept of knowledge, comparing modern education’s focus on creating an atmosphere of selfish individualism and competitiveness in contrast to the respect and humility

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Figure 3.5 A screenshot from Etege 2’s final montage of Aba Sahilu (Seyfa Araya). Source: screenshot from እቴጌ ፪ – Etege 2, directed by Abiye Fenta. 2010/2011. Studio A. All rights reserved.

taught in traditional Ethiopian Orthodox church education. The rising inequality in Ethiopia is then referred to with the narration continuing: ‘We have houses but no shelter! We have cars but no shoes! We have Ethiopia but we migrate! [. . .] To conclude, as light wins in the darkness, let us join to light up our identity which we darken by living foreign lifestyles. Love is the source of all light!’ Here, fiker as the source of all goodness and purity echoes the writings of Ethiopian philosophers about love and links it to a nostalgic and patriotic view of traditional, rural Ethiopian living. As the film’s plot develops from a male quest to find a wife into a journey of self-discovery, a deeper love and appreciation of traditional rural lifestyles triumphs over the shallowness of urban living. In its contrasting of rural and urban lifestyles in Ethiopia, the film’s entire narrative negotiates the very concept of fiker in its romantic, familial, religious and patriotic senses, promoting a more philosophical understanding of fiker centred within an idyllic view of rural Ethiopia. Etege 2’s final philosophizing on the omnipresent nature of fiker, eulogized as touching upon and uplifting all aspects of life in Ethiopia, may seem overly sentimental and naïve, but it reflects a genuinely felt popular epistemological position when considering the conflicting aspirations and values of love and money in contemporary Ethiopia. The relationship with fiker here is shown to be deep and weighty, embedded within Ethiopian philosophical discourses. The pursuit of money may lead to stability in marriage and the fulfilment of marketed

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love, but it will not lead to a love that can offer spiritual fulfilment. Etege 2’s ending draws on emotional and spiritual insights to make sense of the conditions that afflict the country, facilitating a reengagement with hope and the promise of a life full of love. Although the ills of Ethiopia are stereotypically and unquestionably blamed on foreign influences, in its questioning of knowledge creation and rejection of foreign education, the film takes a bold philosophical stand against the encroachment of modern norms and the incessant tides of globalization.

ረቡኒ – Rebuni (2014) and romantic reservations From 2013/2014 onwards, there was a resurgence of the yefiker film genre, with films combining more developed aesthetics with emotive negotiations of philosophical, patriotic and spiritual sentiments of fiker grounded in Ethiopian sourced epistemologies. Aesthetically speaking, more films began to commission emotional songs (often accompanying climactic scenes) as well as shooting in locations other than house interiors (often in rural Ethiopia), exploring more stylized and detailed usages of mise-en-scène while also engaging in more sophisticated cinematography. Female protagonists also appear as having greater agency from this period with women characters seen representing all the complexities of human nature thanks, in-part, to the work of women filmmakers such as Kidist Yilma, Aster Bedane, Roman Befikadu and Alemtsehay Bekele (see Kassahun 2018). Kidist Yilma’s tragic yefiker film, ረቡኒ – Rebuni/Teacher4 (2014) (see Figure 3.6) fuelled a rejuvenation of the genre, achieving an influential status from a mixture of commercial success, wide distribution in cinemas and on VCD, and extensive critical acclaim. Rebuni won high praise, from the usually negatively minded critical commentators and ended up being awarded Best Feature Film in the two most prestigious film awards in Ethiopia (from the 9th Ethiopian International Film Festival5 and the 2015 Gumma Film Awards6). I want to explore to what extent it can be considered an innovative film within the yefiker film genre, paying particular attention to its presentation and conceptualization of fiker in an ultimately tragic and yet uplifting narrative. This analysis is not so far removed from Steven W. Thomas’s (2020) insightful reading of the film as presenting ‘a local theorization of globalization’ (p. 74) in

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Figure 3.6 A poster for Rebuni in an Alem Cinema film brochure. Source: author’s collection.

response to Ethiopian political and economic policy, but what I focus on, here, is the filmic means through which Rebuni presents its allegorical narrative. Rebuni centres on the relationship between a rich Addis Ababa-based businessman, Leul (Amanuel Habtamu), and the unassuming, traditionally moral girl-like landowner, Gela (Ruta Mengistaeb), who is also known by the nickname ‘Adey’. Rebuni explicitly addresses the growing tensions and inequalities experienced in twenty-first century Ethiopia between notions of a developing society and developmental notions of capitalism. The roles of fiker and money, as in Etege 2, are constructed as opposing forces in the battle for the soul of Ethiopia, with Gela personifying the loving defence of this soul and Leul representing the unwitting men that trade away this soul in the pursuit of ‘prosperity’. Rebuni’s opening introduces the oppositional forces in the film and a significant plot-point. As an old man (Gela’s grandfather played by Abnet Ayeli) is shown making a natural remedy seemingly for his wife, who he tells has only sixty days left to live. This scene permeates a natural and calm fatalism which is then contrasted by the swagger and bravado of the business world as Leul is shown unveiling plans to build a new paint factory to be completed in sixty days. From this point on, the two locations, and characters affiliated with them, are entwined with the impending death of one woman becoming the

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catalyst for the rebirth of the rest. The first part of the film, then introduces our protagonist, the seemingly inexperienced Gela as she inherits the land her grandfather uses to grow plants for traditional medicines, and as she assumes the position of matriarch in her family. She is both responsible for the land and her family (her grandfather and her young brother who is in school), a burden many daughters in families across Ethiopia bear. However, despite these common gendered responsibilities, she is afforded relative freedom as she apprehensively assumes her position as a landowner. Gela is portrayed as being grounded in the traditions and knowledge of her grandfather’s apothecary which has given her a deep understanding of her community and the role people play in maintaining a peaceful and caring society. The tranquillity of Gela’s surroundings and community, however, are threatened by businessmen looking to buy up land on the outskirts of the city. Gela is forced to confront this intrusion head-on when the wealthy executive, Leul, decides Gela’s land is the perfect site for the planned development of his paint-making factory. The world of global business and of customary Ethiopian lifestyles are then put into stark opposition. The scenes that follow juxtapose the suits, offices and formal business meetings of Leul and his colleagues with Gela’s innocent, yet deliberate, disregard for formal business etiquette, represented by her playful and teasing mannerisms, her unkempt/relaxed dress and her companionship with her younger brother, Abule (Yeabsira Tekilu). Gela deliberately misleads Leul into thinking that she may be willing to sell her land, and as is the custom, she welcomes the businessman and his colleagues into her humble home. After experiencing the cold, unwelcoming and uncaring nature of Leul and his business acumen, Gela takes it upon herself to teach him the meaning of social responsibility with the intention of reconnecting him with his natural and cultural surroundings. In this way, Gela comes to represent the teacher of traditional customs that the title of the film promises, with Mengestab’s performance conveying these lessons through a bright eyed, energetic woman with a disarming smile, kind-hearted disposition and who conveys wisdom beyond her years. It is in the relationship which blossoms between Gela and Leul, making up the most significant part of the film, that Rebuni harnesses the conventions of the yefiker film. Leul’s marriage breaks down as he and his wife are unable to conceive a child and because he spends more time with Gela. Leul’s perceived

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impotence is a metaphor for the devastating environmental effects of industrial expansion on previously fertile land and is a symptom of his short-sighted pursuit of prosperity. Gela and Leul are seen meeting many times as Gela strives to teach Leul about the virtues of her grandfather’s communal life. Leul comes across as cold and calculating whereas Gela’s energy and infectious spirit almost literally resonates from her heart as she responds to his pursuit of buying land by asking him how much he would sell his heart for. The love that Gela exudes in her mannerisms and her attitudes clearly affect Leul as he is soon portrayed as becoming romantically attracted to her after he buys her a new dress and other treats. Most of these sequences are shot in the rural setting of Gela’s home, connecting Gela’s character with the community she holds dear. The frame is saturated with the lush greens and sky blues of this pastoral setting, colours that reflect Gela’s personality and the life, wisdom and faith she represents as she and Leul come to embody the dialectics between love and money in Ethiopia. Unlike the montages of couples playing and enjoying romantic activities together, more common in the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), in Rebuni a short montage, roughly three quarters of the way through the film, is suggestive of a romantic connection between the couple. One sequence depicts them as they touch hands while they assist each other crossing over a stream’s stepping-stones. The reaction to the physical touch of hands suggests a romantic spark, captured through slow motion and the editing of shots from multiple angles and scale. The effects of the slow motion, dissolve cuts and shot-reverse-shot editing suggests a tender connection between the two, but the uncertainty between their touch and gaze stresses the anxiety such a romance between two opposing forces would represent. The still image on one of the film’s posters is taken from this sequence, clearly communicating the film’s participation in romantic conventions associated with the yefiker film (see Figure 3.6). The actual scene, however, treads a more delicate path between the romantic associations suggested in the images and a fear that Gela’s rooted love of her land may soon be betrayed. A romantic attachment is suggested between Gela and Leul in this short montage but a sense of unease permeates the scene. Through all the slow motion, shot-reverse-shot, exchanged glances and hand holding in this montage, the sky overhead remains leaden with dark clouds, communicating

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an impending sense of foreboding as if this romantic moment may incur the wrath of nature itself, in effect heralding the final act. It seems, here, that Gela has fallen in love with Leul – that is until their next meeting, when she discovers Leul is actually married. The sparks of this flickering romance are quickly doused by Leul’s wife, Ribka (Tseganesh Hailu), as she finds them together in the woods, jumping to the assumption that Gela is Leul’s mistress. Despite Leul’s marriage already having broken down due to their inability to conceive, and despite Leul explaining that he and Gela are just friends, Gela becomes ridden with guilt and shame, dismissing her romantic feelings and urging Leul to make things better with his wife. Upon Gela’s return to her family home, her feeling of shame is compounded as she is greeted with a hysterical Ribka slandering her name through accusations of adultery. Gela is at her most vulnerable after this event and is inconsolable as she apologizes to her grandfather for the shame she has brought on the family as she confides in him her love of Leul. The reluctant and brief romantic moment between Gela and Leul, although enticing is also seen as destabilizing to the greater schema of life and so only appears as an offshoot (one quickly pruned) of a greater, more spiritual, just, and all-pervading fiker that Gela teaches throughout the film.

Love and sacrifice The final meeting between Gela and Leul occurs on the holiday of the transfiguration of Christ, a key festival in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. In this rain-drenched meeting amongst the trees of Gela’s rural home, Gela is dressed fully in white for the first time (see Figure 3.7), indicating her purity and ultimate sacrifice, symbolism heavily entrenched in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the colour of traditional Ethiopian garments (still commonly worn on feast days and as formal wear). Gela quickly resolves the central issue of the film’s plot in this scene by telling Leul plainly that her land is not for sale. She also forgives him for the incident with Ribka, urges him to reconcile his quarrel with his wife and tells him to consider the virtues of nature. Leul brings it upon himself to return to his wife after Gela uncharacteristically asks him to stay a while with her as the rain falls, kissing him on the cheek before he leaves. Her kiss is reciprocated by Leul who kisses Gela on the forehead

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Figure 3.7 A screenshot from Rebuni depicting Leul kissing Gela on the forehead. Source: screenshot from ረቡኒ – Rebuni, directed by Kidist Yilma. 2014. Galaxy Film Production and 123 Studio. All rights reserved.

as they seemingly acknowledge the mutual love between them, only for Gela to turn back as they depart, telling of her ultimate romantic sacrifice. In the next scene, after some time has passed, Leul returns to Gela’s house to enquire about her and only now does the true message of the film and the true meaning behind Gela’s actions become apparent. Leul is seen grief stricken, quickly discovering that Gela has passed away due to a cancer that has been concealed from him and the audience throughout the duration of the film. This is made all the more painful and poignant as the discovery of Gela’s passing is depicted through a visceral long take in slow motion, underscored by Rebuni’s title track praising the virtues of Aday (Gela’s nickname) as the camera focuses on the denial, disbelief, bewilderment, shock and inconsolable grief Leul experiences as he sees Gela’s body. This is interspersed with flashbacks of scenes showing Gela throwing both the audience and Leul off the scent of her ill-health. The revelation of Gela’s higher intentions, however, only manifest in a montage of flashbacks, intercut into the final scene of the film. Leul is shown at Gela’s grave in the warm light of the setting sun, reading her final words to him written in a letter. Gela is heard in voice-over reciting the letter and revealing her true intentions and reason for finally relinquishing her land to him, saying:

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‘The land bears fruit if given good seed. So I entrust you to sow the seed in the deep ground’. Leul is seen offering his hand to Gela’s younger brother and is joined by his (now pregnant) wife Ribka who is seen thanking Gela and asking Leul: ‘Did you hate me after you met her?’ Leul in turn replies, saying: ‘Actually, it’s after I met her that I learned what love is.’ This final line of dialogue is then emphasized through the theme song of the film which has been playing intermittently since Leul’s discovery of Gela’s death and which poetically tells of how Gela’s actions teach society to appreciate and care for its good customs, the environment and to care and appreciate one another. Just as it is Gela who has taught Leul ‘what love is’, this is a lesson not learnt through romance and the successful union of a couple who have overcome adversity for a happily ever after. Instead, Gela consciously sacrifices her bodily desires and romantic feelings of love towards Leul for a longer-lasting, more deeply rooted, and more spiritually enlightened love to be revealed. Gela echoes the sixteenth century Ethiopian philosophy of Zara Yacob, rooted in the teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, saying: ‘My life in this world was in the good will of the potter [. . .] Leul, ask the lord for your happiness with your truest heart and He will grant you it. But you have to ask honestly’. This reference clearly situates the film within the schematics of a fiker that emanates from ‘the rationality of the human heart’ as philosophized by Zara Yakob (cf. Teodros Kiros 2005) indicating that enlightenment can only be achieved when one fully opens their heart to the truth. The purity of Gela’s faith and true nature of her love are also indicated here, as we hear her enlightened voice still referencing and extoling the teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, as she has done throughout the film. The didacticism of this final sequence is put together through flashbacks and dissolve cuts which are all edited together in quick succession. The speed of the cuts may seem unnerving and unsuited to the meditative atmosphere of the film’s conclusion, but this is also characteristic of the melodramatic mode of commercial Amharic films. The dissolve cuts help link and bridge characters, forging new relationships between Leul and Gela’s young brother Abule, while seemingly infusing a renewed trust between Leul and his wife. The negative space of one shot is quickly filled and embodied by a character in a reverse shot, emphasizing Gela’s message of social cohesion and the importance of family and loved ones, as Leul and Ribka are able to see eye-to-eye for the first time as their images are

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overlaid through the dissolve (see Figure 3.8). Each dissolve shot seemingly washes away and reconstitutes the elements of the previous frame in an ethereal manner as Gela’s message of love, social and environmental responsibility and kindness can continue to be heard in voice-over with the blur of the dissolve even mimicking the tears shed at the protagonist’s unexpected death. The ethereal and affecting nature of this closing sequence is further emphasized by the lighting. The natural light from the setting sun shines a halo of backlight that outlines Leul and Ribka as he kisses his wife on the forehead, reminiscent of the kiss he last gave to Gela. This is enhanced by out-of-focus dappled light that shimmers off golden leaves and grass (contrasting with the greens of previous scenes) in the background emanating a sparkling bokeheffect that adds to the serenity of the sequence (see Figure 3.8). The final shot, then, shows Leul and Abule silhouetted, hand-in-hand in a long shot more reminiscent of a common romantic trope in the yefiker film genre, but this time it represents the promise of a new filial love. The restoration of hope and belief in Gela’s final message of an Ethiopiancentric fiker (love) offers a compassionate resolution through pathos, typical of the yefiker film and its convention of containing moralizing dénouements. Instead of a romantic union being the vector of social and moral realignment,

Figure 3.8 A screenshot from Rebuni’s closing sequence capturing a dissolve cut. Source: screenshot from ረቡኒ – Rebuni, directed by Kidist Yilma. 2014. Galaxy Film Production and 123 Studio. All rights reserved.

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still common in the yefiker film but adopted more wholeheartedly by the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), and evident above in Kezkaza Welafen; Rebuni’s tragic dénouement explicitly offers lessons for contemporary society on maintaining cultural roots and customs in the face of economic development. These lessons are all the more powerful because of how they appeal, through pathos, to audiences’ emotions. Gela becomes the embodiment of fiker and her death/sacrifice, although alluded to throughout the film, comes as a shock. The emotional impact of this shock builds to a crescendo as the images of Leul and other characters coming to terms with Gela’s death are underscored by the film’s theme music and editing that allows Gela’s death and ultimate message of love and sacrifice to sink in. It is a fascination with love and sacrifice that has since been central in the successful filmmaking careers of writer/directors Kidist Yilma, Behailu ‘Waje’ Wassie and Mulualem Getachew (see Figure 3.9) who theorize the centrality of sacrifice to popular Ethiopian cinema in the documentary Cinema Addis Ababa (2022).

Figure 3.9 Behailu Wassie (left), Kidist Yilma (centre) and Mulualem Getachew (right) discussing love and sacrifice for the documentary Cinema Addis Ababa. Source: photo by author.

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Pathos, sentimentality and suffering It is hard not to feel emotional when watching Rebuni as we see a grief-stricken community in the wake of Gela’s passing and as we learn of her true virtuous nature through her final message of love. Rebuni is one of the best examples of how the yefiker film genre has developed a sophisticated deployment of pathos that triggers a compassionate and emotional response from its audiences. Indeed, it is this very intense nature of the emotional response triggered by Rebuni that makes the film stand-out in the yefiker film genre. In Kezkaza Welafen, female suffering was felt by Selam, struggling to cope with material poverty at home and avoiding stigmatizations associated with HIV/AIDS in her social life. By chance and through a convoluted plot that positions patriarchal norms as both the cause of, and solution to, Selam’s suffering, she is saved. Although there are moments through which the audience feels compassion as a result of Selam’s suffering, this pathos is largely undermined by the film’s lack of commitment to exploring the complexity of Selam’s emotions as it rushes through to its end credits. In Gudifecha the emotional response the audience wants to express towards Meron’s suffering and tragic death is similarly undermined. While Meron and the audience are all too aware of her haemophilia, her partner, Jossi is not. This knowledge conditions the audience to expect Meron’s death when she decides to attempt an abortion. When she is declared to have died as a result of this operation, however, the resulting pathos is transposed onto Jossi as he retells the story from his own perspective. This has the effect of displacing the effects of female suffering and sacrifice onto the male domain, overriding any feeling of loss or compassion the audience may have felt towards Meron. In both Kezkaza Welafen and Gudifecha, the ability of female protagonists to come to terms with their own suffering is denied. In Rebuni, the element of tragedy, and in particular the death of the female protagonist, echoes the earlier success of the pioneering Gudifecha. Rebuni, however, delivers a much more impactful pathos compared to the earlier films that pioneered the yefiker film genre. Rebuni does not undermine the emotional connection built up between the audience and Gela, as is the case in Kezkaza Welafen and Gudifecha. Instead, in its dénouement, Rebuni maintains its focus on the emotional response to Gela’s sacrifice and moral lessons that she extols

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in her own words, heard in voice-over after her death. Rebuni, then, can be seen to represent a successful recycling and more emotionally committed handling of the pathos, sentimentality and suffering common in the yefiker film genre. Steven W. Thomas rightly points out that, like Etege 2, Rebuni also ‘critiques the epistemological foundation of western knowledge and the ideology of development’ (2020: 73). His astute reading of the film explores how Rebuni can be understood in relation to Ethiopian politics and economic strategy under Meles Zenawi. However, I also want to build on Thomas’s point that ‘One might criticize the film as a sentimental and far-fetched story in which Adey [Gela] “teaches” Leul who changes his outlook on life while Adey falls in love with him’ (2020: 74). I argue that it is precisely the film’s sentimentality and personalization of sociocultural, political and economic issues (embodied through Gela and Leul) that enable the emotionally charged logic and overarching theme of fiker to effectively critique developmentalism. It is important, here, to take emotions seriously, and as this book attests, to recognize how emotions inspire thought and how logic impacts upon feeling. It is the very interconnections between thought and feeling that enables characters to embody ‘socioemotional’ located beings. The socioemotional attachment and heart-felt belief of Gela’s teachings about fiker thus become a repository of emotional knowledge in and of itself for audiences who invest their own emotions into understanding the film. It is through the emotional potency of fiker that popular Ethiopian cinema has been able to engage a specific Ethiopian cultural and melodramatic imagination. The yefiker film, therefore, represents the natural progenitor of Amharic film genres. More specifically, the genre draws its emotive power from the fissions and shocks that emerge when two oppositional forces, in the form of male and female protagonists, come together under romantic circumstances. The coming together of these oppositional forces reveal emerging feelings and sociocultural perceptions in relation to more dominant and hegemonic structures of feeling often centred around aspirations of love and money. Other yefiker film movies which focus on an introspection of contemporary Ethiopian society through more conventional romantic narratives are: ትራፊኳ – Traffikwa/The Traffic Policewoman (2013) which focuses on police corruption and the damaging effects of gossip; ሰኔ 30 – Sené7 30 (2015), which focuses on

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drawing parallels between older and more recent notions of romance and love in a story of intergenerational moral exchanges, and ምዕራፍ ሁለት – Mi’eraf Hulet/Chapter Two (2016), detailing the story of a victim of the malpractice and manipulation of the law by wealthy businessmen. There are also specific thematic trends that are often represented in the yefiker film but have crossgeneric permutations in instances of the yebeteseb film and assikiñ yefiker film. Stories of immigration and the desire to emigrate abroad make up a trend in the yefiker film that has been present since the commercialization of Amharic film but proliferated and crossed genre boundaries. The theme of immigration often suits the employment of suspense to dramatize the dangers of undocumented migration and so also partakes in the conventions more associated with the lib anteltay film (suspense film).8 Likewise, the thematic trend in films focusing on mental illness often shares similarities with the broader conventions of the yebeteseb film (family film) where romantic love is often absent. An example of this is evident in films that focus on protagonists or families suffering from mental illnesses, as initiated in አብሮ አበድ – Abro Abed/Together Crazy in 2012. This thematic trend included the yefiker film movies: ስለ እናት ልጅ – Silä Enat Lij/For My Mother’s Son (2015); ኀረየት – Hereyet (2015); እስክትመጪ ልበድ – Eskitmechi Libed/Let me be Crazy until you Return (2015); መባ – Meba/Meba (Tithe)9 (2016) and ትዝም – Tizm/(Au)tism (2016). The evidence of these trends in Amharic genres with the cross-over of themes and conventions into different genres, often complicates attempts at defining stable genres.

4

The rise of the አስቂኝ የፍቅር ፊልም – assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film)

Romantic melodrama or romantic comedy? That is the crucial question. Deborah Thomas (2000: 99) In the years that followed the commercial success of the yefiker film (love film), between 2002 and 2006, more privately-owned cinemas were built. Encouraged by the commercial viability of popular Ethiopian cinema, these cinemas were dedicated to screening the latest Ethiopian releases. Dominated at the time by the yefiker film, the trend of establishing new cinemas in different locations also opened up privately-owned cinemas to a wider audience demographic. These new spaces for film exhibition allowed room for experimentation and as demand for other types of films grew, so too the system of Amharic film genres flourished from the yefiker film, that often dealt in some way with ideas of fiker but expressed them through different means. Alessandro Jedlowski rightly points out that in Ethiopia ‘the period around 2007/2008 can be considered something of a golden age [. . .] with different film genres being equally successful with local audiences’ (2015b: 181). The most commonly mentioned films in this period, described as some of the most successful films in the history of cinema in Ethiopia, are the lib anteltay film (suspense film), ስርይት – Siryet (2007); the tragic yebeteseb film (family film), ውሳኔ – Wisané (2008) and the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), የወንዶች ጉዳይ – Yewendoch Gudday/Men’s Affair (2007). As also noted by Jedlowski and widely acknowledged by Ethiopian based filmmakers,1 after the success of Yewendoch Gudday, the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) became the new blueprint for commercial success due to their relatively small budgets and shorter production times. This had the effect of saturating the market, pushing 121

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‘producers [. . .] to invest mainly (if not only) in projects that guarantee good (and safe) economic returns, provoking [. . .] repetition of plots and genres’ (Jedlowski 2015b: 182). This is not to say, however, that all assikiñ yefiker film movies are stagnant, unoriginal copies of each other or of Hollywood romantic comedies or devoid of generic innovation. It is true that the prevalence of the assikiñ yefiker film since 2007 has contributed to the rise of the domestic film sector in Ethiopia to such an extent that a rough estimate of 40 per cent of all Ethiopian films screened at the Alem Cinema in 2014 were associated with this genre. It is interesting to note, however, that this figure dropped to roughly 20 per cent in 2015. This drop signals another shift in the popularity of other genres, or at least a dip in popularity of the assikiñ yefiker film, as evidenced in the screening programmes of the Alem Cinema. The logic of exploring other Amharic film genres, the subject of the following chapters, results from their increase in popularity and a desire to examine more closely whether the influences of a perceived Ethiopian cultural and melodramatic imagination, and indeed relationships between the yefiker film and assikiñ yefiker film, hold sway in more recent expressions of popular Ethiopian cinema.

Whether to laugh or cry The assikiñ yefiker film can be seen as closely related to the yefiker film in that it often confronts social tensions and fissures by using romance and love to bridge class, ethnic and familial divisions, but unlike the yefiker film, always results in laughter, the overcoming of obstacles and ends happily with the union of the couple. Crucially, these genres can be distinguished by their different affective natures; while the yefiker film is serious and often provokes tears, the assikiñ yefiker film is evidently oriented towards making audiences laugh and offering comic relief. Both genres, however, can be regarded as employing a similar melodramatic schema based on narratives that establish oppositional characters who develop revealing relationships and emerging feelings that challenge and/ or support norms and expectations of Ethiopian society. The assikiñ yefiker film has infused its leading and supporting characters, such as friends, helpers and obstacle figures (such as a controlling fathers or

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bosses) with stereotypical and prototypical Ethiopian characteristics in order to engage with the specific cultural and social milieu familiar to Ethiopian audiences. The humour of most assikiñ yefiker film movies, is often born out of these stereotypes in the form of extremes. These extremes are characterized in a battle of the sexes and in the opposition of gender cultures in Ethiopia, animated through the male and female in the sense that ‘opposites attract’. An award-winning example of such male and female opposites is evident in the film ስለ አንቺ – Silä Anchi/For You (2008), in which a beautiful, extrovert waitress falls in love with an awkward looking, stiff and introverted high-school student. These gendered oppositional comedic extremes may also be represented through a ‘clash of cultures’, which play on the challenges of speaking foreign languages (often English) such as in Yefiker ABCD (2012); or also on other such binaries as poverty/wealth (in Yanchiw Léba (2011)); rural/urban, such as in ላውንደሪ ቦይ – Lawnderi Boy/Laundry Boy (2011), አይራቅ – Ayrak/Don’t Be Distant (2014); with many films combining multiple such dichotomies as in ጥለፈኝ – Tilefeñ/Abduct Me (2015). The changing social context of Ethiopia from 2007 up to the present influences the assikiñ yefiker film genre as films explore a diverse array of mores surrounding courtship in Ethiopia and between Ethiopians from an array of different social backgrounds that enables the genre to enact subtle changes and innovations while maintaining its popular appeal. The fact that commercial Amharic cinema has historically been dependent on theatrical exhibition, means it is logical for the assikiñ yefiker film to be popular due to the relative openness and popularity of cinemagoing among the youth of Addis Ababa. The communal act of watching a comedy film amongst a crowd activates the infectious nature of laughter which further enhances the pleasures of the cinemagoing experience. The added aspect of Ethiopian cinemagoers often frequenting the cinema in groups or in couples adds to the idea that the assikiñ yefiker film is a favourite ‘date movie’ supporting the idea of the ritualization of cinemagoing within courtship practices worldwide. The enduring nature and popularity of the genre in Ethiopia can be associated, therefore, as in the American example, with the communality of cinemagoing and courtship. Mernit describes the desires and expectations of audiences of romantic comedies as wanting ‘to feel what it’s like to love and be loved . . . to be deeply moved, and at the same time they want to laugh’ (2000: 252). Similarly,

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the tone of the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) is one of safety, not of anxiety or jeopardy like the yefiker film (love film) or lib anteltay film (suspense film). The audience are already expecting to laugh, if they wanted to cry, more likely than not they would have chosen to attend a yefiker film. For it is the emotional power and light-hearted tone of the assikiñ yefiker film which distinguishes it from the anxiety fuelled uncertainties of the yefiker film. Echoing Grindon’s American example, ‘[t]he plot of most romantic comedies could be presented with the earnestness of melodrama, but the humorous tone transforms the experience’ (2011: 2). What links these two most prominent film genres in Ethiopia, and the system of Amharic film genres in general however, is the competing and omnipresent idea of fiker which becomes the centralizing concept through which the commercial Amharic film industry is sustained and developed.

የወንዶች ጉዳይ – Yewendoch Gudday a man’s world The significance and influence of Yewendoch Gudday/Men’s Affair (2007) (see Figure 4.1) on popular Ethiopian cinema cannot be overstated. The film, written by and starring Admasu Kebede, and directed by Henok Ayele, features an ensemble cast who have gone on to make substantial careers in various cultural industries in Ethiopia as a result of the film’s success. In textual terms, Yewendoch Gudday’s success lay in its searing narrative which plays upon the inferiority complex of the average Ethiopian man when compared to men from the Ethiopian diaspora who come back to Ethiopia to find a wife. This stereotypical view assumes members of the diaspora are wealthy and thus instantly more attractive partners for women, who will drop everything, even their boyfriends, to take up the chance of life abroad. When such a scenario presents itself in the film’s opening, the protagonist, Aimero (Admasu Kebede), is heartbroken to such an extent that he becomes house bound. Aimero’s close friends (all colleagues at a carpenter’s workshop) are so disgusted by the situation that they vow revenge by establishing the ‘yewendoch gudday’ group with the sole aim of avenging shunned men, victims of women who willingly trade love for riches and the prospect of foreign lifestyles.

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Figure 4.1 A poster for Yewendoch Gudday outside the Cinema Empire 2021. Source: photo by author.

The central conflict of the film develops in typical romantic comedy masquerade fashion. Aimero begrudgingly goes to the wedding of his exgirlfriend while his friends hatch a humorous plan which involves them gatecrashing the event as inspired by the American film Wedding Crashers (2005). It is at the wedding that Aimero catches the eye of Helina (Rekik Teshome) who believes Aimero also to be a wealthy member of the Ethiopian diaspora as he pretends to be a professor of wood. Lies and deceit build up between the two as they start dating. Helina suspects Aimero is not all what he seems, so she tests the limits of his lies and alleged wealth by increasingly playing the role of the materialistically-minded woman. Aimero increasingly digs himself

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into a deeper hole that becomes difficult for him to get out of. In debt to his boss and colleagues and suffering mentally from the stress his charade has created, the masquerade is finally dispelled in the film’s climax which is then resolved as the love between the couple is laid bare after they are forced to come clean, admitting in earnest their wrongdoings and, in turn, true feelings for each other. Subsequent films associated with the assikiñ yefiker film genre have adopted and adapted the same themes and similar narrative tropes as Yewendoch Gudday. Common to the genre are male working class/unemployed citydwelling protagonists, down on their luck with not much going for them apart from charm, sentimentality and wit. A chance encounter with a woman out of their league (in terms of socioeconomic status) occurs in which the protagonist somehow manages to make an impression on his new love interest. Commonly, a masquerade then takes place where the man pretends to be something he is not. Often aided by his friends, he plays the role of a stereotypical ideal, or plays on male expectations of female desire. These playfully exaggerated personas often cannot hide the true and flawed character within, but it is through these acts of trying to impress the opposite sex that a courtship dynamic between the couple develops. As the layers of false façades comically unravel, so too a truthful love is revealed, allowing for sociocultural or material obstacles to ultimately be overcome. The masquerade plot-type is a common convention in romantic comedies across the world and has a particularly long tradition in Hollywood (Grindon 2011) with Jenkins and Karnick going as far as claiming ‘masquerade and the problem of unstable identities . . . may be defining characteristics of the comic traditions as a whole’ (1995: 166). From this more globalized comic trope, the fiker of the assikiñ yefiker film is always a romantic companionate love between a man and a woman, but the truth of their relationship, what lies behind the love, are characteristics rooted in a sense of Ethiopian community and social norms. The finale of Yewendoch Gudday for example, contains references to the need to inwardly invest in Ethiopia, the lure of America, and the value of hard work, promoting themes common throughout popular Ethiopian cinema. The masquerade is the narrative device, then, that allows characters to explore their located identities, at the juncture of the local and global, in order to uncover a more meaningful love relevant to their specific experiences.

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A local/global reading of Yewendoch Gudday by Steven W. Thomas (2020) highlights more specifically how the film self-consciously participates in American romantic comedy conventions in a way that works against a simple adaptation/adoption of American cultural norms. Thomas argues that global genres, such as the romantic comedy, can be understood as tools for cultural and genre innovation elsewhere, with the case in point being Yewendoch Gudday and the assikiñ yefiker film in Ethiopia. Thomas notes the explicit rebuttal and parodying of American fetishizations and archetypes in Yewendoch Gudday, ‘as the characters mimic American culture in order to comment ironically and critically on the production of social values (i.e., romantic love), they are not simply adapting a globalized and hegemonic American culture to their Ethiopian location; rather, they are rediscovering the value of their local culture through ironic appropriation of American culture’ (2020: 78). Here, it is the parodying of Ethiopian behaviours that attempt to mimic American ones that bears the fruit of social criticism and comedic realization. Yewendoch Gudday is a fine example of how films associated with the assikiñ yefiker film genre employ comedy to comment on the subject of cultural assimilation. This self-defacing humour, particularly directed at making fun of Ethiopians who belie their own Ethiopian-ness, is particularly popular and fully dependent on cultural specificity and a close affinity with domestic audiences. Beyond the easy pickings of satirizing the emotional bankruptcy and sheer ignorance of diaspora characters, Aimero’s fellow yewendoch gudday group members humorously portray different Addis Ababa personality traits and Ethiopian mannerisms. These depictions are funny precisely because they poke fun at how global aspirations and rooted Ethiopian pride coalesce, resonating more intimately with Addis Ababa audiences who easily identify with and can relate to such mannerisms. These mannerisms are at their most apparent when the yewendoch gudday group are busy plotting Aimero’s lovelife at work in the wood-shop, and gate-crashing Aimero’s ex-partner’s wedding (see Figure 4.2) as they sneak, trick, sing and dance their way in while citing American (Wedding Crashers and Oceans 11) and Amharic (Asra Andeñña Se’at/11th Hour) films as reference points for their exploits. The direct parodying of the early lib anteltay film (suspense film) Hermela (2005) in one scene in Yewendoch Gudday, where one of the group spies on another (shot in

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a way that mimics the low-angled shot and stylized waring of a black trenchcoat), is also an indicator that the film is knowingly participating within interrelational Ethiopian screen worlds and a broader Ethiopian cultural imagination.

Characters and community The nature of the supporting characters in Yewendoch Gudday has become one of the assikiñ yefiker film genre’s most defining features. Allied to the romantically entwined protagonists are their friends and those who assist them. Although Helina has her confidant Marta (Shewit Kebede), who confirms Aimero’s lies and deceit, the thrust of the comedy and focus of the narrative is on Aimero and his work colleagues. It is these colleagues who vow to help Aimero get over his heartbreak at the beginning of the film by pledging allegiance to the yewendoch gudday club to aid each other in their pursuit of women. The influence these actors have gone on to have in the assikiñ yefiker film genre is most telling. Michael Million who plays Aimero’s brash friend Solomon is now one of the most well-known and passionate method actors in Ethiopia. In films associated with the assikiñ yefiker film genre he played a similar supporting comedic role to what he played in Yewendoch Gudday in ፔንዱሉም – Pendulum (2011) before landing the male lead in the successful ታስጨርሽኛለሽ – Tascherishiñalesh/You’re going to Finish Me (2013), ሼፉ – Shefu/ The Chef (2012) and አይራቅ – Ayrak/Don’t Be Distant (2014). Tewodros Seyoum and Zerihun Asmamaw who play the respective roles of Tewodros and Zerihun in Yewendoch Gudday, have both gone onto have relative success as comedic actors associated mainly with the assikiñ yefiker film genre. The impact of Yewendoch Gudday on Mesfin Haileyesus, who also plays his namesake in the film (Mesfish) but is better known by his nickname ‘Tejo’ because of his love of the traditional Ethiopian alcoholic drink tejj, has arguably had the most long-lasting legacy, as is evident in his daily reminders of his association with the character from passers-by. Walking in public and riding on public transport with Mesfin, during our interview, I witnessed this first-hand as he was constantly accosted by strangers shouting out ‘Tejo’ to him

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and quoting excerpts of dialogue from the film (Mesfin Haileyesus, interview, 7 March 2016). Mesfin is still often typecast in comedic supporting roles, and solidified his status as the go-to actor for comedic supporting roles appearing alongside many of his colleagues from Yewendoch Gudday in Pendulum, and in notable films such as ሚዜዎቹ – Mizewochu/The Groomsmen (2008) and Ayrak, but he has also appeared in many notable films associated with the yefiker film genre that use his dramatic and comedic skills in important moments of comic relief, such as in ምዕራፍ ሁለት – Mi’eraf Hulet/Chapter Two (2016) and the Behailu Wassie films ዩቶጵያ – Utopia (2015) and በእናት መንገድ – Be Enat Menged (2017). Mesfin also co-wrote and co-directed ሜድ ኢን ቻይና – Made in China (2012) with fellow co-star and Yewondoch Gudday luminary Tewodros Seyoum as well as directing and starring in the yefiker film – የሐምሌ ሙሽራ – Yehamlé Mushira/Hamlé’s2 Bride (2015) written and produced by his wife Beza Hailu. The influence of these male actors and characters who made up the workbased yewendoch gudday group in Yewendoch Gudday is such that many successful films have instead focused on male friendships, relegating romance to minor subplots. Made in China is a good case in point of a popular film that focuses on the escapades of three male friends, or Hermon Hailay’s ባላገሩ – Balageru/The Countryman (2012) that chronicles the lives of two friends from the Ethiopian countryside who travel to the city for the first time to claim their winnings from a lottery ticket. Often in these narratives, men are pursuing wealth with their male friends, with one of them often becoming romantically entangled with a woman in the latter half of the narrative. The ensemble nature of the yewendoch gudday group has also influenced the formal approach of many notable films associated with the assikiñ yefiker film genre. Perhaps the two most well-known examples of these are the commercial hits, Pendulum and ባለቀለም ህልሞች – Balekelem Hilmoch/Colourful Dreams (2010). The innate sense of community that the ensemble nature of these casts of supporting comedic male characters impose on the entirety of these film is such that it shifts the focus away from notions of courtship. In this sense, the trials of the central couple, their individuality and their independence are always conditioned by their friends’ plotting and scheming. In the case of Yewendoch Gudday, the lies and deceits Aimero performs in his courtship with

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Helina are aided and abetted by his friends in the belief that the best medicine for Aimero’s heartbreak at the beginning of the film is for him to sleep with Helina. When Aimero describes a situation in which he is perceived to have passed-up on his opportunity to have sex with Helina, his friends in the yewendoch gudday club act as if he has betrayed them and threaten to ‘black list’ him from the group. Similarly, Marta encourages Helina to pursue her courtship with Aimero, despite their doubts about his true identity, so she will financially benefit from the relationship. The dual needs of sex and money are made explicit in how the community of friends characterize and project their understandings of male and female desire and aspiration onto the couple. The couple often object to the suggestions of their friends but are pressured by a sense of loyalty to the community to play the roles they are prescribed until, that is, the couple recognize their true feelings of love for each other. These true feelings, however, are also negotiated in the shadows of their ever-present friends who, after witnessing the nature of the love between Aimero and Helina, finally celebrate the couple as they kiss, surrounded by dancing members of the yewendoch gudday group in the closing scene of the film.

Gendered conflicts A striking element of Yewendoch Gudday is that the yewendoch gudday group, itself is made up of six men and one woman. This speaks to the idea of warring gender cultures, also common in romantic comedies from other contexts (Grindon 2011). In Yewendoch Gudday, the one woman of the Men’s Affair group, Qecho (Elsabet Getachew) is physically the largest of the group (see Figure 4.2) and often acts as the lookout at work while the others scheme on Aimero’s behalf. As Qecho’s appearance does not conform to the cultural norms of female beauty, she could be seen as subtly subverting gendered expectations. The fact, however, that the group’s intentions are centred solely around the sexual manipulation of women, and that they fail to consult their female member, often has the effect of disavowing her of a feminine identity. Indeed, Qecho displays the most stereotypically masculine attributes out of all the members of the yewendoch gudday group. Her physical presence, for example, is striking as she dwarfs her male colleagues in weight and size (see

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Figure 4.2 A screenshot from Yewendoch Gudday as the gang arrive to gate-crash a wedding, Qecho (Elsabet Getachew) standing front and centre. Source: screenshot from የወንዶች ጉዳይ – Yewendoch Gudday, directed by Henok Ayele. 2007. Arki Sira Production. All rights reserved.

Figure 4.2). When she threatens these men with violence, they all cower in fear, suggesting her superior physical strength and employing the reversal of stereotypical gender expectations for physical comedic effect. Qecho’s presence doesn’t diminish the essence of the group that espouses the fraternal bond associated with old American adage, ‘bros before hoes’ in which male friends always have each other’s backs in dealings with women. As Steven W. Thomas (2020) points out, the general cultural misappropriations and specific malapropisms of Americanisms in the film function to forge a very Ethiopian-specific response to global flows of popular culture but they also help to position notions of gender identity in Ethiopia. Although each male character represents certain stereotypes of Ethiopian masculinity, these stereotypes endearingly reflect upon the flaws of this masculinity, resulting in humorous consequences. It is the group as a whole, including the boss played by Shewaferew Desalgn, who form a strong camaraderie and portray an ensemble performance that became the legacy of the film on the genre.

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Although women play important roles, offering a counterbalance in perspective to male sexual pursuits, the assikiñ yefiker film genre predominantly features films that prioritize and emphasize the male quest for love. The title of the genre’s defining film Yewendoch Gudday (Men’s Affair) clearly indicates its participation in a male centred culture of love. This trend has continued in the genre, as women characters are often given less screen time, have less of a voice, and are often given simplistic and shallow characteristics with actresses often cast depending on their appearance. It is important to point out here that the filmmakers associated with the assikiñ yefiker film are mainly men, whereas women directors and leading actresses tend to be associated with the more serious yefiker film genre. The reasons for this are not because there is a lack of comedic talent amongst Ethiopian women; in Amharic TV and theatre of the 1990s some of the most well-known comics were women, such as Engidazer Nega, Belaynesh Amedé, Munayé Menberu. Some acclaimed contemporary actresses, such as Selam Tesfaye, play female leads with comedic effect but these characters still tend to lack agency and be overshadowed by their male counterparts. The assikiñ yefiker film genre more specifically speaks to the changing status of masculinity and male gender cultures in Ethiopia, and particularly those circumstances familiar to young men from low-income backgrounds. The focus on male perspectives explores new ways of conceptualizing an Ethiopian masculinity not dependant on hierarchies, positions of power or wealth. These films offer young men in similar and familiar circumstances imaginative ways through which they can connect their present situations to more hopeful futures where social norms and the entrenched patriarchal society can be subverted through other traits. The lack of focus and space afforded to developing complex female characters in this genre is also telling of its main target audience and the gender-dynamics of social/work conditions in Ethiopia. There is a high demand for paid, live-in domestic work targeted at Ethiopian women both domestically and in Arab countries leaving many women from a similarly low-income background as their male compatriots with little time to actively seek romance. The assikiñ yefiker film, therefore, reflects the male prerogative in contemporary Ethiopian courting norms and patriarchal society, affording a space for male comedians and comedic actors to dominate the genre.

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Convergent aesthetics of fiker in commercial Amharic cinema Steve Neale and Frank Krutnik identify a ‘kinship between comedy and melodrama’ (1990: 13) in their study on popular film and television comedy in Euro-American contexts. A similarly close bond is conjured by fiker (love) in the naming of the Amharic genres yefiker film (love films) and assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) and in the aesthetics of an Ethiopian-style melodrama they employ, and in the specifically Ethiopian socio-cultural issues they address. The assikiñ yefiker film borrows from globally familiar romantic comedy conventions but stylistically, it employs specific elements associated with the yefiker film. Dialogue instead of action is often the main driver of narratives as characters are seen openly discussing their feelings and thoughts in public spaces (cafés and restaurants), in their private homes, while driving to different locations and on mobile phones. Having ‘the gift of the gab’ is also highly respected with regards to Amharic due to the language’s poetic tropes and penchant for double meaning. There is, therefore, an innate sense of pleasure for Amharic speakers in the aural telling of stories, with salacious rumours, outlandish lies and the power of persuasion all key elements in characters carrying out their objectives in popular films. In his detailed study of Hollywood romantic comedies, Leger Grindon explains how in America, ‘[t]he humor depends on the rise and release of sexual tension rather than any inherently funny dialogue’ (2011: 71) but in the Ethiopian example of the assikiñ yefiker film, the reverse of this statement is true. The seasoned filmmakers Behailu Wassie (interview, 8 March 2016) and Henok Ayele (interview, 11 February 2016) mention, in relation to their successful assikiñ yefiker films, that the dialogue is as important as the scenario. Indeed, the joke fuelled-dialogue and the manner of its rapid delivery are the central appeal of the assikiñ yefiker films that feature Netsanet Werkneh whose oratorical dexterity draws crowds and elicits laughter through his unique delivery of dialogue and performance style. Although the assikiñ yefiker film has similar plot structures and character types that are common in romantic comedies in other contexts, the Ethiopianstyle melodrama that permeates the system of Amharic film genres influences the form and content of the genre. Like in the yefiker film, common Addis Ababa locations act as crucial backdrops that localize narratives of lovers who

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overcome diverse obstacles to realize their union. Settings act as stages for conflicts to develop and for fiker to be nurtured. Such examples range from different domestic settings depending on class and urban/rural dynamics where obstacles may emerge in the form of disapproving family, or the Addis Ababa University Sidist Kilo campus and the workplace where protagonists meet with supporting characters, their friends, or sometimes antagonists in the form of bosses, professors or rivals. The lovers often have first dates in the bars, cafés and restaurants of the city with hotels and popular lakeside resorts, or other tourist attractions around the country, featuring in montages that suggest the consummation of a couple’s love. These settings are familiar to an Ethiopian cultural imagination that becomes further localized by familiar aesthetics and narrative choices, as referred to by Behailu Wassie, that build on the simple oppositional structures of teret stories (children’s folk stories from the Amharic oral tradition) and their moralizing dénouements (interview, 8 March 2016). As such, an aesthetic similar to that of the yefiker film is seen in the assikiñ yefiker film with the prolific use of the two-shot that establishes a confrontation/ dialogue and sets up a shot-reverse editing convention as the dialogue between protagonists and third parties drives the plot. The assikiñ yefiker film continues to draw on the melodramatic imagination intrinsic to the yefiker film and other genres in their didactic dénouements. This is evidenced in the neat and often idealized unifying resolutions of films which, although intended to create laughter, also prove instructive. Just as the yefiker film inspires pathos, there is always a justification and moral to be learnt at its close. The moralizing power and emotional force that the concept of fiker instigates in an Ethiopian cultural and melodramatic imagination heightens nationalistic, spiritual, familial and locally acceptable ideas of romance for Ethiopian audiences. This resonates with how Brian Larkin describes Hausa films where ‘melodrama represents a world where truth, justice, and ethics have been thrown into question and where political conflicts are shifted onto a personal plane and sublimated into domestic conflicts about love and betrayal’ (2008: 208). Through the sentimentality evoked by both genres through the manipulation of fiker (through comedy and pathos) they manage to entertain whilst drawing nationalistic didactic conclusions that teach audiences how to negotiate between romantic love and the love of family and nation, whilst confronting social and moral obligations.

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The development of these two dominant generic strands in Ethiopia and the dual demands on popular films to educate and entertain have meant that there is a genre kinship between the assikiñ yefiker film and yefiker film in Ethiopia, much like that which has been suggested by Neale and Krutnik where ‘comedy can come surprisingly close, in its concerns as well as in many of its structural features, to the genre we tend now to think of as melodrama’ (1990: 13). Thus, there is heavy cross pollination in terms of themes and style, as well as in terms of personnel, which has resulted in the fluid and often ambivalent nature of film genres in Ethiopia with the melodrama of the yefiker film genre remaining ever-present.

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Violence and order in the ልብ አንጠልጣይ ፊልም – lib anteltay film (suspense film)

Modern Ethiopians have seen the world through a multi-colored stained glass. They look back to a time when theirs was one of the richest and most powerful in the world, and have seen it too as one of the poorest and least understood. They speak of both pride and struggle, conquest and famine, nationalism and intense division, loss and longing. What better set of voices to articulate what it means to be human in this world. Woubshet, Tillet and Giorges (2010: 14, original emphasis) Developing early in commercial Amharic cinema was the lib anteltay film (suspense film). This genre includes the key melodramatic style intrinsic in the yefiker film (love film) genre while foregrounding thriller-type narrative structures and aesthetics to create suspense. This genre also engages with the theme of fiker (love) by running romantic plots parallel to lines of threat and action, often concluding with a romantic coupling. The early success of ሰማያዊ ፈረስ – Semayawi Feres/Blue Horse (2005) is a case in point, as the film follows Dr Iskinder (Serawit Fikré) who successfully develops a method of creating rainfall from the Blue Nile for the Ethiopian government and people, only for his plans to be sought after by corrupt businessmen wanting to sell his research to the highest foreign bidder. Firéselam (Zinash Getachew), who is hired to seduce Iskinder and steal his research, instead, ends up falling in love with him. After Iskinder has been taken hostage by her employers, she refuses to share her information and manages to stall the villains long enough for the Ethiopian army to save the day and for her to be reunited with Iskinder. Themes including the betrayal and defence of Ethiopia are often directly referenced, with stylized action sequences and chases being amongst the genre’s distinctive features. 136

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In 2005 the popular and critically acclaimed ሔርሜላ – Hermela (winning the Best Feature Film award at the first Ethiopian International Film Festival – ETHIOIFF) had a similar nationalist and moralizing message about ‘true love’ as the film dramatized a true story of a stalker and his victim that had been a national news sensation (see Figure 1.6. showing a poster for Hermela outside Cinema Ethiopia in 2021). Then, in 2007, the equally highly acclaimed and popular lib anteltay yefiker film (suspenseful love film), ስርየት – Siryet (winning the Best Feature Film award at the second ETHIOIFF) caused much debate on how the nation deals with the bloody violence of its recent past during the Derg era and Civil War 1974–91 and the need for absolution. It is the younger generation who become the victims of the historical crimes of their fathers and who, in the film’s conclusion, are finally free to realize their love for each other. The Amharic term lib anteltay (suspense) almost always acts as a defining generic term for films that use formal and narrative elements that are closely associated with the internationally recognizable thriller genre. Just as the yefiker film is associated with pathos, and the assikiñ yefiker film – laughter – the naming of the lib anteltay film highlights the feeling of jeopardy that the genre intends to provoke in its audiences. Like the terms ‘assikiñ’ or ‘comedy’ used to indicate emotional expectations associated with humour, as they prefix a romantic yefiker film or family/child centred yebeteseb film (family film); the term lib anteltay works in a similar way. However, whereas comedy is commonly cited by film practitioners as easy to make due to its dependence on dialogue, the lib anteltay film has developed into a recognizable genre in its own right because suspense is considered aesthetically and technically more sophisticated and specific to the medium of film, being more action oriented (Yidnekachew Shumete, interview, 2016, March 3). The lib anteltay film, like the assikiñ yefiker film, emerged from the yefiker film with early iterations maintaining strong romantic narratives and links to the genre that formed the commercial blueprint for popular Ethiopian cinema. The link between the two genres is made explicit in the term lib anteltay yefiker film (suspenseful love film) being commonly interchangeable with the less wordy lib anteltay film. Yidnekachew Shumete’s 2007 film ስርየት – Siryet/Absolution is one of the most highly regarded films in this genre, winning its director many plaudits in Ethiopia and even the recognition of world-renowned Burkinabe director

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Gaston Kaboré (along with an invitation to study at his film school, Institut Imagine, in Ouagadougou). Despite emerging not long after the establishment of the commercial viability of the domestic film market in Ethiopia, evidenced for example with the release of Serawit Fikré’s ሰማያዊ ፈረስ – Semayawi Feres/ Blue Horse (2005), the genre demands higher production values, longer production periods and more technical skills than other genres to maintain the desired suspenseful effects and more highly choreographed action sequences associated with it. The necessity of creating a continuous atmosphere of threat and suspense is paramount, both in the plotting and aesthetic choices of these films with sensational events of violence and revenge providing the key narrative thrust.

The film noir/thriller aesthetics of Ethiopian suspense The formal qualities of films associated with the lib anteltay film genre are more distinct from other genres. Low-key and chiaroscuro lighting, for example, are prominent tools used to accentuate shadows in a menacing way, or staccato sound designs that heighten audience expectation of imminent threat. These features, also common in thrillers throughout the world, make this genre more easily distinguishable, and will be discussed in more detail below. The story worlds of the Amharic lib anteltay film, however, are deeply embedded within the fantasies of an Ethiopian melodramatic imagination where emotional acts of anger, revenge, lust or jealousy drive characters to extreme acts instead of the more psychological issues associated with Hollywood thrillers. Furthermore, the lib anteltay film always concludes by resolving any residual threat through the intervention of police and/or fate to produce moralistic resolutions to issues and salvation for the virtuous and repentant. Two films that exemplify how the formal accomplishments of the lib anteltay film genre meld influences from Hollywood thrillers and film noir, through an Ethiopian-style melodrama are the aforementioned Hermela (2005) and Siryet (2007). The aesthetic and narrative similarities of the films are also striking as they portray the stories of deranged stalkers, determined not to let anything get in the way of them achieving their aims. In Hermela, the innocent titular character of the film, played by Sofia Shibabaw, is oppressively stalked day and

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night by a man in a black trench-coat played by Girum Ermias, with her and her family the victims of his threatening behaviour. Siryet, meanwhile, follows the lives of two brothers, Mesfin (also played by Girum Ermias) and Nati (Abdulkerim Jemal), as they investigate a mysterious man (Solomon Tashé) who monitors their house each night, only for them to be caught in a web of peculiarly linked murders.

ሔርሜላ – Hermela (2005) a threat in the shadows Hermela, and other lib anteltay films made in Ethiopia, are heavily influenced stylistically by the globally intelligible film noir and thriller genres harnessing aspects of the mise-en-scène, such as colour, lighting, performance and costume/makeup along with disorienting camera angles, obscure shot scales and editing patterns that emulate the pace and effect of suspense. A form of suspense is often achieved by juxtaposing slower paced sequences, which may include longer takes or slow-motion shots, with faster paced chase sequences. In Hermela, for example, the intentions of Hermela’s mysterious stalker (Kassahun), are heightened by scenes occurring at night and by characterizing the silent stalker with film-noir tropes, such as depicting him smoking a cigarette or casting windowpane shadows (reminiscent of Venetian blind shadows) on the wall of his room. The identity of the character is further obscured by fractured extreme close-ups of different body parts or he is depicted with his back to the camera and often lit by a single top/key light with no filler, casting the character half in shadow. These elements combine in an early sequence introducing the character when he cold calls Hermela. Other noticeable aspects of the character’s identity are his costume – his long black trench-coat, dark sunglasses and ring in the shape of the Amharic fidel ‘ሔ’, the first fidel of Hermela’s name, signifying his obsession with her. In an early scene depicting Hermela being stalked, Kassahun’s movements almost dictate the film’s temporality. After Kassahun vacates the frame, time is momentarily still as the shot lingers a few seconds, depicting the empty street. A private taxi then arrives, perfectly framed in the centre of the shot where Kassahun had been standing, the staged choreography of the shot arousing our suspicions. Hermela emerges from the taxi and walks off into the background

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darkness of the low-key lit scene while the taxi drives off, out of shot. Kassahun’s dramatically elongated shadow then suddenly appears in pursuit of Hermela in film noir style and accompanied by a staccato in the film’s music, breaking the natural sound effects of the sequence and alerting the audience to Kassahun’s sinister intentions. After this long take, the quickening pace of music, editing and action all ratchet the suspense as a close-up of Hermela’s legs steadily walking is followed by a graphic-cut showing the larger strides of Kassahun in pursuit. The intensity of the music and cutting from character-to-character repeats, then as Hermela turns, suspecting someone is following her, the reverse shot of the empty street is shown. Adding to this opening ambiguity, the shot then lingers after Hermela has left the frame; this pause confirms the emptiness of the street and adds to the mystery of Kassahun, building the audience’s sense of anticipation and suspense as Hermela arrives at her house only to fumble her keys, entering just as Kassahun’s dark, shadowy figure approaches from the smoke. The film noir aesthetics of Hermela are enhanced by the film’s cinematography as can be noted in the close ups of body parts, such as feet, faces and hands. Furthermore, there are numerous angled shots deployed throughout the film such as the use of a low-angled canted shot depicting Kassahun putting on his trench coat in the film’s opening (the shot parodied in Yewendoch Gudday), attaching an aura of omnipresence to the character as his whole figure engulfs the frame, with the extreme high-angle shot of Kassahun at his desk as he sketches Hermela having a similar effect and further obscures his identity.

Non-linear narratives and ስርየት – Siryet (2007) While Hermela’s opening is clearly stylistically influenced by film noir aesthetics, the narrative is based on true events that occurred in Addis Ababa and the structure is fairly linear as the stalking and crimes committed by Kassahun intensify before the police finally have enough evidence to act. Siryet, on the other hand, borrows more noticeably from the narrative structures of film noir and thrillers by obscuring the murdering motives of the antagonist, Gaga. Before committing each murder, the muted, one-eyed Gaga forces his victims to read his final message, asking ‘ረሣሽኝ/ረሣኸኝ’ – resashiñ/resaheñ (did you forget me?). This complicates the plot as the audience is left guessing the

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logic behind the murders and relationships between the characters. Only through a flashback, during the lead up to the climax of the film, does Gaga’s murderous logic become clear. The flashback shows Gaga being tortured by military officials, thereby revealing the relationship between Gaga and his victims, as the people he has recently murdered are now seen to be his tormentors. The despairing Gaga is forced to watch the officials kill his daughter in a botched threat to make him speak and as Gaga mournfully vows vengeance, he is silenced by his captors as they cut out his tongue. The flashback here introduces the moral ambiguity associated with film noir, making the audience feel sympathetic towards a brutal murderer who continues to carry out his last act of vengeance. Gaga’s scarred face and emotionally absent cold expression in the moments before he murders his first victim, is juxtaposed by the distress etched across his unscarred face when the flashback provides the motive for his murderous acts. With Gaga’s accidental death in the penultimate scene of the film, along with the murders of all those complicit in his torture, Siryet reaches an equilibrium and peace in its closing. The final scene shows the older brother, Mesfin and his fiancée Melawit (Bertukan Befkadu) in a lush green park enjoying a romantic embrace (see Figure 5.1), free from the darkness of the previous scenes and murders

Figure 5.1 A screenshot from Siryet depicting the closing coupling of Mesfin (Girum Ermias) and Melawit (Bertukan Befkadu). Source: screenshot from ስርየት – Siryet, directed by Yidnekachew Shumete Desalegn. 2007. Tom Film Production. All rights reserved.

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committed mostly during the night. While the deaths of Gaga and the extorturers absolve their whole generation’s complicity in the atrocities committed under the Derg, the concluding sequence in Siryet urges Ethiopia’s younger generation to strive for compassion and happiness. The colour palette (light green and blue) of this sequence is notably different from the red backlighting and strong use of shadows in the rest of the film. The colour green, in particular, which symbolizes the coming harvest season in Ethiopia, is reminiscent of the lush atmosphere of films associated with the yefiker film genre, such as Rebuni, thus offering a sense of expectation and fiker for the country’s future led by its younger generations.

Didactic dénouements The highly emotive tones and moral outcomes associated with the lib anteltay film genre, unlike the more mysterious and psychological dénouements associated with American and European thrillers (particularly those of Alfred Hitchcock), are normally positive and didactic. Hermela (based on a true story) ends in the successful arrest and sentencing of Kassahun (Hermela’s stalker), which ultimately leads to his death after he attempts to escape custody. Hermela’s voice is heard over the final shot of the film, explaining in her own words that nothing bad can come as a result of true love, echoing the common Amharic saying ‘ፍቅር ይሸነፋል’ – fiker yishenefal (love wins in the end) similarly echoed in the loving images of Mesfin and Melawit at the end of Siryet. The moralizing intent of Hermela is further made apparent as the film’s dedication reads, ‘to those who fight in the name of justice, truth and fairness’. Hermela’s concluding remarks speak of the pain she and Ethiopian communities have gone through and continue to endure in recent times, urging a similar message as Siryet, stressing the social responsibilities people are expected to show each other according to Ethiopian custom and as set out in law. Both these conclusions feed off the didactic tendencies inherent in the Ethiopianstyle melodrama common in commercial Amharic cinema, suffused with interpretations of fiker with both stories heavily embedded in Ethiopian reality (the true story on which Hermela was based and the historical overtones of Siryet grounded in past atrocities).

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In the lib anteltay film, families who experience violence are usually wealthy, or at least living comfortably, when malign forces interfere in their lives, as is the case in both Hermela and Siryet. On top of this, films in this genre commonly highlight corrupt practices and failures of justice, often with violent consequences and while maintaining romantic subplots. Guns saturate these films often in a manner reminiscent of American action movies (see Figures 5.2, 5.3 and 5.5), despite gun crime being relatively rare in Addis Ababa (federal police and bank guards can often be seen carrying AK-47s). Guns are brandished in the opening of የሞሪያም ምድር – Yemoriyam Midir/The Land of Moriah (2008) (see Figure 5.2), in the bank robbery in ቤርሙዳ – Bermuda (2006), or in the attempted murder of the protagonist Abel (Girum Ermias) in ፅኑ ቃል – Tsinu Kal/The Binding Word (2014) by the sadistic and manipulative stalker of his fiancée Beza (Mahder Asefa). The film አድኤል – Adeal (2015) is saturated with low-production value action sequences; from hand-to-hand combat sequences mimicking kung-fu, cheap explosion effects, Toyota Vitz car chases and slow-motion shots that glorify guns. The more prevalent criminal networks of people traffickers in Ethiopia and the plight of economic migrants

Figure 5.2 A screenshot from Yemoriyam Midir depicting a gun being brandished by Meseret Mebraté. Source: screenshot from የሞሪያም ምድር – Yemoriyam Midir, directed by Yonas Berhane Mewa. 2008. Ethio Film Production. All rights reserved.

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seeking a better life abroad have led to an important cycle in the lib anteltay film genre. These films highlight the sweat, blood and tears of crossing deserts and character relationships between fellow migrants (often resulting in romantic attachments) and their suffering and inhumane treatment at the hands of both foreign and Ethiopian traffickers. Like Siryet, another common narrative of the lib anteltay film is to have the violent backdrop of Ethiopia’s past bear on films’ narratives such as is the case with ቀይ ስህተት – Kay Sihtet/Red Mistake (2006), የራስ አሽክር – Yeras Ashkir/ Personal Servant (2013), 79 (ሠባ ዘጠኝ) – 79 (Seba Zetegn)/79 (Seventy-Nine) (2016) and የነገን አልወልድም – Yenegen Alweldim/I Will Not Be Born Tomorrow (2016), three films set in the Derg era. While ታዛ – Taza/Eave (2017), also set in the Derg era, is a yefiker film, focusing on the romance between its protagonists, the violence of the Derg is not explicitly depicted unlike in these other films which use violence in a dramatic way in tune with the lib anteltay film. There is then የእግር እጣ – Yeger Ita/The Foot’s Lot (2010) that traces migration attempts and fleeing political persecution under the Derg regime, so combining both the violence of the Derg and the threats of human trafficking in its narrative. አሼንጌ – Ashenge (2007), a more epic lib anteltay yefiker film, spans the era from the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1936 up until Haile Selassie I’s return from exile, and the controversial issue of how some Italian collaborators escaped persecution by pretending to be patriots (see M.W. Thomas 2015).

Crime, kick-ass women and genre hybridity Other important films associated with the lib anteltay film genre, like the cycle of migration films, highlight corrupt and criminal forces (either business or state actors) that pose threats to the Ethiopian nation and people. In the early Semayawi Feres (2005), the engineer protagonist, Iskinder (Serawit Fikré) and his loved ones are tracked down, threatened and tortured after his research outlines how the Abay (Blue Nile) can be harnessed to help poor farmers in the region. In ሒሮሺማ – Hiroshima (2011) and ዲፕሎማት – Diplomat (2012) the threats are national in scale. While Hiroshima’s protagonist Merid (Serawit Fikré), a pilot, has been manipulated by his fiancée’s wealthy father to smuggle nuclear waste to be dumped in Ethiopia, in Diplomat a bomb is brought into

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Ethiopia by an international fugitive who is harboured by the Egyptian Embassy in Addis Ababa. As the plot develops, it appears that Egyptian and American secret operatives jointly plan to use the bomb to assassinate the Sudanese president while visiting Ethiopia and it is the task of the Ethiopian security forces, starring Mahelet Shumete as the female protagonist, to foil the plot (see Thomas and Berry 2021). Heroines feature prominently in the lib anteltay film. As well as Diplomat and Yemoriyam Midir, ወርቅ በወርቅ – Werk Bewerk/Gold by Gold (2012) centres on a woman protagonist, Dinknesh (Lucy), a champion long distance runner who overcomes being poisoned by a retired Ethiopian athlete in cahoots with Lucy’s foreign rival to win gold at the Olympics. Lucy clearly represents the pride of Ethiopia with her name derived from that of the 3.2-million-year-old fossilized hominin skeleton found in 1974 in Ethiopia. Instead of bringing back a gold medal, in የጥቁር ፈርጥ – Yetikur Fert/The Black Jewel (2015), Aziza Ahmed (sometimes credited as Aziza Mohamed) plays a field agent tracking down a stolen antique cross from Lalibela (see Figure 5.3). Films that use martial arts in Ethiopia are called ‘action’ and have a much lower production value than the average lib anteltay film. Nonetheless, a woman protagonist in the action (Kung Fu) film ሴት – Set/Woman (2011), played by Miskia Farta, carries the same mantle and symbolism of other strong women characters in the lib anteltay film genre who represent the strength of ‘Mother Ethiopia’ as they defeat (predominantly) outside forces who plunder her history, sabotage her efforts for glory or take advantage of her. The action (Kung Fu) genre in Ethiopia has been historically associated with the popular taekwondo clubs around Addis Ababa as they use films to exhibit the talents of their members who choreograph and act-out fight sequences. The genre is also predominantly enjoyed by men and features male protagonists, with Set (2011) the only example of a film from this genre having a female protagonist. The action genre, however, includes examples of the truly hybrid nature the system of Amharic film genres espouses, as already evidenced by the many amalgamations of the lib anteltay film. Beyond the blend of action, thriller and film noir, there has also been a limited number of films described as lib anteltay saynsawi libweled film (suspenseful science fiction film), one such example being the 2012 film የሲኦል ሙሽሮች – Yesiol Mushiroch/Hell’s Bride and Groom, or the more frequent lib anteltay assikiñ film (suspenseful comedy

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Figure 5.3 A poster of Yetikur Fert in an Alem Cinema brochure. Source: author’s collection.

film), such as the 2013 films ሄሎ ኢትዮጵያ – Hello Ethiopia or ሰበበኛ – Sebebeña/ The Provoker. For, even though the term lib anteltay film has become a broad genre in its own right in Ethiopia, the term can be coupled with practically every other major genre term there is such as fiker (love), assikiñ (humorous) and even yebeteseb (family) as long as there are thrills and spills to be had.

Infiltrating Amharic film genres In 2013 a film unlike any other in the recent history of commercial Amharic cinema was released. ገዳይ ሲያረፋፍድ – Geday Siyarefafid/When the Killer was

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Late (2013) (see Figure 5.4) was shot entirely in the surroundings of a small village south of Gondar and to the east of lake Tana with a cast of actors and amateur performers gathered from a local theatre in Bahir Dar (apart from Meaza Takela who plays a background role). The film portrays the story of husband (Birara) and wife (Widé) (played by Melaku Tadesse and Meskerem Nega Bogale respectively), farmers who struggle to conceive a child and whose paths cross with the feared shifta (bandit) Sindeku (Getnet Adane). Birara has an affair with the mistress of Sindeku, and when the shifta learns of this slight against him, he hunts down the farmer who, in turn, is dramatically saved by his slighted wife and best friend. There are no star actors to associate with any

Figure 5.4 A poster for Geday Siyarefafid in an Alem Cinema brochure. Source: author’s collection.

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genre and the film was also the directorial debut of Naod Lemma (Naod Lemma, interview, 5 March 2016). In Alem Cinema’s listings, Geday Siyarefafid’s genre is described as lib anteltay yebeteseb film (suspenseful family film), the first time I have observed this combination of genre terms used to identify a film. Furthermore, the fact that Geday Siyarefafid was not shot in Addis Ababa (or any other recognizable urban Ethiopian location), had no recognizable actors and was directed and produced by first time filmmakers (in their respective roles), makes it seem like an unlikely success story. Nevertheless, the film quickly garnered critical acclaim amongst fellow filmmakers and secured relatively good box office receipts and screening schedules throughout Addis Ababa (Naod Lemma, interview, 5 March 2016). Describing Geday Siyarefafid with the term yebeteseb (family) does not indicate that it is targeted at young children, rather this genre appellation indicates that the narrative is about a family situation that does not prominently feature courting couples, more associated with fiker. Many films associated with the yebeteseb film genre feature child protagonists (see Chapter 6) so the lack of a child actor and the innocence associated with them in Geday Siyarefafid may seem to buck a trend in the yebeteseb film genre. The film certainly has the action, suspense and shoot-outs (see Figure 5.5) that have become associated with the lib anteltay film. The purely rural setting and the fact that Geday Siyarefafid was produced outside the more established (dis) order of the Addis Ababa-centred film sector, however, raises questions as to why some films from outside the established norms of the system of Amharic film genres infiltrate them and how other films fail to be co-opted.

The rural aesthetic If Geday Siyarefafid is read from a purely narrative perspective in the context of African Cinema, then it could well be viewed as what Rod Stoneman termed, a ‘village film’ (1996: 178). In this sense, and with some elements (such as characters and setting) comparable to the West African film Tilaï (1990), the film tells the perennial outlaw story, set in a rural village relatively untouched by modern ways. Like Geday Siyarefafid in 2013, Michel Papatakis’ Gouma

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(1974) was hailed as an artistic and cultural success in Ethiopia (see Chapter 2). More in common with the ‘village films’ described by Stoneman (1996) in the African context, Gouma had access to French crew and postproduction services, thus, emerging from a different production context than Geday Siyarefafid. Similar to Stoneman’s critique that the ‘village film’ genre is ‘not based on productive interaction with its own social context [and so] is displaced, adrift’ (1996: 179), is the idea Gouma was, in-part funded by outside sources as a cultural export to be screened in international film festivals. Despite its positive reception by Ethiopian audiences, however, the international distribution was restricted due to disagreements between the director and producer (Michel 2013). Gouma was shot on the outskirts of Dessie in Wello (north-central Ethiopia), famed as a place of social integration and cohesion where Ethiopian Orthodox, Muslim, Amhara and Oromo people (and other interreligious/interethnic communities) have lived side-by-side for centuries. Apart from Geday Siyarefafid’s rural setting and financial risks, other features common to what may be deemed an Ethiopian version of the ‘village film’ genre can be seen to originate with Gouma. These include the use of mainly non-professional actors from the area surrounding where the film shoot was located, and for the film crew and cast to live on-location (on set) in the villages for the entirety of the shoot, not just for ease of access but, crucially, during pre-production to gain the trust and permission from the locals and village elders to shoot a film in their communities. Therefore, unlike the typically short production and sometimes non-existent, pre-production schedules of many contemporary popular Amharic films (due to the commercial pressures of the industry), the production and pre-production time frames of ‘village films’ are necessarily long, with these production circumstances already making them a riskier financial proposition. There was, however, a period in the 1990s to early 2000s which bore witness to several films that conform in part to Stoneman’s concept of ‘village films’. These feature length videos made and distributed straight to VHS were mostly directed and written by Bemnabu Kebede. Unlike Stoneman’s definition of the ‘village film’ as ‘generally and imprecisely located in the precolonial epoch’ (1996: 178), these films directly addressed harmful traditional practices and superstitions with conclusions that commend modern systems of justice. Films such as የከንፈር ወዳጅ – Yekenfer Wedaj/Lovers (N/A), ጎጆ መውጪያ – Gojo

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Mewichiya/To Begin a Household (N/A), ፍዳ – Fidda/Recompense (1999) and even ብራ – Bira/Brightness (2006) all feature a recurring cast, including Bemnabu himself and are all seemingly set in the same Wello area where Bemnabu is from and which enabled quicker turn-around times in the production of films. Mostly released in the 1990s, in the early years of the political Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) era led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the narratives of these films reflect the authority of the new government as disputes were often resolved in recently established local courts. Harmful traditional customs deemed inhumane are of particular interest in the films of Bemnabu Kebede. The narrative of Fidda, for example, tells the story of a young farmer’s daughter who is abducted for marriage and raped by her neighbour. The girl has a miscarriage, suffers a fistula and is taken to a care-home in Addis whilst the perpetrator is sentenced to jail by a local court in the closing scene. Films which may be attributed to the ‘village film’ genre are deeply embedded within traditional Ethiopian customs and culture, what Stoneman calls the ‘anthropological and folkloristic’ (1996: 178) and tend to be more rooted in rural, as opposed to urban settings. As the genre is ultimately defined by its setting, film aesthetics ‒ particularly aspects of the mise-en-scène ‒ are conventionally rural and embedded in customs. Films feature panoramic landscape shots of the Ethiopian highlands with important scenes and shots featuring water sources (such as streams and lakes) as symbolism for fertility, restoration and places of respite and relaxation, also not uncommon in the yefiker film. Characters wear traditional clothing with men commonly seen with staffs and even rifles, signifying their virility. Images of farming with oxen are prominent in Bemnabu Kebede’s films and feature in Abreham Tsegaye’s more epic ‘village film’ የነፃ-ትውልድ – Yenetsa Tiwild/The Free Generation (2002). Other daily farming activities, such as depictions of hand milling flour appear in Gouma, with nearly all these actions accompanied by work songs and punctuated by sounds of farm animals and bird song. The use of traditional musical instruments and music often appearing from within the diegesis of ‘village films’ was a hallmark of the VHS films, often produced by the owners of famous music shops. Abreham Tsegaye’s የጀንበር ጥላ – Yejenber T’ila (1994), for example follows a rural azmari (Shimelash Legas) as he travels to Addis Ababa and confronts the challenges of making a living out of

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singing in the city. He goes from music shop to music shop with his faithful partner (Aster Bedané) as they are ridiculed for their rural aesthetic until one shop manager gives them a chance. Musical performances litter these films, as they feature impromptu or meditative sequences of characters playing the ዋሽንት – washint (traditional reed flute) or ማስንቆ – masinko (traditional single stringed fiddle) and vocalizations of melodies, songs and forms of Amharic poetry. The music and lyrics in these films carry symbolic and narrative importance and represents another formal convention now more common throughout popular Ethiopian cinema. This is the case with the use of ሸንጎ – shengo (seeking the counsel of an elder) in Yekenfer Wedaj and similarly the use of an azmari (Ethiopian troubadour) in Ashenge. In Ashenge, the protagonist tells the itinerant musician (azmari) to repeat insulting verses at a public gathering in order to uncover the dark past of Italian collaboration hidden by the local lord who has reached a position of power by lying through boasts of his own heroic resistance in poetic ፉከራ – fukkera (heroic recitals used to boast of one’s own prowess). Narratively, this common folkloristic device consists of insults between two factions that are first voiced in song and poetry before physical fights break out in climactic scenes as differences often fail to be resolved by words. Such a scene also comes to mind in Kuragnaye (2019) and in Hermon Hailay’s ‘buddy comedy’ ባላገሩ – Balageru/The Countryman (2012), about two ‘countrymen’ arriving in Addis Ababa and experiencing the urban way of life for the first time. In these films oral traditions and music played on traditional instruments are strongly associated with rural characters, and also help identify culturally specific moments in films.

Beyond ‘village films’ Geday Siyarefafid notably harnesses folkloric traditions in the form of fukkera and as heard in the film’s music. It is interesting, here, to consider Stoneman’s concept of ‘village films’ in the Ethiopian context. The success of Geday Siyarefafid, for example, has considerable contextual and formal differences compared to Yared Zeleke’s Cannes Film Festival accredited film Lamb (2015). Both films perfectly fit Stoneman’s description of ‘village films’, set in the rural Ethiopian highlands but Lamb was deemed a ‘documentary’ by some local

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cinemagoing audiences in Ethiopia (as discussed in Chapter 9). The differences between these two films becomes apparent when considering how Lamb lacks key aesthetic and thematic conventions common in more domestically popular Ethiopian films that harness an Ethiopian-style melodrama. The faster pacing, cutting, dialogue-driven narratives and clear didacticism common across the spectrum of Amharic film genres is in stark contrast to the longer takes, sparse dialogue and outdoor scenes of Lamb that reflect the slower nature of rural life in a film that reserves judgement and leads to a more open, contemplative and indefinite ending. This observation also helps explain why the more commercially established lib anteltay film category is used to define the rurally set Geday Siyarefafid with the extra descriptive term yebeteseb (family), instead of an untested and critically conceived generic term such as ‘village film’. The suspense conventions of the lib anteltay film are invested in the landscape and rural setting of Geday Siyarefafid through the threat of a shifta (bandit) character as the film’s antagonist (see Figure 5.5). A similar character, played by the popular actor Solomon Bogale, is the protagonist in አሜን – Amen (2012), another example of a successful lib anteltay film that traces the journey of a member of the Ethiopian diaspora in America as she travels to rural Ethiopia and falls in love with a shifta who saves her. The final death of the antagonist in Geday Siyarefafid at the hands of a slighted woman, rooted in her rural surroundings and saving her husband despite his infidelity, also echoes

Figure 5.5 A screenshot from Geday Siyarefafid depicting a shoot-out featuring the shifta character. Source: screenshot from ገዳይ ሲያረፋፍድ – Geday Siyarefafid, directed by Naod Lemma. 2013. Tana Entertainment. All rights reserved.

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the patriotic heroics of strong home-grown women protagonists in other lib anteltay films. The 2020 film እንሳሮ – Ensaro1 follows a similar trajectory to Amen casting the shifta as an anti-hero. This time a spoilt Addis Ababa woman becomes the target of the shifta character played by Amanuel Habtamu. The combat prowess of Amanuel Habtamu’s shifta is portrayed using techniques that attempt to emulate Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes franchise (2009, 2011), with a mixture of slow-motion/real-time contrasts on graphic cuts and close-ups of areas of perceived weakness detected by the shifta’s predatory instincts. The Ethiopian countryside is shown to be an equally beautiful and dangerous place in these films. Although some contemporary films still emulate the more ethnographic style of earlier VHS films such as አንቀፅ 39 – Ankets 39/Article 39 (2019), the stylized violence and impromptu bouts of fukkera from shifta characters has become an element closely associated with more established lib anteltay film conventions. Despite mainly portraying a type of physically strong (and scarred) masculinity that is fiercely independent and acts on convictions, like in other lib anteltay films these characteristics are not solely the realm of male protagonists. There is also the notable ሳቄን መለስኩት – Saken Meleskut/Retracting my Laughter (2016) inspired by the Hindi film Phoolan Devi/Bandit Queen (1994). Saken Meleskut tells the story of Tsigereda (Eden Gebre Selassie) from Debre Birhan who runs away to her mother after being forcibly married; her abuser then unrelentingly punishes her family while the police stand idly by, leading to her mother’s death. After burning her abuser’s house to the ground, Tsigereda gets taken in by a band of shifta and becomes one of them, violently taking her revenge on all the men who slighted her and her family. Her speech before she is finally arrested towards the film’s end justifies her acts of violence and killing of men as serving a higher cause. With a tremor in her voice, framed in a ¾ shot with her gun slung over her shoulder she professes: ‘I have revolted against a bitter patriarchal system. We shall no longer see a girl coerced to get married. I am a role model and flicker of hope for justice and liberation’. Importantly, here, the bravery, violence and determination associated with the shifta can also take the form of a woman. The representation of women in these rurally set films can also often be negative, but these negative depictions of women are generally of outsiders who are not, themselves, from the countryside. Unlike the heroics of rural

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women in Saken Meleskut and Geday Siyarefafid who fight against their own oppression at the hands of the patriarchal society, Amen uses a female character who is a member of the Ethiopian diaspora as a vector through which rural Ethiopia is experienced, a strategy more common in the yefiker film or assikiñ yefiker film. Often stereotypical in their representations of female outsiders as culturally ignorant and unable to properly comprehend Amharic, these films feature narratives of diasporic or wealthy urban women discovering their cultural roots. Although the main action of these films occurs in rural settings, they often either begin or end in Addis Ababa. This narrative is exemplified in the 2016 film ሀገርሽ ሀገሬ – Hagerish Hageré/Your Country is my Country which opens with establishing shots and archive footage of Addis Ababa before moving to the countryside. There are then films such as ላሎምቤ – Lalombe (2010) and ላ-ቦረና – LaBorena (2013) which belong to the yefiker film genre but use anthropologist characters to explore the rural lives and cultures of the Hamer people and the Borena Oromo of southern Ethiopia, respectively. Despite the seemingly stable definition of ‘village films’ as ‘located in the precolonial epoch’ by Rod Stoneman (1996, 178), in the central Ethiopian cultural imagination that permeates popular Ethiopian cinema, the rupture of European colonialism, as experienced in other African contexts, does not exist. Therefore, historically, socially and culturally there is often a clearer, older, more continuous and exceptionalist nationalism ingrained in mainstream Ethiopian cultural imaginations.

6

The absence of romance and the የቤተሰብ ፊልም – yebeteseb film (family film)

What is not on the screen, but falls through the gap of the splice between images, is the eminent world that is not represented. [. . .] Cinema should not simply be images printed on celluloid, but what those images refer to – the memories, the lived experiences, the dreams, the unseen realm of myths and spirits that hover beyond and between the images. Teshome Habte Gabriel (2001: 99) The hugely popular ውሳኔ – Wisané/Decision (2008), is frequently mentioned by film practitioners and cultural commentators in Ethiopia for many reasons, and can be considered the film that established the yebesteseb film (family film) genre. Wisané is often said to be the most commercially successful film in the history of cinema in Ethiopia, renowned for attracting crowds of all ages and genders and not leaving a dry eye in the house (Jedlowski 2015b). The film’s story follows a family coping with the stress of the mother, Hiwot (Genet Nigatu) being diagnosed with cancer. The father, Jossi (Dereje Demeke) is an alcoholic who cannot cope with the pressures on him as the main bread winner and the prospect of losing his wife. When he discovers that a rival (Admasu Kebede) has attempted to rape his wife, the feud that follows ultimately costs him his life. The murder of Jossi causes Hiwot to make the decision to have her four children adopted by respectable families before she passes, but this can only seemingly be achieved by each of the children going to separate families, breaking their filial bonds. The tragic circumstances that take place break up the family, seemingly leaving the one disabled son with no adoptive family until the final positive act occurs when one of the families decides to adopt the two brothers together. This resolution occurs under the watchful eyes of the 155

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priest (Fikadu Teklemariam) in the grounds of the Orthodox Church seemingly inspiring this divine intervention. Wisané also became notorious due to accusations of plagiarism from cultural commentators, critics and others in the film sector. These accusations stem from the fact that the film is a near exact shot-for-shot copy of the Malayalam (South-Western Indian) film Aakasa Doothu (1993) onto an Ethiopian scene, without crediting the film. This revelation only occurred after the film’s success in cinemas. Although many people felt betrayed by the film or that it betrayed Ethiopian culture, accusing the unofficial remake of hiding its Indian origins, it nevertheless paved the way for films to focus on renderings of fiker other than the dominant romantic types. The film’s popularity showed that it was possible to be commercially successful and explore socially relevant themes through narratives centred on nuclear families and single parenting, highlighting the potential for more አሳዛኝ – assazañ (tragic) dénouements and the emergence of the yebeteseb film.

Fiker of family The difference between the yefiker film, as discussed previously, and the yebeteseb film is in their narrative strategies and prevalence of certain characters. Importantly, the yebeteseb film does not focus on narratives of romantic love between unmarried couples. Instead, their narratives focus on the breakdowns and pitfalls of family life in modern Ethiopia while structuring space in their story worlds similar to that of the yefiker film by evoking contrasts between the domestic (private) and outside (public) world. Whereas in the fiker film couples are constrained by society and family structures and attempt to overcome existing hierarchies, in the yebeteseb film predicaments often ensnare children. The strength of family members (young or old) offers a narrative focus in which a resolution is sought to salvage the disintegrating (or overcome the absence of) support structures traditionally provided by an extended family. Similar narratives and character types are common in other cinematic cultures. In Indian films from the 1950s to 1980s, for example, Ravi Vasudevan explains that ‘[t]he diegetic world of this cinema is primarily governed by the

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logic of kinship relations, and its plot driven by family conflict’ (2011: 99). In Jonathan Haynes’ description of the ‘family film’ in Nollywood, however, romantic love remains prevalent (2016). All three examples, nonetheless, seem to have at their core a melodramatic mode of dramatic expression that Vasudevan explains as ‘displaying the characteristic ensemble of Manicheanism, bipolarity, the privileging of the moral over the psychological, and the deployment of coincidence in plot structures’ (2011: 99). Although not explicitly political, the yebeteseb film is heavily embedded within the current affairs of Ethiopian society and often creates narrative scenarios where child characters are positioned as metaphors for the greater injustices young generations are subject to in contemporary Ethiopia.

ኮሞሮስ – Comoros (2008) expressing national tragedy Clear nationalist and filial sentiments are close to the surface in the yebeteseb film ኮሞሮስ – Comoros (2008), based on the true-life events of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash off the coast of the Comoros Islands in 1996. This national tragedy is crystallized in the film through the narrative which follows the lives of husband, Mike (Yigerem Dejené), and wife, Edie (Hana Yohannes), an airline hostess as they come to terms with the loss of their child, Babi (Ididiya Tekaleñ), in the plane crash which Edie survives at the cost of being unable to bear any more children. After miraculously conceiving again, and as Mike rushes to hospital to be at his wife’s bedside, the film’s climax is reached through cross-cutting between close-ups of Edie’s labour – panting, sweating and screaming while being administered gas and air – and shots from the roadside as Mike’s car rushes through the streets of Addis Ababa in an attempt to arrive for the birth of his child. Just as it seems Edie has given up through exhaustion, the film once again cuts to Mike as his car screeches and the camera angle is jarred and shaken ‒ signifying a crash and cutting to the lifeless body of Mike slumped over the steering wheel of his car. This second tragic incident in Comoros, like the tragedy in Wisané (the death of a mother and father and the breakup of the family), can be read as an allegory of the internal political and social strife within Ethiopia. Comoros starts by framing the narrative within the realms of a loving family (representing

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the nation) when, at roughly twenty-five minutes into the film, the tragic events of the plane disaster are depicted in great detail. The five minutes of screentime devoted to the disaster lacks any dialogue and is underscored by fast tempo music led by a strong drumbeat and interspersed with staccato synths. The pacing of the film picks up as a quick succession of cuts occur depicting close-ups of heads, hands and feet, almost dismembering the plane’s passengers before the impact itself occurs. By focusing on the hijackers, the sequence cuts between their signalling to each other and further quickens in tempo as the hijackers are seen running to the cockpit and rapidly taking control of the plane causing it to swerve dramatically. The sequence cuts to scared passengers consoling each other and praying, constantly returning to shots of Babi and Edie as they are separated and unable to find each other. A reverse shot back to the cockpit shows that the plane is losing power and the canted angles signifies the plane’s uncontrollable descent. As passengers hurriedly put on lifejackets a point-of-view shot from the cockpit shows the aquamarine coast of the Comoros speeding towards the camera moments before impact. The camera becomes ever shakier as interior shots of passengers praying, Babi’s confusion, sweating hijackers and Edie’s desperate search for her son then cuts to the actual footage of the plane’s impact, spliced into the previously fictionalized action and then proceeding in devastating slow-motion. The sequence of the plane crash, although fully expected, is shown in such a way, intercutting a computer simulated exterior with the personal loss and horror of protagonists and including actual footage of the crash in slow motion, that it emphasizes the horrific detail of the plane’s destruction and the loss of life on board flight ET961. The slow motion of the actual footage is then quickly integrated into the fictional world of the film as the shaky camera movements, quick cutting, thrilling music and images of the on-board passengers continues. This sequence ends as Edie is seen swimming out of the wreckage and calling out to her son in desperation. The intensity and unrestricted nature of this sequence and the film’s first tragedy overshadows the ensuing domestic heartbreak and breakdown of Edie and Mike’s relationship as Mike struggles to come to terms with the death of his son. Finally, however, the struggle the couple go through to salvage their relationship is cruelly undone by another twist of fate in the form of the sudden tragedy of Mike’s car crash, intercut with Edie giving birth to their second child and representing the ultimate rupture of

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the patriarchal family nucleus, leaving Edie, her new-born daughter and her mother-in-law as the surviving members of the family. Comoros clearly links the national tragedy of the plane crash with the personal and private tragedy of the family. It also brings gender dynamics to the fore as both male family members (the son, Babi and father, Mike) perish while it is the women who survive, repair their relationships (Edie and her mother-in-law), give birth (Edie) and are born (Metasebia). This womancentric narrative and dénouement echoes popular initiatives of female empowerment by the Ethiopian government and NGOs during this period and can be seen as an example of how popular Ethiopian cinema employs an appetite for socially progressive narratives. The film concludes, as expected, on a high moral note as Edie is depicted within a frame bleached by a sepiainduced yellow colour tone (a colour seen to represent hope in Ethiopia, as the yellow meskel/adey flower is synonymous with the Enkutatash Ethiopian New Year celebrations) narrating her story with her young daughter playing in their garden. As her daughter jumps into her arms Edie explains ‘As promised, I named our daughter Metasebia. “In Memory” of both my husband and my son, in memory of the love and the anguish. This is my life. I still have a hard time accepting it is true. God bless all those we have lost in unfortunate circumstances. Amen!!!’ (see Figure 6.1). This references the near-ubiquitous fatalist attitudes

Figure 6.1 A screenshot from the final sequence in Comoros. Source: screenshot from ኮሞሮስ – Comoros, directed by Abreham Kenaw. 2008. Abey Film Production and Oz Film Production. All rights reserved.

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and belief in the greater power of God in Ethiopia and clearly points to the schematic order of Ethiopian-style melodrama in popular Ethiopian cinema as the film ends with a reaffirmation of hope and faith.

Public/private displays of the family as nation Both Comoros and Wisané feature two tragic incidents in which two separate family members die in both films, the only real difference in these two early and tragic yebeteseb films is the focus on a poor family in Wisané and a wealthy family in Comoros. The melodrama of Wisané proliferates through close-up images of Ethiopian Orthodox Christian symbols and icons both in the private family home and as the family often frequents the church. A priest also aids the family throughout the film, instrumental in securing the children’s future as the latter half shows how he organizes their adoption by respectable and wealthy families. In Comoros, although the whole narrative has as a backdrop the very public national tragedy of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash, the film is also augmented by Ethiopian Orthodox Christian imagery. This is not only evident in the final prayer of the film but also through the protagonists visiting church before the final climax of the film and Christian symbolism evident at their son’s funeral, in the graveyard where he is buried and Mike’s workplace. Despite the tragic similarities between these two early yebeteseb films, they also diverge in striking ways. Wisané fits the pattern of the more internationally recognisable ‘family melodrama’, such as is common in West Africa (Garritano 2013; Haynes 2016), India (Vasudevan 2011; Nandy 1998) and other film cultures across the world including America (Elsaesser [1972] 1987). Set predominantly in the private domestic realm, Wisané is closed off from the public where emotions are heightened and intimate relationships between husband, wife and children are exposed to their fullest. This type of yebeteseb film is heavily reliant on character development and relationships, with its success depending on the construction of an empathetic relationship between the audience and the main protagonist. To this end, the family in Wisané is not wealthy, the wife is not afforded any luxuries and handles her cancer diagnosis with dignity, courage and with an unwavering faith in God and with constant and palpable assistance from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church itself.

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Conversely, the very public circumstances of Comoros are framed on a national scale. The personalized emotional response and events suffered by the family in Comoros has the effect of elevating their private trauma onto the national stage as Ethiopian audiences would have undoubtedly experienced some level of trauma following the real events of the plane crash. Being framed in this way, Comoros offers a wider perspective than that solely of the family, as a representation of the nation’s emotional state; however, the film’s narrative also manages a critique of socio-political circumstances in Ethiopia through the very public nature of the family’s suffering and final prayer: ‘God bless all those we have lost in unfortunate circumstances. Amen!’ (see Figure 6.1). This ending has the effect of turning the film itself into a prayer and implies a similar sense of pathos as a result. Both Wisané, an Ethiopian remake of an Indian film, and Comoros, a film framed by a national tragedy and based on a true Ethiopian story, offer interesting comparisons of how the yebeteseb film serves as an allegory of the Ethiopian national story. The rapid succession of incidents such as murder, car crashes, miracle births, life-threatening illness and other traumatic events are enveloped within an Ethiopian-style melodrama with key references to Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in both films as the church acts as a refuge. In this way, the melodrama of the yebeteseb film negotiates between the private sense of fatalism inspired in many Ethiopians by Orthodox Christianity and the public failings of the modern Ethiopian nation. The Ethiopian cultural and melodramatic imagination, then, goes beyond the pursuits of romance and romantic love in this society and becomes crucial in helping to situate, explore and formulate a modern mind-set within Ethiopian audiences heavily grounded in Ethiopian Orthodox Christian teaching It is relevant here to discuss in more detail the abstract version of Ethiopian national identity envisaged by the melodramatic and cultural imagination with which popular Ethiopian films engage. The domestic hegemony of Amharic films in Ethiopian cinemas may strike ambivalent tones amongst some of the diverse ethnolinguistic and religious perspectives of Ethiopian audiences in Addis Ababa and further afield but they speak to a centre-ground position that maintains a privileged experience of Ethiopian nationalism infused with contemporary social, cultural, economic and political dispositions. As discussed in the introduction to this book, popular Ethiopian cinema and

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its melodramatic imagination does not adhere to an ethnically Amhara worldview but, instead, to an abstract and idealized nationalist identity. This posits a specific kind of nationalism that is connected to an idealized conception of Ethiopian culture and Ethiopian history dominated by legendary kings and queens, the promise of being God’s chosen people, the cradle of human civilization and an idealized understanding of Ethiopia’s exceptionality in the wider context of African history. A contemporary aspirational class who choose identifiably Ethiopian ways of looking (fashion), consuming (cuisine and culture) and living, and who also sometimes blend interreligious and interethnic perspectives (epitomized by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed), lead the way in forging this nationalism which manifests itself in contemporary Ethiopian culture and politics. The processes of renewal and abstraction that popular Ethiopian cinema enacts through its position as a producer of mainstream Ethiopian culture often explores, yet fundamentally conditions, the exposure of alternative (non-Ethiopian but also minority Ethiopian) ethnic, rural, political and other religious identities in order to maintain its hegemony.

The innocence of youth and the child actor The central role of children in the narratives of films, as also evidenced in Wisané and Comoros, is the most obvious (but by no means compulsory) marker of a yebeteseb film. Furthermore, the appearance of specific child actors, such as Ididiya Tekaleñ who plays Babi (the son who dies in the plane crash) in Comoros and Abel (the disabled son who is the last child to be adopted) in Wisané came to represent the very innocence, passiveness and victimhood of youth in the genre as narratives traced the vulnerabilities of children and the breakdown of family. Eyob Dawit changed this, rising to prominence as a child actor and as a versatile performer capable of delivering skilled comedic and assertive performances, he often took the lead (or key supporting) role and due to his age, romantic elements of narratives were relegated to sub-plots, if evident at all. Instead, it is the fiker between mother/father, child and siblings that became most commonly the focus of the yebeteseb film with child characters usually fundamental in films reaching a resolution.

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The first yebeteseb films to feature child actors in more prominent and assertive roles, however, were before Eyob Dawit made his debut and were more tragic in tone. Ididiya Tekaleñ, who appeared in Wisané and Comoros also plays a central role as the youngest son Dani in ኤልዛቤል – Elzabel/Jezebel (2009) making him a specific iconographic marker of continuity within the genre early on, a baton soon handed over to Eyob. Elzabel is a name strongly associated with what Haynes calls the ‘Jezebel’ (2016) story (a biblical character associated in Christian lore as manipulative and sexually promiscuous) in reference to its appearance in Nigerian films in which women characters are represented in overtly sexist ways. The villainous Sara (Seble Tefere) is similarly tarnished in Elzabel, recently married to the wealthy Leykun, she becomes stepmother to his two sons, Tariku and Dani (who has been diagnosed as suffering from depression after the death of his mother), only to murder Leykun by giving him an overdose of his medication. Assuming the role of the head of the family, Sara mistreats Tariku and the more vulnerable Dani, whilst pampering her (much older) daughter Kiki (Meron Getnet) who is selfish, spoilt, depicted enjoying violent video games and seen getting drunk at nightclubs with her friends while being uncontrollably envious of Dani. Sara then conspires to kill Leykun’s remaining sister, Melat, to secure herself as the recipient of Leykun’s full 30-million-dollar inheritance. She seduces Melat’s እጮኛ – echoña (fiancé) and manipulates her own boyfriend (Mesfin, played by Solomon Bogale) into murdering Melat only for Dani to overhear their conspiracy. After Melat is murdered, Sara suggests Melat’s fiancé as a suspect to the police and while Tariku runs away, Sara decides to poison his brother Dani, fearing what he knows. As the house guard tracks down Tariku with the aid of a house maid, they both begin to comprehend Sara’s crimes and they decide to report her to the police. The climax of the film develops as Dani is left alone to drink his poisoned Mirinda (a brand of soft drink) while Sara goes out to meet Mesfin. When Sara arrives at Mesfin’s house she discovers him in bed with Kiki (her daughter), prompting Kiki to run back home while Sara gets a gun from her car and shoots Mesfin. Kiki returns home before Dani gets a chance to drink his (poisoned) Mirinda. She grabs it from him, drinks the whole bottle and is soon frothing at the mouth and writhing in pain on the floor. Sara returns home to discover her daughter dead and instantly blames Dani who is

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the sole witness to the events. Just as Sara pulls her gun on Dani, Tariku returns to defend his brother and before Sara can fire, the police arrive. Instead of dropping the gun, Sara decides to use the weapon on herself. Dani is seen symbolically replacing Sara’s photo with that of his late mother before the credits roll. The child characters of Dani and Tariku are central to Elzabel as Sara’s jealousy and fear of her young and innocent stepsons grows throughout the film. Although the audience is privy to Sara’s dream of being awarded the billionaire of the year award, the character whose thoughts and dreams are afforded most narrative time are those of Tariku and Dani as we see Tariku’s flash-back in which his birth mother explains why she called him Tariku (translated as ‘the history’) and in a nightmare through which his paranoia of being murdered is horrifically laid bare. Through the narrative focus on the brothers, the strength of Tariku’s love for Dani becomes the only unbreakable and undying bond in the film. The sensational and multiple cases of murder that occur in Elzabel are characteristic of an extreme melodrama that bears little resemblance to Addis Ababa reality, where violent crime rates are particularly low compared to other major African cities (Gardner 2017), but that also echo sensationalist gossip about family feuds, jealousy and revenge. The stark contrast between wealth and poverty, however, is particularly enlightening and in keeping with an Ethiopian-style melodrama. In Elzabel, it is wealth that represents danger, jealousy and entrapment. When Tariku escapes the family mansion (that has become his prison) onto the streets it is here that he finds refuge in poverty as he is taken in by a group of street boys and men after he tells them his story. It is the street boys who contact the police who in turn arrive in time to save Dani. As in Comoros the root cause of disaster and evil deeds can be traced back to the privileges and wealth of the families at the centre of the narratives. While in Comoros material poverty is only briefly alluded to in a shot contrasting the imminent birth of Edie’s new child with that of a mother on the street with her child, in Elzabel however, as Tariku finds himself benefitting from the camaraderie of street-life, the opulence of their family’s mansion symbolically imprisons his brother. A similar story is told in the successful yebeteseb film released in 2011, ቤተልሔም – Betelihem, eponymously named after the child protagonist of the

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film. The film is Betelihem’s account of a year in her life in which her mother and father argue about the father being seduced by one of his friends only for this argument to cause a car accident in which the mother dies. The film’s narrative is told from the point of view of Betelihem, whose voice-over is heard narrating at the opening and closing sequences, with the film’s narrative focusing on her experiences and the effects adult actions have on her childhood. Both Elzabel and Betelihem are set in wealthy households, which in themselves represent hot-beds of immorality. In these films, as with the films of Ghana (Garritano 2013) and Nigeria (Larkin 2008 Haynes 2016), material wealth comes with jealousy, greed and selfishness which in turn lead to acts of betrayal, abuse and ultimately death. It is the children who are the survivors of the carnage brought on by the greed of materialism and capitalism which is demonized and portrayed as opposite to Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. This is starkly portrayed in an important transition scene in Elzabel, painting the ideological juxtaposition of Sara and her sister-in-law through a graphic cut. This cut depicts the sister-in-law, in black clothing (still in mourning after the death of her brother) offering food to a crowd at a church gathering which is juxtaposed with Sara and her friends overly made-up and wearing tight fitting and revealing clothes as they are gathered around a plate loaded with ቁርጥ – kurt (raw beef, considered a delicacy), drinking wine and laughing, seemingly celebrating the murder of her husband. The contrasting sets of images, in such a juxtaposing graphic cut, clearly positions the polarities of good and evil within simple moral and spiritual binaries.

A comedic turn Following Elzabel and Betelihem were more comedic yebeteseb (family) films with ነፃ ትግል – Netsa Tigil/Wrestle (2012) a notable early example that stages a simple, yet effective role reversal conflict between a mother (Shewit Kebede) and father (Alemseged Tesfaye) after their daughter comes home with a specific school assignment. A less conventional family setup appears in ያልታሰበው – Yaltasebew/Unthinkable (2013), one of the most viewed Amharic films on YouTube, which can be seen as an innovative film in the yebeteseb film

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genre as it is one of the first to focus on a materially poor and non-nuclear family. The film’s opening sequence, intercut with the opening credits, communicates the situation of the child protagonist, Abush (Eyob Dawit), from his perspective. The first shots are of an innocent looking Abush eating a biscuit on the roadside of Churchill Avenue (a central road populated with many significant cultural, social and political institutions), accompanied with his voice-over narrating: ‘I’m Abush, I like biscuits’, clearly establishing Abush as the film’s central character with the narrative emanating from his perspective and experiences. Abush’s condition quickly becomes apparent as he is wearing rags and covered in dirt, a street-child living with his mother in a tarpaulin ramshackle shelter on the roadside. Abush is then seen hiding his biscuits as his mother approaches and is instantly chastised for eating without her and physically pushed onto the street to beg on her behalf. Abush is streetwise and manages to attract a lot of charity in Piassa1 whilst his voice-over narration continues, explaining his plight and his mother’s alcoholism as he is seen buying areké2 for her and contemplating his misfortune instead of playing with other children (see Figure 6.2). After the opening credits, Abush is seen counting his

Figure 6.2 A screenshot of Eyob Dawit from the opening of Yaltasebew. Source: screenshot from ያልታሰበው – Yaltasebew, directed by Hermon Hailay. 2013. M.B.Z. Film Production. All rights reserved.

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earnings for the day when his money is stolen by bigger kids. As soon as he returns to his mother empty handed, she beats him and tells him to get away from her, leaving Abush alone and without shelter. This opening sequence quickly and effectively establishes the plight of Yaltasebew’s child protagonist and conveys his material poverty through his costume, his performance and by often depicting Abush from a high angle, making him look ever more diminutive, especially when contrasted with the reverse low angle shots of his mother that emphasize the entrapment and abuse he has suffered at her hands. Abush’s plight quickly turns more hopeful as he is taken in by two male friends, Wendé (Michael Million) and Shewa (Kassahun ‘Mandela’ Fiseha) who work on a construction-site and share a house together, after Abush asks them to take him in as they drunkenly stumble out of a hotel bar. Yaltasebew uses humour to off-set this socially dubious scenario as the two friends wake up oblivious to their drunken act of adopting Abush for the night, only to discover that he has also wet the bed. In a panic, the two friends, not knowing what to do, decide to leave Abush with Shewa’s mother (whom he, himself avoids) as Wendé resolves to take him to the police after they finish work. As the police only offer a single room packed with other children as shelter for Abush, Wendé decides they will take care of him until they find his mother, while Abush deliberately misleads them, unwilling to return to his abusive mother. The film then develops its comedy as Wendé becomes irked by Shewa’s irresponsible actions and lack of care for Abush, leading to an argument between the friends about looking after Abush while struggling to balance their work and social lives. As Abush realizes he is to blame for the arguing he decides to go back to living on the street only for Wendé and Shewa to track him down and both agree to take him in again after a distraught Abush explains his reasons for leaving them. Only after Abush falls violently ill and is rushed to hospital, where both his temporary guardians take responsibility for the child, does the makeshift family’s fortunes begin to improve. Abush’s amiability and perceptiveness allow him to advise the friends on their relationships and as they bond around the child’s affable nature they form a credible support structure. Finally, Abush’s birth mother tracks him down after her narrative of begging and searching for Abush has been intercut throughout the film and police take him away just when Wendé and Shewa are celebrating his birthday. After she

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wins her child back, mother and son return to the streets, but Abush becomes despondent despite his mother believing that his favourite biscuits should make him feel better. A montage of flashbacks of Abush, Wendé and Shewa playing and enjoying themselves is then intercut with Abush’s mother still drinking, resigned to her addiction and failure in her duty of care towards her child. She resolves to take him back to Wendé and Shewa, despairing of her addiction while offering up her child to what she believes will be a better life for him. Then, after a fade to black, Abush’s voiceover narration can be heard (as in the opening sequence), now he is shown wearing a school uniform and seen admiring flowers as he says, ‘Now I am happy’ and after he is shown greeting Shewa at the construction site, Abush happily acknowledges his mother, shown also working on the site. Yaltasebew manages to construct a loving family relationship between its three male protagonists – two best friends and a street boy – in part through the skilled, sensitive yet comedic performances of its three stars, Eyob Dawit, Michael Million and Kassahun Fiseha. Although being child star Eyob Dawit’s breakout role, Michael Million and Kassahun Fiseha were already well-known, popular and versatile actors. Finding a skilled young actor to play Abush was paramount and in Eyob Dawit, Hermon Hailay (the film’s director), explains that she was confident that the actors were capable of making a film with such an innovative narrative a success in Ethiopia (interview, 17 February 2016). The poverty Abush experiences in the film’s opening is quickly contrasted with the relative security provided by Wendé and Shewa intercut with the plight of Abush’s mother attempting to track down her son as she begs outside Orthodox churches and receives great charity from attendees and passers-by. The influences of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church are also constantly evident in the behaviour of Wendé and Shewa as their mannerisms and costumes (wearing necklaces of the orthodox cross) clearly denote their faith while, in their house there are two prominent posters, one of Jesus and the other of the Virgin Mary, that are commonplace icons in Ethiopian Orthodox Christian households. It is important that both Wendé and Shewa have their struggles with their romantic pursuits and that they represent hardworking, lowermiddle class Addis Ababa residents. They do not represent wealth but instead a more nuanced image of charity and salvation for Abush, and it is his mother who is seen as the abusive parent who fuels her addiction through her son’s

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begging. The film’s narrative goes through peaks and troughs along with the precarious nature of Abush’s existence. Nonetheless, the film is balanced by the performance of Eyob Dawit as he portrays Abush not just as a victim of an abusive parent but as a resourceful, kind and humble child who brings out the best in Wendé and Shewa. Eyob Dawit’s performance as Abush is what director Hermon says was a key reason the film was such a success (interview, 17 February 2016) with the child actor quickly becoming a domestic box-office draw with his comedic abilities and coy charm. Overwhelmingly, due to the appearances of Eyob Dawit, the yebeteseb film was transformed from films depicting the tragic breakdown of modern and wealthy (nuclear) families to the hopeful experiences of poor and already broken homes with the term assikiñ (humorous) or comedy being attached to the yebeteseb film term to indicate its comedic intentions. In a similar way to how assikiñ (humorous) is used to differentiate between the yefiker film and assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), so too, a yebeteseb film without any markers of humour in its marketing (comedic actors, poster colours and design or even the explicit mentioning of the term ‘assikiñ’) is likely to feature violence, death and trauma. On the other hand, an assikiñ yebeteseb film (humorous family film), clearly promoted as such, denotes the relative safety of its protagonists in a melodramatic world that lacks shocking violence and trauma; inviting audiences to relax and be entertained with a ‘feel-good’ conclusion.

Family before romance In the successful 2015 film የ’አራዳ ልጅ – Ye’Arada Lij/Arada’s Child (which has since become the most serialized of all Amharic films), Eyob Dawit plays a very similar character to that in Yaltasebew, with the film’s popularity garnering the Best Film award, as voted for by the public through SMS, at the 2016 Gumma Film Awards. Just as with Yaltasebew, Eyob is also heard in the opening of Ye’Arada Lij in a voice-over narration explaining his circumstances (from his own birth to explaining he has no choice but to be a beggar and a thief); this time, however, his character, Teleku (‘the great/big’) is raised solely by his father, ironically called Tinish (‘the small’, played by Alemseged Tesfaye), who

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is destitute but caring and making a living by recycling plastics found in rubbish heaps. Ye’Arada Lij also has some of the buddy comedy narrative elements of Yaltasebew, particularly brought out in the son and father relationship. Ye’Arada Lij, however, employs the dialectics of the Ethiopian-style melodrama to a higher degree through its rags to riches story as the father and son (Tinish and Teleku), after falling ill, get cared for by a loving lady who then falls in love with both the child and father. This romantic narrative is set within the wider perspective offered by the child character Teleku, who is the centre of affection and the cause for hope and humour. In keeping with melodramatic tendencies, Teleku’s birth mother soon tracks down the family, her presence disrupting the recently formed family nucleus and forcing Teleku’s stepmother to attempt to take her own life because of her shame. Fortunately, she fails as Teleku’s birth mother is seen pushing the wheelchair-bound, but healthy-looking stepmother in the final scene. This shows the whole family – birth mother, stepmother, father and son – reaching an amicable resolution after Teleku thanks his birth mother with the remark ‘Tinish’s old wife, we thank you so much, may He replace what you have lost’. This recognition by the young boy portrays great emotional intelligence and although he refuses to call his birth mother ‘mother’ due to her absence, he understands the great feeling of loss she has experienced and calls upon God to watch over her. Although romance is an important narrative strand in Ye’Arada Lij, the romantic union of Tinish and his new wife is not resolved in the film’s dénouement. Instead, the needs of family support and love for the younger generation are prioritized. The emotional power of Eyob Dawit’s performance as he represents Teleku is far greater than romantic empathy or desire felt towards the older generation (represented by Tinish) who are to blame for their personal failures but are also representative of society’s wider failings. The rise of Eyob Dawit’s star power coincided with the rise of the yebeteseb film with many other child actors also becoming more prominent, such as Yeabsira Tekilu and Selamawit Legesse. Their importance to the industry is recognized each year in the awarding of the ‘most promising newcomer’ at the Gumma Film Awards, given to Eyob Dawit at its first ceremony in 2014. The particular prominence of Eyob Dawit in the yebeteseb film also added more light-hearted and comedic elements to a genre which, in its early formation in

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films such as Wisané, Comoros, Elzabel and Betelihem, often relied on tragic circumstances in order to communicate social messages. The popularity of this one actor, particularly when he was a child, should not be underestimated; the very fact that he was such a gifted performer at a young age, able to make audiences laugh and cry, allowed for yebeteseb film narratives to form around his presence. Audience expectations of Eyob’s performance were tempered by the conventions of the yebeteseb film, which also developed and evolved to facilitate such accomplished acting from a child-star able to carry a film. A recognition of Eyob Dawit’s impressive filmography, in which he appeared in a leading/supporting role in no fewer than sixteen successful films in five years,3 brings to the fore how his rise and the rise of the more humorous yebeteseb film have mutually coincided since 2013. As Eyob has matured, so too the yebeteseb film has become less frequent as there is no child actor, yet, who can match his on-screen charisma.

The affective acrobatics of Amharic film genres Since the emergence of the assikiñ yefiker film in 2007, humour has appeared more frequently in multiple Amharic film genres, as evidenced in the discussion of the iterations of the yebeteseb film featuring Eyob Dawit. The comedic mode often denoted by the genre prefix assikiñ (humour), is used as a marker by producers, promoters and exhibitors to harness an Ethiopian melodramatic imagination while offering a comedic safety-net. The humour of these films, therefore, often acts as comic relief to momentarily distract audiences with bouts of laughter, adding emphasis, layers and depth to the impact of the movie’s social, moral or ideological message. Where comedy is used in this way and the narrative lacks primary romantic elements, then the film is usually referred to as simply comedy, assikiñ film (humorous film) or even dramatic comedy (or a variant of combining aspects of drama and comedy). It is common for the most successful Amharic comedy films to use cultural and social oppositions to create their comedy (see Chapter 4). The gender role reversal narrative, for example, is used in the comedy, መፈንቅል ሴቶች – Mefenkil Setoch/Revolt against Women (2011), but instead of attempting to deliver a serious social message common in the didacticism of film dénouements in

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most Amharic genres, this film revels in the comedic scenario played out throughout its narrative of men rebelling against a women-only dictatorial regime. This type of comedy, using stark oppositions and exaggerated scenarios to make fun of observed Ethiopian behaviours, is common in popular Ethiopian comedy films. These films are not radical purveyors of social change but there are interesting socio-political and cultural insights that can be garnered from the humour that is inspired by sociocultural commentary (see Jedlowski and Thomas 2017). The comedy in these films operates within the boundaries of an Ethiopian melodramatic imagination in the specific contrasts that are highlighted and in endings that integrate and restore opposing sides within the realms of sociocultural accepted norms. Comic characters and moments of comic relief have become an increasingly common feature across all Amharic film genres. It is how, and to what extent a comedic mode is embedded and sustained in any film that designates whether a film can be classed as assikiñ/comedy. A film such as Rebuni (see Chapter 3), for example, features comedic scenarios. Gela’s younger brother often inspires laughter in his overprotective actions towards his sister, but the film’s key style, structure and messages are those of the yefiker film. Similarly, Behailu Wassie’s ዩቶጵያ – Utopia (2015) features Mesfin Haileyesus in a characteristically comic supporting role as an English teacher called Dejené who lacks any proficiency in the language and who inspires laughter in every scene in which he appears. Dejené, however, later becomes a key character who epitomizes the absurdity of relegating Amharic and other indigenous Ethiopian languages throughout the educational system in Ethiopia in exchange for English. The result of using English in the classroom seems to have caused selective mutism in one of the students, Abush (Mikael Shimelis), who is only cured by the non-conformist, Amharic and Ethiopianist inspired teaching of Cambridge educated Zerihun (Demoz Goshmé). Despite the key comedy inspired by the appearances of Dejené, the character plays a supporting role to that of the more serious messages communicated by Zerihun. Unlike the term ‘dramatic comedy’ used to describe ነፃ ትግል – Netsa Tigil/ Wrestle (2012) in the Alem Cinema’s scheduling, Utopia was described purely as ‘drama’ although it has elements consistent with both the yefiker film in the narrative strand that sees Zerihun fall in love with Abush’s mother, and the yebeteseb film in the key role played by the child character, Abush. The use of

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the English term drama as a genre in popular Ethiopian cinema, however, causes more ambiguity than clarity as the term is more commonly deployed in relation to television serials. The film perhaps can be noted as an example of how the different generic elements of three key genres discussed so far can all be integrated in one film, therefore resulting in a lack of clear generic identity while still heavily influenced by the schematics of an Ethiopian melodramatic and cultural imagination. We should also consider the term lib anteltay as discussed in the previous chapter (Chapter 5), where we had the example of Geday Siyarefafid deployed as a lib anteltay yebeteseb film (suspenseful family film). The film ያበጽ – Yabets (2016) should similarly be considered in the same generic parameters as it tells the story of the struggles of Roman (Meaza Takele) as she single-handedly gives birth and raises her son Yabets (Solomon Tilahun). The mother and son struggle to survive on the fringes of society as Roman fights against the prejudices the community show towards her and her son as a single mother with no other family. Despite Roman’s best efforts, Yabets is soon driven into the very crime that his mother warned against. In prison he has a chance encounter with his father with fate finally contriving against the mother and son in the film’s climax. The crime, suspense and family issues all make Yabets a prime example, along with Geday Siyarefafid of how the yebeteseb film can accommodate the shocking impulses of the lib anteltay film. Or, perhaps, more broadly speaking, the transmutability of Amharic film genres and the capacity of popular Ethiopian films to seemingly engender multiple genres all at once tells us more about the unstable and fast-changing nature of domestic cinema in Ethiopia.

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The industry While at any given point a generic system may appear perfectly balanced and thus at rest, the look of stability is actually produced by a momentary equilibrium of countervening concerns. [. . .] In fact, it is precisely the continued contestation among producers, exhibitors, viewers, critics, politicians, moralists, and their diverse interests, that keeps genres ever in process, constantly subject to reconfiguration, recombination and reformulation. Rick Altman (1999: 195)

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The film industry is like a marathon: many athletes start the race at the beginning but only a few extra talented make it to the finish line. Behailu Wassie cited in M.W. Thomas (2018: 268) With the sheer volume of films being produced by the commercial film sector in Ethiopia, what concerns this chapter is how the sector itself produces its own generic taxonomies through the promotion and marketing of films. Tewodros Teshome, one of the entrepreneurial forerunners of popular Ethiopian cinema, told me plainly that ‘film is all about promotion’ (personal communication 2021). In looking at the promotional material of popular Ethiopian films a window opens into the practices of the film sector presenting an opportunity to explore Ethiopian experiences of cinema through the terms set by the sector itself. The Amharic genre terms I work with are taken from cinema screening information and film marketing ‘paratexts’ (Genette 1997) which hold clues to differences and similarities compared to other genres in different contexts from around the world. It is the promoting and marketing of films, therefore, that brings ideas of genres to the fore acting as an axis between producer/consumer and as the locus of expressions of Amharic film genres. Walking the streets of Addis Ababa it is the colourful film posters, leaflets and car stickers that present ideas of genre, grabbing people’s attention as the first point of contact between an audience member and a film (see Figure 7.1). An exploration of genre in the marketing of films, then, offers the broadest examples of Amharic film genres and an ideal starting point for this analysis before the following chapters goes on to highlight more specific examples of genre in production and reception contexts. Although I adopt genre terms as they are expressed in Amharic, I also interrogate why some genres are expressed using multiple, seemingly interchangeable terms (often Anglicized) and what 177

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Figure 7.1 A collection of film poster flyers in the foyer of the Cinema Ethiopia. Source: photo by author.

this tells us about the producers, marketers and consumers who use nonAmharic genre terminology and the ultimate discursive nature of genre usage (Altman 1999) in Ethiopia.

Theatrical release The commercial viability of the Amharic film industry is reliant on theatrical distribution as the VCD 1 and online distribution markets are dogged by unprofitability or allegations of pirating and theft. Although streaming sites have appeared that focus on Ethiopian content (see Thomas and Asteway forthcoming) the primary economic model for popular Ethiopian cinema in 2021 remained through revenues collected at the box-office. Alessandro Jedlowski notes that: At the beginning of the production phenomenon, in the early 2000s, very few films were released and they were all accepted for screening in the few

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existing theatre halls. But today the competition is harsh and many films are rejected by the selection boards that each private cinema has set up. Selection criteria are often criticized for their lack of transparency and film-makers accuse cinema owners of selecting films only in relation to their (supposed) commercial value (or, worse, as a result of corruption practices), rather than for their technical standards and artistic qualities. Many professionals see this as one of the main causes behind the current tendency towards repetition of plots and genres. 2015b: 177

The unstructured and relatively unregulated commercial nature of the sector, therefore, leaves it open to widespread financial manipulation and dishonest commercial practices that undermine the integrity of the whole industry.2 Beyond this, it should be added that the system of film exhibition has gone through a reversal of fortunes in terms of the supply and demand of films. Up until 2008 there was relatively little competition between films achieving general release in cinemas. There were roughly thirty films released in 2007, including Yewendoch Gudday, the pioneering assikiñ yefiker film. By 2008 there was a massive spike in competition as roughly seventy films were released (and not dropping below fifty films released per year thereafter), the majority of which can be associated with the assikiñ yefiker film genre. This increase in both the production and theatrical release of what is the most low-cost and cost-efficient of genres, also had the effect of highlighting structural issues in the film exhibition sector in Ethiopia. Suddenly there was an oversupply of films, some of which did not make general release in cinemas and some of which had to wait to be screened. In more recent years, some films have waited over a year to be screened in cinemas, as was the case with የፀሃይ መውጫ ልጆች – Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch/ Sons of Sunrise (2016), and this has meant a gap between audiences and producers has developed, making it harder for cinemas and producers to judge and respond to audience tastes and popular trends. This can be seen as early as 2007, a year that Jedlowski (2015b) rightly points out as one in which various films from different genres were popular and commercially successful. Although the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) provides an accessible and economical genre blueprint, it took a full year before the genre became more established in the country whereas the films often took less than seven

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months to produce (Henok Ayele, interview, 11 February 2016). Director and scriptwriter Behailu Wassie, who entered the Amharic film industry in 2010, casts more light on the matter, saying: It is the case that we make most of our money from theatrical releases in cinemas, but our films reach more audiences after they are released on VCD, and this is when people contact me to tell me how much they appreciate the film. Even if you look at Ethiopia, we have a population of over one hundred million, but there are only a few cinemas in other towns and cities outside Addis Ababa, so when films are released on VCD, although there are issues with pirating, that is when the films become well known. The other problem is that the cinema owners are only concerned with making their money now; they have no concern for making the industry grow in terms of art and diversity in the future. There is a gap in trust and communication between filmmakers and producers, cinema owners, and audiences because of this. This is why it seems that after films become very well-known and popular through VCD more of that genre will begin to be screened in cinemas because there is less risk for the cinema owners. Interview, 8 March 2016

This quote is vital to understanding how the pervasive mistrust and anxiety in the domestic Ethiopian film market impacts on the commercial structures of popular cinema and reveals that genres are created at the nexus between theatrical exhibition and VCD circulation, which has now been superseded by online streaming. The relatively opaque and secretive practices of producers and exhibitors means that it is often by word-of-mouth and not by any transparency or accurate box office receipts that a film’s success can be ascertained.

The distribution dilemma It is with the emergence of the assikiñ yefiker film, more so than that of the previously dominant yefiker film, that genre became a tool used by exhibitors to classify films. As cinema building also increased in the form of privatelyowned single-screen cinemas (often in new multi-storey buildings/malls) during this period (from 2007 until around 2014), it created more barriers for

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producers who had to go from private cinema to private cinema selling their films to each exhibitor and their selection committees. Yidnekachew Shumete’s lib anteltay films Siryet/Absolution (2007) and ኒሻን – Nishan/Medal of Honour (2013) straddle this period and their exhibition details help demonstrate the increased competition at this time and the lack of opportunity for genres other than the assikiñ yefiker film. While in 2007 Siryet was released in five cinemas, being screened continually for between six and eight months and was still being screened in some cinemas two years after its release, Nishan in 2013 was screened in twenty-five different cinemas for between three and six months (Yidnekachew Shumete, interview, 3 March 2016). Despite the five-fold increase of cinemas exhibiting films in 2013 compared with 2007, the length of time a film stayed in the cinema was at best halved. Behailu Wassie further explains that as ‘cinema owners have a lot of power over what films they show, they often want films that make the audience laugh in the first minutes, and so fail to open their doors to new genres and ideas’ (interview, 8 March 2016), a sentiment echoed by prolific filmmaker Biniyam Werku (cf. Fikadu 2013: 197). The commercial pressure is then heightened as some cinemas even demand payment for films just to be considered for screening (Dawit Tesfaye, interview, 27 February 2016) while exhibitors and producers share the box office revenue of each film at a standard ratio of 50:50. On top of this, exhibitors charge producers for various promotional activities and decide screening schedules (from anywhere between once and twelve times per week) and films can be dropped from screening schedules as cinemas see fit. The lack of a formal distribution sector compounds the issues between producers and exhibitors. Yidnekachew Shumete makes the point that there has been no formal distribution sector in Ethiopia which has meant that it is often left to the filmmaker to produce, promote and distribute their film, entailing them (or a trusted employer/friend) to go ‘to the theatre and put the DVD in the laptop [used to project the film] (so it won’t be stolen), then wait until the film ends and then take the DVD back home’ (interview, 3 March 2016). In 2016, Tewodros Teshome mentions that there was a new company that was promoting a distribution service for producers but they did not deal financially with the cinemas on any level, instead they just alleviated the workload for filmmakers and producers (interview, 18 February 2016). The commercial pressures on film producers, however, are then expounded after

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films have finished screening in the private cinemas as it is up to them to chase their share of the box office receipts from cinema owners who have been known to delay and even default on payments. The fact that the exhibition sector is not standardized or transparent and that cinema tickets remain at low prices to attract Addis Ababa’s lower-middle classes only presents more financial risk to producers and people who invest in films (Tewodros Teshome, interview, 18 February 2016). Along with the added work pressures and financial strain the exhibition system in Ethiopia places on film producers, it leaves them little choice but to come to an agreement with cinema owners about the popularity of the assikiñ yefiker film as the favoured genre of their audiences (Sintayehu Taye, interview, 4 March 2016). Despite the commercial and genre-oriented nature of the Amharic film sector as evidenced above in the relationship between producers and exhibitors, there are some important exceptions to the rule where film genre is less relevant. Some film producers own their own cinemas too which offers another source of funds to finance film projects. Writer, director, actor and producer Serawit Fikré owns the single screen, 600-seater Agona Serawit Cinema in Bole and favours the higher budget lib anteltay film as three of his four films belong to this genre, namely Semayawi Feres/Blue Horse (2005), ሒሮሺማ – Hiroshima (2011) and ወርቅ በወርቅ – Werk Bewerk/Gold by Gold (2012). Sebastopol Cinema, before it was sold in 2021, was the largest chain of cinemas in Ethiopia with cinemas in Addis Ababa and other major cities and had the largest market share. Owned by producer/director Tewodros Teshome, the cinema business proved a useful tool in exerting influence on industry competitors to such an extent that during the time of our interview in 2016, Tewodros was proposing to add a distribution business along with the already established production and exhibition arms of Sebastopol to buy the exclusive rights of films for screening in Sebastopol cinemas (Tewodros Teshome, interview, 18 February 2016). When I met with Tewodros again in March 2021, however, this had all changed as he was in the process of selling the last of his cinemas and investing in the hospitality sector. It seems that the Film Producers Association had addressed the technical issues associated with distribution as they had just completed setting up their digital distribution system that was operational in every cinema. It remains to be seen how this technical distribution system will effect the broader operations and structures of popular Ethiopian cinema.

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Of the privately-owned cinemas, the Alem Cinema (see Figure 7.2), built in 2002 by the world-record-breaking long-distance runner Haile Gebreselassie and his wife Alem, is a purpose-built cinema on land owned by the company, meaning that it is spared the monthly rental instalments paid by most other exhibitors, a major reason for the financial short-termism of other privatelyowned cinemas. The Alem Cinema has also stood out as a cinema willing to show a wider variety of film genres with one of their managers, Kebede Mesfin stating that for him the assikiñ yefiker film does not dominate their listings (interview, 4 March 2016). The Alem Cinema was not only the first privatelyowned cinema to screen domestic films but also starting in 2002 screened a variety of genres with the sitcom turned comedy film የበረዶው ዘመን – Yeberedow Zemen/The Ice Age (2002) and the rural-set film የነፃ ትውልድ – Yenetsa Tiwild/ The Free Generation (2002) coming before the screening of Kezkaza Welafen and Gudifecha later that year. The Alem Cinema has consistently screened films outside the dominant genres with it being integral for critically acclaimed films such as አሼንጌ – Ashenge (2007) and ሎሚ ሽታ – Lomi Shita/Scent of Lemon (2012) achieving at least limited release (Paulos Regassa, interview, 9 February 2016; Abraham Gezahegn, interview, 2 November 2017). The larger government-owned cinemas, particularly the Ambassador Theatre, Cinema Empire and Cinema Ethiopia, administered by the Addis Ababa City Cinema Houses Administration Enterprise (AACCHAE),

Figure 7.2 The Alem Cinema in 2021. Source: photo by author.

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represent a separate exhibition system from the privately-owned cinemas previously discussed. By March 2021, these cinemas had also transitioned to the digital distribution system run by the Film Producers Association, but before this they operated a second-tier exhibition circuit. Films that producers believed were successful after release in the privately-owned cinemas often moved to the second-tier government-owned cinemas. These cinemas have more than twice the capacity of most private cinemas, have cheaper ticket prices (20–30 ETB compared to the 40–100 ETB of privately-owned cinemas) and screening timeslots were previously rented out for a certain number of weeks on a flat-rate before the new system was adopted in 2021 that put them more in-line with how the privately-run cinemas operate. Seen as less corrupt and more transparent than privately-owned cinemas the AACCHAE kept its own records on audience attendance and revenue. Income, for example, increased between 2007 and 2015 by around 4 million ETB (from just above 8 million to just below 12 million ETB), with increased audience numbers from 861,648 to 1,056,503 in the same period (Jamaneh 2016). This snapshot provides a useful indicator of the growth experienced in the domestic Ethiopian film sector as a whole during this same period whereas today Amharic films often surpass over a million views on a single YouTube channel (evidenced by the most popular films on Arada Movies1). The government-owned cinemas also did not distinguish between film genres or even consider the commercial viability of the film, as long as it had an exhibition license from the Addis Ababa Culture and Tourism Bureau, in theory it would be accepted for screening if and when a free slot existed. However, despite the government-owned cinemas now seen as second-tier exhibition spaces, this was not the case at the advent of the commercial Amharic film industry in 2002 as it was Ambassador Theatre in which Gudifecha was first screened, and continuously so for a period of roughly a year-and-a-half (Tatek Tadesse, interview, 12 March 2016). Nevertheless, as audience numbers increased and more films were produced, so too competition increased and privately-owned cinemas were established to meet the demand for a competitive exhibition sector. Until the Film Producers Association introduced sector-wide changes in how films are distributed in Ethiopia, exhibitors had acted as the gatekeepers of popular Ethiopian cinema with genre descriptions still pivotal in determining whether a film gets considered for screening.

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A film promoter’s prerogative? It is in the screening schedules of privately-owned cinemas where genre terms become more visibly attached to films as the genre is commonly the second piece of information about a film after its title. The different genre terms used often give rise to multiple ways of naming the more broadly identifiable የፍቅር ፊልም – yefiker film (love film), አስቂኝ የፍቅር ፊልም – assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), አስቂኝ ፊልም – assikiñ film (humorous film), ልብ አንጠልጣይ ፊልም – lib anteltay film (suspense film), አክሽን ፊልም – akshin film (action film) and የበተሰብ ፊልም – yebeteseb film (family film). One film, for example, may be attributed to two or more genres as it is promoted through different avenues, such as in the case of ጥለፈኝ – Tilefeñ/Abduct Me (2015) described as a ኮሜዲ – komédi (comedy) on the screening schedule of the Alem Cinema while in the film’s poster the term አስቂኝ የፍቅር ፊልም – assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) is used to denote its participation in this more specifically Ethiopian genre. The case of ያነገስከኝ – Yanegeskeñ/The One Who Enthroned Me (2015) represents a similar case, described as a ‘romance movie’ in English on its poster while noted as a ድራማቲክ ኮሜዲ – dramatik komédi (dramatic comedy) on the cinema listing. The use of two quite different terms to describe a single film in this case indicates the complexity and often indiscriminate, inaccurate or incomplete nature of incorporating films into an Ethiopian system of film genres. The naming of genres is the prerogative of producers and their promoters when films are exhibited and marketed which may explain such inconsistencies in genre recognition. Furthermore, there is no clear, sector-wide consensus on naming film genres in Amharic, as is evidenced when looking through the screening programmes of the Alem Cinema and finding duplicate terms used to describe the same genre that become discernible only through replacing Amharic terms with English. Yefiker film (love film) for example seems interchangeable with የፍቅር ድራማ – yefiker drama (love drama), ሮማንስ ድራማ – romans drama (romance drama) and even in many instances of the broader and more international and inter-media term ድራማ – drama. Similarly, assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) may be replaced by terms such as ሮማንስ ኮሜዲ – romans komédi (romance comedy), የፍቅር ኮሜዲ – yefiker komédi (love comedy), ሮማንቲክ ኮሜዲ – romantik komédi (romantic comedy) or አስቂኝ የፍቅር ኮሜዲ –

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assikiñ yefiker komédi (humorous love comedy) with many films (but by no means all) described as አስቂኝ ፊልም – assikiñ film (humorous film) also integrating romance narratives and partaking in the commonly identified generic conventions of the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) identified in Chapter 4. More broadly, and discussed in Chapter 6, the terms drama and comedy can be attached to the dominant Amharic film genre terms to denote the general mode and emotional tone of a film, whether it is a yefiker film (love film), assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), lib anteltay film (suspense film) or yebeteseb film (family film). The term ‘film’ that accompanies these genres may even be replaced by either drama or comedy as is the case for ብላቴና – Bilatena/ The Young Man (2015) described as a yebeteseb film (family film) in the Alem Cinema’s programme while in the tenth edition of the Ethiopian International Film Festival catalogue, the film is described as a yebeteseb drama (family drama). The use of English terms instead of Amharic, and drama or comedy instead of film, provide an aura of foreign sophistication and layer of jargon that audiences do not distinguish between or necessarily understand. The use of these duplicate terms, rather than being actual signifiers used to distinguish the form and content of films, indicate instead a producer/promoter’s attempt to either position the film within the popular system of Amharic film genres or to make it seem more distinct and prestigious.

Paratextual indicators of genre Apart from the explicit and ubiquitous categorizing of film by genre in cinemas throughout Ethiopia, Amharic genre terms also often feature on film posters and VCD jackets, as well as in trailers and radio advertisements. Interestingly, it is much more common for a comedy or assikiñ yefiker film to harness genre appellations in the promotion of films (see Figures 0.1, 4.1 and 7.3 of posters with genre terms on them) but other genre terms also appear on posters, especially if the film posters fail clearly to communicate the genre pictorially. For example, due to featuring colours, tones, a composition and even actors that would be expected from an assikiñ yefiker film, the poster for በራሪ ልቦች – Berari Liboch/Flying Hearts (2010) differentiates itself by explicitly referencing

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Figure 7.3 Two assikiñ yefiker film posters in the Alem Cinema’s brochure, both featuring the assikiñ yefiker film genre term. Left Markush and right Tilefeñ. Source: author’s collection.

the lib anteltay film genre. The paratextual generic indicators of a film, expressed through such promotional materials, therefore, are already conditioning prospective audiences’ genre expectations before the film is viewed (Moine [2002] 2008: 89). As genre labels can be found on the posters themselves and in the advertising of films in Ethiopia, with cinema listings reserving a space for ‘the film’s type’ (genre) directly below the title of the film, it is clear that there is great promotional onus on harnessing explicit paratextual indicators of generic intentions and conventions. As can be seen with the assikiñ yefiker film examples in Figures 0.1, 4.1 and 7.3, there also appear strong paratextual transmissions of genres through observing the colour palette or fonts used in posters and DVD/VCD jackets of films. These colours and references, just as in globally recognizable genres, are usually mirrored in the opening sequences of the films and therefore enhance genre expectations audiences carry with them when entering the

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auditorium. While the tones and colours of the assikiñ yefiker film are usually light reds, blues and yellows and accompanied with smiling stars, the yefiker film often has a similar palate but in darker tones with actors rarely smiling or making direct address. Crucial to a paratextual analysis of a film’s promotional material is the investigation of actors, both as prominent features in the marketing of genre films and in their personal appeal to audiences. As Grant notes in relation to this, ‘the context of genre is perhaps the most significant factor in determining a star’s persona or iconographical meaning’ (2012: 140). This statement refers to how Hollywood films are marketed abroad differently than in America, often corresponding to the popularity of different actors in different contexts and then making them central to the film’s promotion. Richard Dyer refers to the Hollywood example more specifically explaining: Stars like Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Steve McQueen, James Caan establish their male action-hero image either through appearing in Westerns, a genre importantly concerned with nature and the small town as centres of authentic human behaviour, and/or through vivid action sequences, in war films, jungle adventures, chase films, that pit the man directly, physically against material forces. [1986] 2004: 10–11

Similarly, many Ethiopian actors get typecast in specific genres as a result of a successful performance in a successful film associated with a specific genre. Some actors who appear in comedy films, such as Netsanet Werkneh, Kassahun ‘Mandela’ Fiseha or Mesfin Haileyesus, can be seen to embody a specific genre convention as their private personalities seep into their star personas and comedic character types and vice versa (see Chapter 4). In the selection of assikiñ yefiker film posters in this book (see Figures 0.1, 4.1 and 7.3), leading comedic actors such as Netsanet Werkneh, Mesfin Haileyesus and Kassahun Fiseha feature prominently. Genre films that feature their images on posters help to legitimize the film’s comedic credibility for prospective audiences. There are other actors who are associated with more serious roles, Bertukan Befkadu for example, in her career spanning more than seven leading roles and starting with a supporting role in Hermela (2005), the only comedic performance she has undertaken was in Samson Tadesse’s 2014 ደላሎቹ – Delalochu/The Dealers, described as a lib anteltay assikiñ film (humorous

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suspense film) in its listing for the Alem Cinema. Bertukan has established herself as a serious, versatile and capable actress who chooses only to perform in film projects that she connects with (see Eyerusaleam Kassahun 2018). Bertukan along with a few other actors/actresses, such as Tseganesh Hailu and Meseret Mebraté, however, are more an exception to the rule that sees most prominent and critically acclaimed film actors/actresses cross genre divides more freely, evidenced in the multi-genre performances of Selam Tesfaye, Kalkidan Tibebu, Seyat Demissie, Mahlet Shumete, Mahder Assefa, Girum Ermias, Tariku ‘Baba’ Birhanu, Michael Million, Samson Tadesse, Amanuel Habtamu and Solomon Bogale (amongst others). In the film posters of films featuring Bertukan Befkadu, they all differ significantly in both tone and colour, compared to the much brighter and multi-coloured assikiñ yefiker film posters. The production value of the films (and their genres) can also be deduced from these posters. Whereas the assikiñ yefiker film posters are more two dimensional and roughly cut, the film posters featuring Bertukan (none of which are assikiñ yefiker film) portray more compositional integrity in their symmetry and aesthetics, communicating a more sophisticated sense of the film’s nature (see Figure 8.1). The combination of poster designs, star power, explicit usage of genre terms when promoting films and the highly influential nature of genres at the production stage of popular Ethiopian films, makes film genres relatively ubiquitous within the discourse of the domestic film sector. In this sense then, far from genre offering a limited commercial interest after a film is created,3 in Ethiopia generic distinctions become central discursive tools in the marketing of films. This ‘generic discursivity’ (Altman 1999: 121) gives rise to variations in genre terminologies and meanings depending on the different situations within which they are deployed.

8

Producing Amharic film genres Most of the cinema hall owners are like landlords in a feudal system. They don’t contribute anything to the growth of cinema. They share half of the income from entrance fees but don’t do any promotion work to get more audiences. The entire burden is on the shoulders of the producer. Meaza Worku (2005) Over the past decade in my interviews with many Ethiopian film professionals who have produced and made popular Ethiopian films, genre was discussed to varying degrees by each interviewee. In general, people were aware of the importance of associating films to genres for the purpose of selling or promoting their film to audiences and particularly to exhibitors, whose arbitrary methods for selecting films was often criticized, not least for being dependent on whether audiences laughed (or cried) in the first five minutes of screenings. So, the idea that Amharic film genres are predominantly genres of affect is reinforced here (Dawit Tesfaye, interview, 27 February 2016). Generally, when filmmakers and producers mentioned Amharic genres, the most commonly cited was the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), spoken of in pejorative terms as associated with the subjective methods of exhibitors’ selection committees and as in demand by young audiences seeking to be entertained. Those filmmakers and producers who had managed successfully to produce a variety of films associated with different genres were more versed in the details of genre production in Ethiopia and more likely to talk about Amharic film genres in general. On the other hand, those who had not produced an assikiñ yefiker film or who were interested in producing more art house films were less likely to even mention or show an interest in the notion of film genres. 190

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Divergent genre discourses Some of the more prolific filmmakers who had made films associated with different genres such as Henok Ayele, Behailu Wassie and Tewodros Teshome spoke about genre in detail and were acutely aware of the effects and perceptions of different genres in Ethiopia. Henok Ayele, as well as acknowledging his role as pioneering the assikiñ yefiker film or ‘romantic comedy’ in Ethiopia, spoke of the many different genres he had made, such as ‘action’, ‘romance’, ‘suspense’, ‘drama’ and that he had plans to make an Ethiopian ‘musical’ (interview, 11 February 2016). The terms Henok used, despite conducting the interview in Amharic, were mostly Anglicized terms borrowed from more standard Hollywood usages, indicating that his awareness of genre was strongly linked to his knowledge of American discourses on film. Henok’s overriding tone was one of enthusiasm for genre filmmaking showing a belief that experimenting with different genres was good for the diversification of popular Ethiopian cinema (interview, 11 February 2016). Behailu Wassie, unlike Henok, uses Amharic terminology to describe the films he has penned and directed as both ‘yefiker film’ and ‘assikiñ yefiker film’, amongst others, and explains their popularity within the specific cultural and economic conditions of cinema in Ethiopia. With particular reference to the production of the assikiñ yefiker film he explains: Here we call romantic comedy assikiñ yefiker film, and because of the commercial pressures to recoup the cost of making a film, many filmmakers are able to take advantage of the popularity of certain genres. Equally, however, there are people who become constrained by the idea of genres. As well as assikiñ yefiker film being the most popular films in cinemas, they are also the largest in number that fail to be screened. This is also because many unqualified people attempt to make a film and think they can get easy financial rewards, but this is not the case as is evidenced by the statistics given by the Bureau of Culture and Tourism and the number of films that fail to get an exhibition license. Behailu Wassie, interview, 8 March 2016

Despite well-made and socially relevant assikiñ yefiker films proving popular amongst audiences, such as አይራቅ – Ayrak/Don’t be Distant (2014) written by Behailu, the popularity of the genre led to assumptions that the industry could be

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easily breached with any quickly and cheaply made assikiñ yefiker film narrative (Capital Ethiopia 18 February 2013). Rumours concerning the prosperity of popular Ethiopian cinema, particularly those surrounding the perceived low cost/high return of genres such as the assikiñ yefiker film, led to a number of amateurish, low quality and zero production value films being produced that ended in financial failure (Behailu Wassie, interview, 8 March 2016). This is particularly noticeable in the assikiñ yefiker film which has not only saturated the market and garnered the genre trash-status in popular parlances, but also led to the loss of investments by many newcomers to the sector and spread a reputation of poor-quality filmmaking across the Ethiopian film sector as a whole. Tewodros Teshome, who helped to establish the commercial viability of popular Ethiopian cinema and in so doing contributed to the early success of the yefiker film is also well versed in Amharic film genres. This is most evident in the critical acclaim and success achieved by Abay vs Vegas (2010), an amalgamation of nearly every Amharic film genre. In my conversations with Tewodros, when discussing Amharic genres and general filmmaking in Ethiopia he tended to be more dismissive of these facets of popular Ethiopian cinema in line with mainstream discourses. Choosing to speak in a combination of English and Amharic, Tewodros used the terms ‘romance’, ‘yefiker film’ and ‘romantic comedy’ to discuss film genres in Ethiopia describing his own films not in terms of genre but in terms of their social awareness and exceptional contribution to issues relevant to Ethiopian society. In quite the opposite approach to film genres compared to Henok Ayele and Behailu Wassie, Tewodros was generally disparaging of Amharic genres and referred to them as an example of the lowquality filmmaking in Ethiopia compared to his own films (interview, 18 February 2016). Despite acknowledging the elements of genre in his films, however, Tewodros relates their commercial success to the fact that they engage with pressing social issues in Ethiopian society and that they have bigger budgets and production values than other films produced in the domestic film sector (interview, 18 February 2016). Tewodros, therefore, although showing a general awareness of Amharic genres was keen to distance himself and his films from the ‘low brow’ connotations he and many critical cultural commentators in Ethiopia perceive them with (Worku 2005; Capital Ethiopia 2013, February 18). How filmmakers and producers such as Henok, Behailu and Tewodros spoke about genre is largely influenced by their own relationship and

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experiences with film/genre, their position in the domestic Ethiopian film sector and their own perception of the filmmaker’s role in society. Those producers and filmmakers who are major stakeholders in and depend on the commercial potentials of popular Ethiopian cinema for their livelihoods, mention the notion of genre much more than those who have not produced an assikiñ yefiker film, and who are more interested in artistic/critical acclaim and seem to have diversified their work much more through other business ventures. Those filmmakers and producers who have diversified their economic activities in numerous ways, such as Yidnekachew Shumete (interview, 3 March 2016), Sewmehon Yismaw (interview, 26 February 2016), Hermon Hailay (interview, 17 February 2016), Abraham Gezahegn (interview, 2 November 2017), Naod Lemma (interview, 5 March 2016) and Paulos Regassa (interview, 9 February 2016) talk less of genres and are more concerned with the artistic potential and credentials of Ethiopian films as well as their sociocultural impacts. This is also evident with filmmakers who are strongly associated with a particular genre. Both of Yidnekachew Shumete’s films, for example, partake in the conventions of the lib anteltay film (suspense film) but also raise issues of social importance in Ethiopia, however, the notion of genres and their role in popular Ethiopian cinema are not so much of a concern to him. It is the nature of the popular Ethiopian cinema and predominantly, but not exclusively, its commercial pressures and risks that has meant filmmakers concerned more with the artistic credentials of their films have to offset these risks with other sources of revenue such as in the making of television commercials, NGO sponsored documentaries or other ventures outside of film (Paulos Regassa, interview, 9 February 2016). None of the filmmakers mentioned in the above paragraph, for example, have made an assikiñ yefiker film, which is telling of their resistance to the domestic film market and its genre trends.

Genre in the production pipe-line To explore the relationships between funding, production timescales, production practices and genre in popular Ethiopian films and the different production methods associated with certain genres, I draw upon examples

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from within the operations of the Ethiopian film sector. The Ethiopian film sector is difficult to quantify in terms of numbers due its largely informal nature. Apart from the government figures on how many films are granted exhibition licenses until 2018, each commercially run privately-owned cinema maintains separate and independent screening committees who in turn pass films for exhibition in their particular cinema (or chains of cinemas in some instances). These cinemas, however, had a reputation for not monitoring the statistics of film circulation or effectively counting box office receipts so the Film Producers Association intervened centralizing theatrical distributions with their digital distribution technology. Moreover, the informality and uncertain commercial nature that persists in the film sector in Ethiopia is exacerbated by constant rumours about the uneven, unfair and ad-hoc economic conditions of the sector. There are extreme cases at each end of the spectrum with many stories of economic success and failure. The difficulty of interpreting rumours and business practices in the Ethiopian film sector is a challenging task and one which I attempt to distil below with as much corroboration between interviewees and concrete examples as is available. Popular Ethiopian films are highly dependent on genre short-hand in many parts of the production process in order to speed up and make the process more cost efficient. In 2002, one of the first commercially successful Ethiopian films was Tatek Tadesse’s Gudifecha and cost 70,000 ETB or roughly $9,000 to produce according to the exchange rates of the time (interview, 12 March 2016). Since then, film production costs have steadily risen; Alessandro Jedlowski puts the average production value in 2013 between 250,000 ETB and 350,000, which, according to 2013 exchange rates was between roughly $13,000 and $19,000 (2015b: 176). From reports of eighteen film releases in Capital Ethiopia between the end of 2011 and 2013 the average budgets mentioned amounted to 513,000 ETB, varying from 130,000 ETB to 1.2 million ETB; with an average production period of eleven months, from a shortest of three months to longer productions of two years or more also not uncommon (see Capital Ethiopia: 31 October 2011; 8 December 2011; 2 January 2012; 19 April 2012; 22 April 2012; 4 September 2012; 12 September 2012; 24 September 2012; 5 November 2012; 24 December 2012; 31a December 2012; 31b December 2012; 21 January 2013; 4 March 2013; 18 March 2013; 27 March 2013; 27 May 2013; 22 October 2013).

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Most producers themselves are not film professionals and essentially act as financiers who burden filmmakers with all the responsibilities of producing and distributing a film. Their financing often comes with caveats regarding the genre of the film with their main contribution being the purchasing of a screenplay. Screenplays are often heavily edited and reworked by directors and filmmakers can equally approach financiers (producers) to fund their film projects after already finding or developing their own script (Yidnekachew Shumete, interview, 3 March 2016; Behailu Wassie, interview, 8 March 2016). This was the case for Yidnekachew Shumete, with his lib anteltay films, the first of which, Siryet, he acquired the script and persuaded his friend and founder of one of the major video training academies in Ethiopia, Tomas Getachew, to help produce, despite doubts about the financial viability of the film’s genre (Yidnekachew Shumete, interview, 3 March 2016). A similar effort to get Nishan produced was required after Yidnekachew had co-written the script with his wife and star of the film, Bertukan Befkadu (Yidnekachew Shumete, interview, 3 March 2016). A rarer occurrence is Naod Lemma’s experiences with ገዳይ ሲያረፋፍድ – Geday Siyarefafid/When the Killer was Late (2013) which was originally an assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) script that Naod developed, with the consent of the film’s producer, into a rurally set feature telling the story of an unfaithful farmer and his close encounter with a local bandit (see Chapters 5 and 6, Naod Lemma, interview, 5 March 2016). It is perhaps the experiences of Biniyam Tefera, however, part of a younger generation of filmmakers who was trying to break into the film industry in 2016, that better explained the general atmosphere surrounding scriptdevelopment and the early function genre plays in the success of any script being produced. Biniyam explains that the commercial pressures of the industry in recent times have seen producers become more risk-averse, and this has translated into scripts being favoured that tell more conventional stories from which an assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) can be developed (Biniyam Tefera, interview, 11 March 2016). A lack of funding, time, and expertise on behalf of many producers means that genre often works as a normative tool to communicate simple, quick and easy ideas across different crew members in the production process. The role of producing a film (i.e. coordinating preproduction, production, postproduction and marketing of a film) commonly falls on the shoulders of the

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film’s director. The lion’s share of the budget is often ring-fenced to secure the casting of popular actors. Other elements such as sound/music, cinematography, lighting, costume, makeup and set design then suffer from a lack of adequate funding and attention and, therefore, often become normative depending on the genre. As the assikiñ yefiker film is considered the genre with, on average, the lowest production value, it is not uncommon for different films in the genre to share production features in the departments of makeup, lighting, set design and music/sound. Standard production practices of an assikiñ yefiker film are to shoot on location, commonly using vacant offices, condominiums or even mansions (that landlords rent out for a minimal fee or other agreement) and in restaurants, hotels, bars and clubs (featuring in return for sufficient brand exposure), while transitions from one space to another often feature shots from within 4X4s driving along Addis Ababa’s main streets. Makeup is often standard salon makeup and lighting options are limited, with interior shots commonly lit by a single, face-on hard light or for a simple high-key lighting scheme to be used. While blinds or curtains are used to block out natural light in most interior shots, exterior shots are almost always fully lit by natural light apart from night shots which vary in their approach to lighting, if appearing at all. Commercial Amharic films also often exhibit poor sound or music production values, with final sound mixes that contain periods where the sound drops out all together a common occurrence. In an interview with The Reporter, the once-prolific filmmaker Yonas Berhane Mewa mentions that from an audio perspective, ‘arrangers are told the genre of the film and they proceed to do the score without seeing the film or understanding the story’ (cf. Tigebu 2014). Yared Shumete, who has worked on the editing and other postproduction tasks of many successful films adds that as ‘most of the films are owned by producers, sound is not something most of the producers are concerned with [. . .] since they do not think it is necessary there is usually no budget for [sound in] the films’ (cf. Tigebu 2014). Music, however, has become more recognized as crucial for creating suspense. As a result, producing original film scores is a more established normative characteristic of the lib anteltay film production process that are on average afforded much longer production and post-production timescales and

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higher funds. Of Yonas Berhane Mewa’s eleven films, it is only Hermela (2005), Yemoriyam Midir (2008) and እቶን – Eton/Furnace (2009), namely his only films recognisably drawing on lib anteltay film narrative and stylistic conventions, which deploy original scores. Likewise, the normative function of the lib anteltay film impacts on lighting schemes that offer much more chiaroscuro, sets that are often purpose built for the film and more detailed costumes and makeup to characterize a villain or to make injury effects look gorier. The higher-than-average budgets of films in any genre noticeably impact upon their production value and the audio-visual qualities the films display. At the upper end of budgets there are higher production values; for example, Naod Lemma’s Geday Siyarefafid (2013) heavily invested in preproduction: in location-scouting and script development, taking roughly two years to complete the production process. Naod was given the time, money and trust by a first-time film producer from Bahir Dar called Gashew Molla (who became wealthy through marketing and distributing films there) to develop and rework a comedic script into what became a very serious film (Naod Lemma, interview, 5 March 2016). Similarly, Yidnekachew Shumete’s Nishan was a long time in production, coming five years after his critically acclaimed and popular lib anteltay film Siryet (2007) and was written, produced and directed by himself and a couple of trusted partners. The budgets for both these films fell between 500,000 ETB and 700,000 ETB ($25,000 and $35,000) with Nishan also benefitting from some post-production work (such as colour correction) carried out in Germany. In fact, the high costs associated with filming outside of Addis Ababa (in the case of Geday Siyarefafid and other rurally set films) and the more sophisticated audio-visual suspense creating elements of the lib anteltay film often demand a high budget and is usually only attempted by established producers or filmmakers or those with more artistic ambition, willing and able to raise the funds and spend time working more closely with film casts and crews. Funding and expertise, therefore, tends to be the major factor in whether a film follows more normative genre production processes (after considering the average difference in budgets between different genres such as the assikiñ yefiker film and the lib anteltay film) or whether the film is able to push the boundaries of established genre conventions.

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The case of Tewodros ‘Teddy’ Teshome A clearer example of how larger budgets and production values impact on the production processes of Amharic film genres is especially evident in the films of Tewodros Teshome – producer, writer, director, actor, distributer and previous cinema-owner, and one of the most influential early players in the popular Ethiopian cinema. His pioneering Kezkaza Welafen (2002) was followed by the success of ፍቅር ሲፈርድ – Fiker Siferd/When Love is Judged (2005) which also drew on yefiker film (love film) conventions. It was the commercial success of these two yefiker film productions that financed Tewodros’ diversification into the exhibition and distribution sectors in Ethiopia. Alessandro Jedlowski notes how this move later proved integral in maintaining Tewodros’ long-term power in domestic Ethiopian film sector owning ‘the largest number of private cinema halls in Ethiopia, thus playing a particularly influential role in defining the success or failure of a new release within the context of a distribution system that [. . .] gets most of its revenues from theatrical release’ (2016: 181). By 2016 Tewodros was working with seven Sebastopol cinemas in Addis Ababa and another four in Hawassa, Jimma, Mekelle and Bahir Dar but by 2021 these cinemas were all but sold-off, attesting to Tewodros’ entrepreneurial instincts as he invests in ventures outside of film while still acting and assisting with some film productions such as was the case with the 2021 yefiker film ስለመና – Silemenna/About Menna. Tewodros Teshome’s Abay vs Vegas (2010) went beyond the normative production processes associated with Amharic film genres, as it can be seen to be combining generic elements from the yefiker film (love film), lib anteltay film (suspense film) and assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film). Drawing on notions of Ethiopian exceptionalism and explicitly nationalistic in tone, the film was promoted on one of its posters as ‘ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ ሊያየው የሚገባ ሃገርኛ ፊልም በመላው ኢትዮጵያ’ – hulum ityopiyawi liyayew yemigeba hageriña film bemelaw ityopiya (a national film that every Ethiopian should see throughout Ethiopia). Described by Tewodros as the most successful film in Ethiopia and with a reputed budget of around 8 million Ethiopian ETB (approximately $400,000), it was allegedly the most expensive popular Ethiopian film to have been made at the time (interview, 18 February 2016). As a result of the comparatively big budget, the production of Abay vs Vegas was able to bypass

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many of the previously stated constraints common in popular Ethiopian film genres and in doing so also encouraged specific trends across different genres. Of these, perhaps most striking are the efforts afforded to producing and arranging the film’s sound and music. Abay vs Vegas was Sultan Nuri’s first foray into the sound design of films. Sultan has gone onto become one of the few acclaimed sound engineers and film composers in Ethiopia, and he puts his success down to his more detailed, time consuming and costly methods of sitting down with directors to understand the themes of the film before working with the film script and editors in post-production (cf. Tigebu 2014). This practice was later developed by Sultan on other film projects, including in other higher budget assikiñ yefiker film productions such as Henok Ayele’s, ፔንዱለም – Pendulum (2011), released a year later by another leading film producer, Tomas Getachew. Sultan points out that the style of music in popular Ethiopian cinema usually denotes the type of film, explaining how music has become a key marker of genre (cf. Tigebu 2014). Abay vs Vegas can be seen as employing different music associated with different genres, both in staccato sections where the score plays off established lib anteltay film conventions and its use of traditional Ethiopian instruments and style of music was something the film evolved from the soundtrack of Henok Ayele’s pioneering assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), Yewendoch Gudday (2007).1 The time and investment that resulted in the popular and critically celebrated soundtrack of Abay vs Vegas set a normative trend in higher budget films regardless of genre. The film’s huge budget also resulted in the film being shot on a Red One camera (the first professional digital cinema camera permanently based in Ethiopia), with extra money spent on location shooting in America, using American cast and crew (Tewodros Teshome, interview, 18 February 2016). As well as casting Rekik Teshome, an actress associated for her performance in Yewendoch Gudday in a supporting role in Abay vs Vegas, two of the most popular male actors, Girum Ermias and Solomon Bogale also feature in prominent roles, with Solomon playing Negus (meaning ‘king’ in Amharic), the farmer who lives by the Blue Nile (‘Abay’ in Amharic) waterfalls and who ultimately wins the heart of the female protagonist Mena (Blen Mammo). The sophisticated score, star power of these popular actors, billing of being the first Amharic film shot on a Red One camera, promotion as ‘a

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national film’ and novelty of some scenes shot in America all added to the attraction, production value and budget of Abay vs Vegas and influenced future key ingredients in the normative production of the most popular Ethiopian films across the spectrum of genres. The expenses afforded on the film by Tewodros were ultimately rewarded by the film’s runaway popularity in Ethiopia. The production of Abay vs Vegas also had a more lasting impact on film production in general in Ethiopia with particular reference to the trend it set in featuring songs that are specifically written for the film, often emerging in dénouements, lyrically accompanying closing montage sequences.

Film premieres and genre prestige Tewodros Teshome’s Abay vs Vegas offers a further example of how films and their producers attempt to differentiate themselves from normative or popular conceptions of genres in the lavish promotion and premiere of the film. Spending 300,000 ETB ($18,000) on the premiere and promotion of the film, more than the entire budget of an average Amharic film, Tewodros managed to orchestrate an elaborate premiere (which was even aired for one hour on national television) and established a trend for producers attempting to set their films apart from the ‘ “popular” milieu’ of the Amharic film sector (Jedlowski 2016: 184). Such high expenditure on a film’s promotion that also delineates it as something prestigious and patriotic, as referred to on its poster as a ‘national film’ calling on Ethiopians to watch the film as part of their national duty, sets it apart from the norm even if the film itself is heavily embedded within recognisable genre conventions. More mid-to-low range budget films use the less expensive strategy of adding prestige or distinction by employing the term ‘ምርጥ – mirt/best’ and/or ‘አዲስ – addis/new’ in a variety of ways and usually attached to a common Amharic genre. During my research in Ethiopia in 2016, I attended two film premieres of two very different films, the experiences of which are useful to an analysis of how producers deploy film genre parlance when presenting films to ‘VIP’ audiences and their peers. The first premiere was Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch (2016) by Sewmehon Yismaw (see Figure 8.1), a director who has established himself as one of the leading aesthetically minded and experimental

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Figure 8.1 Bertukan Befkadu (left) in the poster for Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch. Source: author’s collection.

filmmakers. Co-founding the production company Sabisa Films with specialist makeup artist Tesfaye Wondimagegn and Tamrat Mekonnen, they were also regarded as a preeminent company for aesthetically accomplished screen content in Ethiopia (be this for beer commercials such as for Habesha or Jano beers or feature film production). Sewmehon’s first film 8:62 (2008) was a self-proclaimed low-budget lib anteltay film that experimented with plot temporality and amplifying suspense through a jarring non-linear narrative. While innovative and attracting the services of lead actor and popular film-star Girum Ermias, 8:62 did not prove to be a hit with local audiences (Sewmehon Yismaw, interview, 26 February

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2016). After this, Sewmehon focused more on his skills as a cinematographer, participating as director of photography for the aforementioned Pendulum (2011), for the successful Ethiopian ‘buddy comedy’ Balageru (2012) and helped pen Yaltasebew (2013) (Sewmehon Yismaw, interview, 2016, February 26). Interestingly 8:62, ዓለሜ – Alemé/My World (2015) and Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch did not achieve the commercial success of the other features he worked on but for Sewmehon this seems of little concern as he manages to make money by directing commercials which in turn fuel his passion for more experimental filmmaking (Sewmehon Yismaw, interview, 2016, February 26). In 2021 his thirst for new forms of filmmaking had led him to direct the tentpole drama on the newly launched Abol Amharic TV channel on DSTV. Sewmehon’s career is less beholden to the genre pressures of popular Ethiopian cinema but just as Tewodros Teshome before him, he still manages to push production techniques. For Sewmehon, then, genre is a secondary tool he uses to experiment with or even subvert, and this in turn gains him due respect among top actors such as Girum Ermias (featuring in 8:62 and Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch), Solomon Bogale (featuring in Alemé and Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch) and Bertukan Befkadu (featuring in Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch) and many of his films go on to influence genre conventions due to their experimentations and acclaim they achieve amongst other Ethiopian-based film professionals. Of note, during the premiere of Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch, one of the producers introduced the film as the first Ethiopian ‘road movie’, a term he used in English but which never appeared in the film’s marketing. Although featuring a journey in the Ethiopian countryside, the film’s narrative revolves around a love triangle between the three protagonists, a husband, wife and her first love as the men suspect each other of seeking vengeance out of jealousy. Using the English term ‘road movie’ while introducing the film to fellow practitioners and invited guests at its premiere can be read more as highlighting the experimental credentials of Sewmehon and the film to a select audience, whereas, upon the film’s general release, in Alem Cinema, for example it was listed as a ድራማ – ‘drama’. Just by observing how a film’s genre can change when it is marketed at its premiere and upon general release in cinemas shows how genre definitions can change depending upon who is the producer’s target audience. A select audience at a premier of cinephiles and fellow film

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practitioners are also more likely to understand a foreign genre term such as ‘road movie’ which will not be clearly understood by the general public. The use of genre terminology in the second premiere I attended in 2016, Naod Gashew’s አትውደድ አትውለድ – Atwided Atwilid/Don’t Fall In Love, Don’t Give Birth (2016) was used in a similar way to that of Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch’s premiere but to achieve a different effect. There were considerable expectations drummed up by the producers and director before the film’s release as rumours abounded amongst film professionals that tipped Atwided Atwilid as a gamechanger for the genre system in the Ethiopian film sector (personal communication). This can be read clearly in the film’s title telling us to ‘not love’ which directly disassociates itself from any of the attested ubiquitous variations of ‘fiker’ in popular Ethiopian cinema. Before its screening, the film was introduced on stage as a ‘suspense drama comedy’ and throughout the screening there was bemusement and confusion but also scenes when the whole auditorium shook with laughter as an audience member behind me exclaimed in Amharic ‘this certainly is not a yefiker film’. So, instead of Atwided Atwilid’s producers using genre appellations to highlight the film’s artistic credentials as with Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch, the broad amalgamation of ‘suspense drama comedy’ was used to separate the film from the established genres by explicitly pitting it against the dominant fiker genres. Whereas the production value and processes of Atwided Atwilid clearly work within the established system of Amharic film genres, the attempt to define Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch as a ‘road movie’ is an attempt to separate it from the commercially oriented system of Amharic genres altogether. While Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch, with its higher production values and more sophisticated aesthetic organization, was no blockbuster, Atwided Atwilid made much more of an impact on the Amharic film sector, even being nominated for best film in the Gumma Film Awards that year. Unlike the normative use of genre in different stages of a film’s production, producers often use film premieres to gain more exposure for their film and they often attempt to outshine more standard genre conceptions to heighten anticipation and excitement. Premieres also function as a way of professionalizing the industry as similarly noted in Ghana by Carmela Garritano (2013), through which producers and filmmakers demonstrate their credentials by employing new or enhanced genre definitions. In the case of

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Atwided Atwilid’s premiere, however, such occasions can also work to reinforce accusations of amateurism associated with the industry as was evidenced in the lengthy delay to the start of the film and the pixilation and data corruption that paused the film’s projection half-way through the screening. Genre, as used by producers can be both normative and progressive with a distinction between socially/artistically minded filmmakers (progressive) and those focused more on entrepreneurial intentions or tighter budget constraints (normative).

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Every so often, when I dropped my ‘film critique’ mode, I was amazed to hear intermittent clapping and laughter at what I thought was a poor delivery from an actor or an over-dramatic expression when it was not necessary. The audience was fully engaged in the film and was actually enjoying it! As the final credits rolled, the entire auditorium rang with the audience’s clapping, followed by a long standing ovation. On the way out of the theatre several acquaintances stopped me and commented: ‘Wasn’t that a great film?’ Either I was missing something here or the audience is, were re-occurring thoughts in my head. [. . .] why is the audience overlooking mediocrity? Lucy Gebre-Egziabher (2006) This chapter explores the perception of genre in popular Ethiopian cinema from an audience and cinemagoing perspective. When discussing domestic Ethiopian audiences, and throughout this book, I have deliberately used the most common terms to describe Amharic film genres and it is important to note the prevalence of the Amharic lexicon particularly with reference to terms such as fiker (love), assikiñ (humorous), lib anteltay (suspense) and beteseb (family). It is clear, however, that many of these terms and their various anglicized guises borrow from more global genre categories, often emanating from America. So, while recognizing the influences on the Ethiopian system of genres – particularly from Hollywood, Bollywood and the romantic comedy, for example – the assikiñ yefiker film, along with all the other Amharic film genres, are made primarily for a domestic Ethiopian audience. By design, films that share in the conventions of Amharic film genres, therefore, have more impact in Ethiopia than, say, an Ethiopian ‘festival’ film made for an international film festival audience. For this reason, the assikiñ yefiker film, or romantic comedies 205

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made in Amharic, have an alternative genre formula, both influenced by and at the same time drastically different from Hollywood-type romantic comedies (see Chapter 4). The emergence of Amharic film genres consumed by Ethiopian audiences in turn demonstrates the cultural and linguistic localization of genres.

Consuming the global Cinema and film genres are thoroughly transnational at the same time as developing distinct local iterations (see Grant and Kuhn 2006; Moine [2002] 2008; Altman 1999; Haynes 2016; Oliete-Aldea, Oria and Tarancón 2016). The idea of syncretism, the merging of cultures, has been successfully argued by Karin Barber (2003) with reference to popular cultures across the African continent. This syncretism is also most pronounced in cinema and although films may be perceived as engaging with the reification of national cultures and identities, the aesthetic and narrative conventions of cinema have broadly evolved within the formulaic practices of film genres (Altman 1999; Crosson 2013). Amharic film genres, for example, have been forged in a supranational sphere punctuated more often than not with universal notions of romance and entertainment. This book’s major aim has been to understand the dominant presence of yefiker films in popular Ethiopian cinema and the near ubiquitous presence of fiker can be used as an example of how seemingly ‘global’ genres and notions engage both in transnational romantic narratives and respond to specific local sociocultural epistemologies. Indeed, the idea of transnationalism cannot be easily ignored and is an ever-increasing experience of contemporary life. With regards to cinema, the transnational has been discussed in terms of infiltrating national industries and impacting upon production, distribution and reception. Miriam Hansen’s (1991, 1999) often cited works describing classical Hollywood cinema as vernacular modernity, for example, explains that Hollywood films could ‘be understood by a mass audience regardless of individual cultural or ethnic background and of site and mode of exhibition’ (1991: 138). Ethiopia, however, can be cited here as an example of a film sector relatively nationalistic in its political economy while relationships with outside forces, other than the Ethiopian diaspora, appear infrequently and are seen as marginal.

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Transnationalism appears more significantly in the cross-fertilization of content and particularly in the deployment of a melodramatic mode in popular Ethiopian films and influences from Bollywood and Hollywood. As is the case with popular Ethiopian films and their contexts of production, the theoretical influences of this study enable Ethiopian experiences of film to be integrated within broader debates concerning film studies and overlapping fields of study. So, while influences on filmmakers may be foreign, the spectators are very much imagined as placed within a broader Ethiopian cultural sphere and that is what makes all the difference as the economy of the Ethiopian film sector hinges on audience attendance in domestic cinemas. Imagine, for example, an Ethiopian director deciding to make a romantic comedy targeted at audiences around the world rather than just in Ethiopia. Then the genre of the assikiñ yefiker film or ‘romantic comedy’ would be handled very differently compared to the handling if an Ethiopian audience only is imagined. Although there have been some filmmakers from the Amharic film industry whose films have secured participation in international film festivals around the world, such as የነገን አልወልድም – Yenegen Alweldim/I Will Not Be Born Tomorrow (2016), የፍቅር ዋጋው – Yefiker Wagaw/Price of Love (2015) and Nishan (2013), none of them are romantic comedies or assikiñ yefiker film and none of them performed as commercially well as expected in Ethiopia (Yidnekachew Shumete, interview, 3 March 2016; Hermon Hailay, interview, 17 February 2016; Abraham Gezahegn, interview, 2 November 2017). Comedies that rely on dialogue rather than performance/choreography for their humour, such as in the joke fuelled dialogue common in the assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film), almost always perform best to native speakers of the language spoken in the film (and even more so to those familiar with any specific dialects, colloquialisms or regional/cultural specific references). It could be argued that in the process of their localization, genres lose their transnationality in exchange for a ‘cultural formula that is ideologically and temporally specific’ (Moine [2002] 2008: 184) differentiating themselves from more transnational and global industries such as Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood. An interesting example to explore here is the circulation of Amharic ‘festival’ films and their theatrical releases in Ethiopia. Compared to popular Ethiopian cinema, these films are consistently greeted with a cold reception by most Ethiopian cinemagoers. Following the theatrical release of the internationally

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acclaimed Lamb (2015), which was the first Amharic feature to be officially selected in competition at Cannes, Ethiopian audiences responded ambivalently at best (Naod Lemma, interview, 5 March 2016). This ambivalence is shown in the weak box office receipts the film garnered (reflecting the previous year’s performance of Difret [2014]) but is also evident in audiences referring to this fictional film as a ‘documentary’ (Naod Lemma, interview, 5 March 2016). In fact, after further discussion on the subject of what ‘documentary’ means in its Amharic usage (and in the context of popular cinema in Ethiopia) it emerges that the term is used by some cinemagoers and some producers to describe a film which is aesthetically accomplished but lacks the narrative energy, and crucially the melodrama, of the popular domestic films familiar to Ethiopian audiences (Biniyam Tefera, interview, 11 March 2016). In effect, then, ‘documentary’ in the Amharic lexicon can be understood to define festival films which screen in Ethiopia and that lack the specific Ethiopian-style melodrama and energy identifiable across the genres of popular Ethiopian cinema. It could be argued that it is the very centrality of the Amharic system of genres in the Ethiopian cinematic landscape, dominated by the yefiker film and assikiñ yefiker film, which transforms the understanding and definition of a fictional ‘festival’ film into a ‘documentary’ for some cinemagoing audiences in Ethiopia.

Who are Ethiopia’s cinemagoers and why the cinema? Before going into more detail about specific audience responses to questions about popular Ethiopian films and conceptions of Amharic film genres that I put to audiences queuing outside Cinema Empire (Piassa, Addis Ababa) in a small yet consequential bit of audience orientated research, a brief scholarly reasoning and rough demographics of Ethiopian cinemagoers and audiences is necessary to focus this section. As I have made clear throughout this book, one of my priorities is in attempting a greater move towards a cultural turn in film studies. Mainstream film studies, however, has a ‘tradition of prioritizing the status of the text abstracted from the viewing context’ (Morley 1992: 158). Instead of considering audiences in sociocultural context, the audience was often positioned as an imaginary and often unitary construct that legitimized the study of popular films. This assumption led to alternative and multiple

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interpretations of a film’s text being overlooked. David Morley’s (1980) research into television audiences showed that interpretation of a text was considerably affected by specific contexts of viewing. Unlike Richard Maltby’s (1999) fascinating analysis of film industry materials that sought to understand audience preferences as ‘a means through which Hollywood could negotiate the generic organisation of its products’, in conducting my audience-orientated research I am concerned with Ethiopian cinemagoers’ own accounts of their relationship to popular Ethiopian cinema and Amharic film genres. As the economic viability of the Ethiopian film sector is underpinned by theatrical releases and as most cinemas are based in Addis Ababa, popular Ethiopian cinema is very much directed towards urban Addis Ababa based cinemagoers. Each cinema imbues its own atmosphere and is often located in a commercial district, at meeting points and/or minibus termini and often attract clientele from their local communities or neighbourhoods. At the weekends and in more popular evening performances, the larger and cheaper government-owned cinemas (particularly the Ambassador Theatre, notorious as a pick-pocket hot-spot) provide an experience not too dissimilar from Brian Larkin’s account of cinemagoing in Northern Nigeria as ‘[. . .] shouting, and thumping chairs, the cinema-goer’s experience of the theatre itself can be as melodramatic as that of the films it screens’ (2008: 153). In terms of demographics, in my small study there was a relatively even balance of men and women who attend cinemas, and unlike Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo churches or mosques that segregate worshippers according to gender, mixing in the cinema is considered the norm. Unlike in Larkin’s description of women attending cinemas in Kano considered as ‘karuwai (prostitutes)’ (2008: 147), a popular Amharic anecdote in fact paints the cinema as a more female space as it explains that while men watch the English Premier League (football), women go to the cinema. However, in my experience and in the small sample of roughly fifty responses of queueing cinemagoers, I gathered there is no telling divide, and nearly all cinemagoers were in their twenties or thirties. Most of the respondents were with friends of the same gender but there were also a few male/female couples and a few who attended unaccompanied. Most respondents said they were students based in Addis Ababa but there were a few who were from outside the capital and visiting friends or family. The Alem Cinema provided me with similar figures

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that placed 60 per cent of its audiences as women and between the ages of twenty and forty years old (Kebede Mesfin, interview, 4 March 2016). Speaking to cinemagoers queueing outside the government-owned Cinema Empire during my PhD research in 2016, although only managing to gain a small sample of respondents, it is striking how genre plays a secondary role in their decision making to that of being entertained. Most respondents said they decided to go to the cinema based on timings that fit with when they had time off from work or studies, so watching a particular film was ‘ባጋጣሚ – bagatami/ by chance’ but the choice to go to the cinema to see an Amharic film is also conditioned by the genres that they expect to see. Generally, at the time of research, each cinema had four screening times per day (around 2 pm, 4 pm, 6 pm and 8 pm) with only the Alem Cinema providing free monthly cinema programmes with detailed information about what films were to be screened in each of the daily slots. Other cinemas use daily or weekly schedules that display film posters under their respective screening times or attach screening time information (usually on a standard A4 piece of paper) to the film posters themselves (see Figures 3.2, 4.1 and 9.1). The success of films therefore strongly depends on when they are shown, with privately-owned cinemas offering little transparency as to how films are allocated the most popular screening slots. Importantly, people study the posters of the films they are attending in the queues that form outside cinemas prior to screenings, meaning that posters play another key role in communicating genre and conditioning audiences’ generic expectations immediately before they enter the auditorium (see Figure 9.1). For the cinemagoers I interviewed in Addis Ababa, cinemas represent a separate social space for friends and couples to spend leisure time together. It is the social experience of going to the cinema, rather than going to see a specific film, that was important to these cinemagoers. The second most common reason for attending a screening, other than for filling free time with the social experience of cinemagoing and the entertainment it offered, was the desire to watch a film from Ethiopia with a story to which they could relate. Also mentioned by most cinemagoers was the fact that they wanted to laugh. Genre terms used to describe their preferences ranged from Amharic terms such as yefiker film (love film) or even assaziñ film (tragic film) (by one respondent) to many respondents using anglicized terms such as comedy, romantic comedy, romance and suspense. Other frequent opinions voiced by

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Figure 9.1 A queue outside the Cinema Empire in 2013. The film screening time is on an A4 piece of paper attached to the film poster. Source and copyright: photo by Adriano Marzi.

cinemagoers mentioned negative stances on the repetitive nature of the stories told in films; a desire to be entertained and to learn about issues of fiker. Despite criticizing the repetitive nature of films many respondents also cited that wanting to laugh and the attraction of certain actors were major factors for going to the cinema in general. As the business of privately-owned cinema exhibition in many cases still remains informal and open to manipulation with many more films produced than can be shown in the limited number of big screens, producers also explore other form of distribution and exhibition in order to get their films seen. More recently there has become a trend of uploading zero-budget films straight to YouTube but during my research in 2016 the distribution of films on VCD/ DVD was still widespread. As VCD jackets often consisted of a reformatted version of the film’s poster, the visual paratextual information they communicated concerning genre was equally as significant. Perhaps the longer running and concurrent promotional phenomenon are the flyers (A5 or smaller versions of a film’s poster) spread across town when a new film is released, which unlike the disappearance of VCDs, was still a promotional

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strategy in 2021 with a makeshift shrine dedicated to these flyers preserved in the foyer of Cinema Ethiopia (see Figure 7.1). Although VCDs are no longer a common sight on the streets of Addis, in 2016 they were commonly sold by street vendors, small kiosk owners (see Figure 9.2) or hawkers who offered their own recommendations to prospective buyers. VCDs have now been usurped by USB memory sticks containing multiple digitally copied films but genre still plays a role here as a selling strategy used to ascertain the taste of customers wanting to watch a film at home. In 2016, most VCD consumers would frequent the same local vendor as it was important for sellers to secure the trust and confidence of their clients to avoid accusations of piracy (Kidus, interview, 3 March 2016). The difference between home-video consumers and cinemagoers, therefore, is quite dramatic. While the central selling point for VCDs was built around a film’s poster (reformatted as the VCD jacket) and recommendations were made by vendors from a choice of twenty or more other films, cinemagoers have far less prior concern and choice about what particular film they are attending. It becomes apparent, then, that while cinemas are selling a social experience to audiences looking to be entertained, home-video consumers seem more interested in the

Figure 9.2 A small shop renting and selling films on VCD/DVD. Source and copyright: photo by Adriano Marzi.

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film itself. Compared with cinema exhibition, and due to piracy, VCD and online distribution presents a less desirable commercial model to film producers but for consumers smaller screen options offers a more contentoriented approach with genre, in the form of posters and word-of-mouth recommendations, playing a prominent role.

Structuring free time and an education of fiker In Daniel Mains’ (2012) insightful people-oriented research looking into the lives of young men in Jimma in the early 2000s, he discusses the important role popular Ethiopian films play in the lives of his interlocutors. Asking his respondents to complete a daily diary and reflect on their activities, the prominence of watching films is striking. Mains describes how films provide a time-filler for unemployed or underemployed youth in Ethiopia to escape and imagine a more hopeful future through an engagement with film narratives. The role of popular Ethiopian films that target the domestic Ethiopian market are explained as offering ‘an exaggerated depiction of issues concerning love and money that young men may discuss and reflect on’ (Mains 2012: 52). The issue of fiker in contemporary Ethiopia becomes the topic of the lessons that popular Ethiopian cinema teach. As alluded to in the discussion of the yefiker film and assikiñ yefiker film in particular (see Chapters 3 and 4), it is also true for Mains’ group of male respondents that watching films led them to ‘evaluating the meaning of love through the consumption of film’ (2012: 54). The particular dialectics between love and money are of central concern for many domestic film consumers of popular Ethiopian films as a fiker that is true and not reliant on material exchange is often posited as the singular ideal in all of love’s sociocultural iterations in the country. In my own discussions with cinemagoers, the importance of learning about love and the changing gender culture in modern, urban Ethiopian society becomes the more central concern of male and female respondents with many yefiker films featuring female protagonists and projecting a female point of view through which female audiences can more easily identify and many assikiñ yefiker films offering a male counterpoint. The process of imagination facilitated by popular Ethiopian cinema is, however, understood to have roots

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in religion, so acknowledging a specific Ethiopian cultural and melodramatic imagination is also important here to understanding the appeal of Amharic genres to domestic audiences and how popular Ethiopian films condition gender representations. Mains makes this relevant observation regarding the ideological nature of popular Ethiopian films and is worth quoting at length here: In a context in which ideals of wealth and marriage were clearly unattainable for most young men, Ethiopian films provided stories in which different possibilities could be explored. These stories were particularly compelling, partially because they were told in Amharic and partially because they dealt with locally relevant issues such as HIV and religion. The escape from time associated with film was important, but so was the construction of narratives that enabled youth to think through an uncertain future. Youth interacted with films to imagine other possibilities and worlds. It was not that films created a false belief among young men that bridged the gap between their aspirations and economic realities. The process of imagination allowed young men to contemplate this gap in a way that did not necessarily imply success or failure. Mains 2012: 54

In this description of audience reception of Ethiopian films amongst young men, the ideological stance genres take with regards to love and money (‘wealth and marriage’) activates complex and often ambivalent responses from audiences who are forced to engage with their own social realities and anxieties at the same time as enjoying seeing their desires projected on screen. What is clear, however, is that the act of watching Ethiopian films for many people is an act of self-reflection and engagement with future aspirations. Popular Ethiopian cinema, therefore, can be seen to offer sanctuaries and imaginariums for people to learn and dream about fiker. Viewers identify with characters and learn from their actions to connect their own lived experiences to more hopeful futures envisaged through the moral and just conclusions of Ethiopian films. This need for locally popular cinemas around the world to offer selfrepresentation which connects with the experiences of domestic audiences brings us full-circle, returning to the reasons why I ended up watching an Amharic-language film in an Ethiopian cinema in the first place, because I was in love and went to see what she wanted to see.

Conclusion: Of fiker and film

Identity is not as transparent or unproblematic as we think. Perhaps, instead of thinking of identity as an already accomplished historical fact, which the new cinematic discourses then represent, we should think, instead, of identity as a ‘production,’ which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation. Stuart Hall (1996: 210) My approach to popular Ethiopian cinema and Amharic film genres has been inductive in nature. From the beginning, I position my own personal experiences in relation to my topic of study to highlight the contours of my research epistemology and methods that have enabled meaningful insights into popular Ethiopian cinema. I do not shoehorn local productions into already existing film genre categories, many of which are grounded in American and European experiences of cinema, but instead attempt to develop a bottom-up cultural and historical understanding of how specific genre categories emerged in the Ethiopian context with an eye on their hybridity and fluidity. I have not been able to meet and speak to every filmmaker, producer or all those engaged in the Ethiopian film sector, and in my analysis of films I have centred my attention on films that have come up in my discussions with the many people I have been fortunate enough to meet and interview, and which have been accessible to me. Likewise, I have not attempted to discuss every important Ethiopian film, but instead to trace the parameters, associated aesthetic conventions, narrative plots, historical eminence and social values to help position Amharic film genres as a productive tool for comprehending popular Ethiopian cinema. My aim, therefore, has been to historicize Amharic film genres through a serious and systematic consideration of popular Ethiopian films.

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Starting from the early days of film exhibition in Ethiopia, notions of love and the cinema (fiker and film) have gone hand-in-hand. Emperor Menelik II was reportedly a cinephile who used cinema as a way of driving his administration’s modernizing ambitions while addressing its negative perception by some members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian clergy by showing visions of Jesus walking on water. As the historical overview in the first part of the book mapped out, cinema occupies a complex and unsettled position within the Ethiopian social and cultural imagination. The numerous regimes that have governed the country from the late nineteenth century up until the present have all been wary of the power of cinema. In Ethiopia, as in most countries throughout the world, the debate concerning the position of cinema in society and its role in the country’s culture has been highly contested since cinematic technology was introduced under Menelik II. Alternate regimes have presided over differing strategies concerning the control of cinema, ranging from heavy state intervention and strict censorship (as during the Italian occupation and Derg periods) to more nuanced contemporary relationships to cinema. Privately-owned cinemas were quickly established when popular Ethiopian films became commercially viable in 2002. While Ethiopian cinemas mainly screen these popular films for its domestic audiences, access to Hollywood and Bollywood productions did not disappear overnight and indeed foreign films are still readily available through satellite television and through hawkers selling pirated versions on the street. It is, however, difficult to ascertain the full extent of how foreign films influence the Ethiopian context and so are drawn upon as comparative segues where relevant in this book. Many popular filmmakers echo director and scriptwriter Behailu Wassie’s words when he explains: ‘when I watch Hollywood films I am not surprised by their ideas, but what amazes me is that they make the film into a puzzle with many complex narrative strands. It shows how far they are going, and some youngsters aspire to make films like [Martin] Scorsese or [Quentin] Tarantino and I respect this, but mine are simple in structure and aim to communicate a clear message’ (Behailu Wassie, interview, 8 March 2016). Conversely, other filmmakers such as Henok Ayele (interview, 11 February 2016) and Yidnekachew Shumete (interview, 3 March 2016) cite Hollywood films, and to a lesser extent Bollywood films (for example Michael Million (interview, 15 February 2016))

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as sources of inspiration and contributing factors for their involvement in the film sector. This broad mapping of film exhibition in Ethiopia, mainly focused in Addis Ababa, has attempted to better understand the types of films that have circulated within Ethiopia, attracting generations of Ethiopian cinemagoers and inspiring contemporary Ethiopian filmmakers. With Addis Ababa at the centre of popular cinema in Ethiopia, cinema-theatres have often borne the brunt (and occasionally, the fruit) of political, sociocultural and economic shifts the city has experienced over the past century. Unlike in the common Euro-American trajectories of cinema emerging through commercial structures, the commercialization of local film production in Ethiopia has only recently flourished. Instead, cinema (and in more general terms, media) has typically been valued by the state for propaganda purposes (Reta 2013; Gagliardone 2011; Gartley 1997), further limiting the space for filmmakers to experiment. It is clear, however, that in the few features that were made by Ethiopian filmmakers prior to the onset of digital-video technologies, that they maintained a level of creative autonomy enabling them to imaginatively engage with issues that still resonate with contemporary Ethiopian life. The thematic centrality of fiker germinated early on in these films and as exemplified in the analysis of Hirut Abatwa Mannew? (1964) in Chapter 2, a film that can be regarded as perhaps the earliest example of a feature film made in an indigenous African language. Distinctions between genres are subject to constant debate and (re) negotiation as the domestic market for Ethiopian screen worlds proliferates. Throughout the book, I have paid particular attention to how important the term fiker has been in the formation of Amharic film genres at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum and how Ethiopian film producers and consumers engage with the term and its genre associations. An active engagement with an Ethiopian cultural imagination schematized through a melodramatic mode guides core thematic, stylistic and narrative tendencies in films. These trends can also be ascertained from recurring narrative structures and aesthetic choices that characterize popular Ethiopian cinema, influencing the whole system of Amharic film genres. The early yefiker films – such as Kezkaza Welafen (2002) and Gudifecha (2002) – displayed key narrative and thematic melodramatic prototypes in how they engaged, particularly with romantic notions of fiker that characterize

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this key genre. In turn, as the commercial success of the yefiker film gave rise to a commercial film sector, it also allowed for the development of a system of Amharic genres to be founded upon an intrinsically Ethiopian-style melodrama suffuse with competing concepts of fiker. It is this specific instance of melodrama, embedded within the dramatic mode of commercially successful Ethiopian films, which becomes the catalyst through which genres are fused and emerge in relation to one another. While the yefiker film seems to be a distillation of an Ethiopian cultural and melodramatic imagination that has emerged in response to the demand for – and commercial potential of – Ethiopian films, the assikiñ yefiker film may be seen more as an ‘Ethiopianized’ romantic comedy. It may be surprising, therefore, for some students of Hollywood, where ‘Romantic comedies portray the changing status of women in modern times’ (Grindon 2011: 4) to find that the Ethiopian equivalent deals more with the changing conceptions of masculinity in contemporary Ethiopia. It also becomes clear here that genre systems and genres themselves have multiple interpretations and forms, organized vis-à-vis a logic inherent within a particular cinematic context in which foreign (English in this case) normality and academic critical assertions should be questioned. Instead of universalizing genre definitions from the classic Hollywood model, it is necessary to investigate the very manifestation, role and purpose of cinematic genres in each locale, leading to more refined and less restrictive understandings of genre in cinema. Indeed, to apprehend the very concept of ‘genre’ or ‘a film’s type’ it is necessary to explore the origins of genre systems (both local and foreign sources), their ideological and social purposes, as well as their cinematic credentials. In the Ethiopian case, the interaction between the melodramatic, the comedic and romance (more precisely fiker) have emerged as the most popular genres, as represented in the yefiker film and the assikiñ yefiker film. Both accented by their participation within Ethiopian melodramatic styles, the yefiker film and assikiñ yefiker film can be read as embodying the two core principles anticipated by audiences and filmmakers in popular Ethiopian cinema, balancing entertainment with spiritual and moral guidance, providing both nourishment for the body and the soul (Behailu Wassie, interview, 8 March 2016). Whereas the story world of the yefiker film is characterized by the restrictions and obstacles concocted by the dangers of malign fate, social

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inequality and hierarchical power, the assikiñ yefiker film offers a safe passage through these same obstacles for its protagonists where quick wittedness, playfulness and benevolent goodwill help overcome differences which in the yefiker film (love film) are only resolved after threats, pain and/or suffering have run their course. Since the early 2010s, comedic elements have also become more commonly deployed across the system of Amharic film genres to provide occasional relief in what are fundamentally still endlessly melodramatic Ethiopian screen worlds that provide solace and instruction relating to the lived experiences of Ethiopian audiences. What becomes clear from the analysis in the section of the book devoted to analysing films, is that there are four broad Amharic film genres: yefiker film (love film); assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film); lib anteltay film (suspense film) and yebeteseb film (family film). The assikiñ film (humorous film) and action film are two possible ancillary genres but I see them more as terms that denote either comedy (assikiñ film) or Kung-Fu action sequences (action film). The early dominance of the yefiker film and proceeding success of the assikiñ yefiker film meant that these two closely related categories quickly became distinguishable due to the number of films of each genre being produced and screened. The term assikiñ or comedy, although also often coupled with terms such as the yebeteseb film (family film) and lib anteltay film (suspense film), are much less common compared to the assikiñ yefiker film and so it is difficult to make more formal distinctions. Even more difficult is the broadly defined lib anteltay film as it denotes a film’s inclination towards a suspenseful and thrilling narrative. Whereas the term is often coupled with fiker, denoting a common strand as the lib anteltay yefiker film, it also accompanies lesser used terms which are regarded as standalone genres in mainstream scholarship resulting in its umbrella usage to define action, science fiction, thrillers, film-noir, crime dramas or even comedic parodies of any of these. The discussion of the above genres and analysis of a selection of films attached to the different terms is indicative of the critical appraisal and the commercial or popular success these films have achieved in Ethiopia. This approach engages with the genre terms used in cinema listings and in film promotions to understand how films can be understood as belonging to specific genres in the specific context of filmmaking and consumption in Ethiopia. The terms may seem to be arbitrarily attached to films that do not

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always conform to a particular genre but there do seem to be broader formal and particular emotional similarities shared within the specific genres. The contestation of different concepts of fiker; both romantic, familial, patriotic and spiritual are organized into affective genres that employ an Ethiopian-style melodrama conditioned by and suited to the industrial structures of popular Ethiopian cinema. As fiker remains the dominant theme that colours the Ethiopian cultural imagination, the genres also employ other dramatic modes of address such as melodrama, comedy, tragedy and suspense that affect how the ambivalences of this fiker are translated into felt emotions amongst audiences. Genres such as Rod Stoneman’s ‘village films’ and the spectrum of Nollywood genres that Haynes describes as ‘often defined by their setting’ (2016: xxvi) do not appear in Amharic commercial cinema where genres are more clearly defined by their affective power and emotional tones. At the heart of the lib anteltay film (suspense film) are emotional impulses that are designed to shock and thrill, featuring violence (or even just the constant threat of violence) always justly resolved with overtones of social progress for Ethiopians. Such emotive nationalist Ethiopian overtones feed into the constant reimagining and reworking of the hegemonic national narrative that is constantly challenged by sociocultural and political forces inside and outside the country. These fictions feed off and give new meaning to modern abstractions of Ethiopian nationalism such as maintained through the patriotic national holidays that celebrate the victory of the battle of Adwa over Italian colonial forces, the continual references that honour jegena/heroes or patriots and the nationalist and spiritual sentiments of fiker maintained through the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Such nationalist abstractions or reifications are common features throughout popular cinema cultures across the world as evidenced by Haynes (2016) and Vasudevan (2011) with regards to Nollywood and Bollywood respectively, and almost ubiquitous in American genre films (Crosson 2013). With such strong emotions of attachment and love towards a national identity it is of little surprise that a commercial film sector has emerged to continue the production of national fictions and hegemony through the medium of cinema and that the lib anteltay film, in particular, has become key player in these narratives. The yebeteseb film (family film) as a genre can conceivably entertain all the elements associated with other Amharic film genres, epitomizing the hybridity

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of Amharic film genres. The yebeteseb film is a particularly good example of the instability of Amharic film genre conventions and associations. The genre reacts to socio-political events such as national tragedies, using the family as an allegory for the Ethiopian nation or the genre may alternatively flourish on the back of a popular child stars such as Eyob Dawit. The yebeteseb film can accommodate notions of romantic fiker while championing societal issues that affect Ethiopian families in a myriad of perfect and imperfect forms with the fiker and respect of family featuring most prominently in films’ moralizing dénouements. Popular cinemas around the world can be regarded as expressions and ‘practices of the self ’ (Mbembe 2002) through which individuals find connections and similarities with their own life experiences and narratives of personal identity. Cultural and national markers of identity are activated within personal imaginations as local films engage with global forces. Carmela Garritano details how popular Ghanaian films mobilize a dialectical imagination caught between the moral register of religion and the capitalist, immoral register of consumerism (2013: 198). In the case of Amharic films, similar registers are certainly at play between love and money. I have argued that it is specifically through the engagement with an Ethiopian cultural imagination and melodrama that emotional registers are activated and through which notions of fiker (romantic, familial, spiritual and patriotic) compete. It is in the emergence of the system of Amharic film genres characterized by this mode of dramatic expression that melodrama affects Amharic cinema with genres roughly characterized and delineated along boundaries of emotional expectations in relation to fiker. I hope these findings inspire similar explorations of how the melodramatic mode activates and organizes deep emotional sensibilities in other cultures. For future studies this research can perhaps act as a springboard, particularly into what I see as two somewhat distinct yet interrelated phenomena:1 the ever-expanding catalogue of film festival films made (in the most part but not exclusively) by members of the Ethiopian diaspora; and filmmaking in other languages spoken in Ethiopia such as Oromo, Tigrinya and Somali. Both present interesting examples of filmmakers and films bridging apparent divides in artistic quality, cultural specificity and popularity (M.W. Thomas, Jedlowski and Ashagrie 2018). Sophisticated theories of genre, such as Altman’s (1984, 1986, 1999) semantic-syntactic approach based on historical accounts of processes of

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gentrification, are difficult to apply in such a young, informally structured and rapidly changing film context such as what Ethiopia presents. The structuring of semantics into a stable and specific syntax remains fluid and porous as has been evidenced in the analysis of influential films within each Amharic film genre (see Chapters 2, 4, 5 and 6). In the case of popular Ethiopian cinema and as exemplified with the distinction between the yefiker film (love film) and assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) because they share a great deal of semantic qualities, such as in their common application of the term fiker in naming genres and the need to be commercially viable, they seem less distinguishable through textual analysis alone. Here it is appropriate to balance Altman’s more strict approach to textual analysis with an analysis of these texts in relation to their contexts of production and reception. To properly accommodate the environment in which Amharic genres have developed and in which they continue to proliferate, the analysis of Amharic film genres and their constituent films has demanded a less prescriptive and more exploratory approach than prior genre theories. This book, therefore, hopefully represents a furthering of important research in film studies that puts culture at the centre of investigations into popular local cinemas. The Ethiopian case study offers experiences of a locally popular and commercially orientated film sector (in an indigenous language) whose industrial organization and films deserve to be valued as a distinct and powerful form of cultural production which attracts not only urban Addis Ababa cinemagoers but millions of viewers through online platforms such as YouTube. Furthermore, the historical approach of the book offers a scaffold through which popular cinema in Ethiopia has been organized. I have constructed this history through primary and secondary information from sources available to me and I have no doubt that other researchers, and particularly Ethiopian colleagues, can detail more nuanced, in-depth histories of cinema in Ethiopia from multiple perspectives. A prime example here, and it is important to state again, is to detail the work on filmmaking in other languages such as Oromo, Tigrinya and Somali and how they relate to the more centralized position of popular Ethiopian cinema that uses Amharic as its language of expression. Similarly, the opening of scholarship to engage with other screen media production in Ethiopia, such as the proliferation of Ethiopian television stations that emerged in 2016, needs to be encouraged

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and done in a way that reflects the integration of the Ethiopian film sector and many of its key stakeholders in the production of television content. Confronted with the new opportunities that are posed by television and other screen media, many film professionals speak of the demise of popular Ethiopian cinema (Paulos Regassa, interview, 9 February 2016). At the same time, others see television as providing a more stable income and cinema as an outlet for more artistic possibilities, particularly as the long-awaited government film policy, released in 2017, holds the promise of many new opportunities and developments with regards to cinema. We shall see. Whatever future organizational and structural adjustments are made to cinema in Ethiopia, there is no doubt that the sheer size and growing population of Ethiopia will result in a greater demand for locally produced cultural products of which audio-visual content such as film remains the most emotionally potent form. In such an era characterized by technological innovation and often volatile social, economic and environmental transformations, culture remains a crucial strand of human activity that offers continuity and stability to individuals as well as imagined communities that span the world. To fully appreciate cultural activities, more work needs to be done to preserve and understand its history. Films made in Ethiopia between the 1960s and 1990s are either lost or stored precariously in inadequately resourced institutions. Contemporary films also need to be systematically archived. The loss of Michel Papatakis, director of the second fictional Amharic feature film Gouma (1974), who, born in Ethiopia to an Ethiopian mother and Greek father passed away in 2014 (a month before the commencement of my PhD research that formed the bulk of this book) represents such a case of how invaluable cultural memory and insight may disappear. With this in mind, I urge greater collaboration between scholars and screen media stakeholders in Ethiopia and a greater appreciation of different cultures and their artistic expressions and hope that this book represents a way of helping to facilitate such endeavours in the future. It was cinephilia that helped establish film studies within Euro-American academic institutions during the 1960s (Elsaesser 2012). However, it has taken much longer for film studies to come to the university space in Ethiopia. The launch of Addis Ababa University’s MA film studies programme in 2014, the first of its kind in Ethiopia, responded to the success of popular Ethiopian

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cinema that, arguably, reached its zenith during the same period. The film studies programme in Ethiopia takes a more practical, rather than theoretical approach to the learning of film. It is important to integrate these two strands of film studies to better appreciate the significance of the film experience in Ethiopia itself and the role film plays with regards to culture and society. This book, hopefully, gives more credence to the overlooked cinephilia of popular Ethiopian cinema, not only in the realm of Ethiopian academia, but in all parts of the country and abroad too. The very fact that this cinema revolves around narratives of fiker; a concept that also features prominently in the naming of Ethiopian films and their genres is something to be taken seriously and deeply considered as it has inspired a renewal of cinemagoing and filmmaking in the country since the early 2000s that has since spread to other Ethiopian screen worlds. Understanding the sociocultural and historical specificities of Ethiopian experiences of cinema are as important as understanding cinema’s ‘universal language’ of audio-visual forms. Through my personal experiences and decade-long research into films from Ethiopia I have presented here arguments of what makes popular Ethiopian films appeal to audiences. Much of this domestic Ethiopian appeal has to do with representation – seeing and hearing images and sounds that reflect specific Ethiopian worldviews – but the centrality of fiker to this appeal, in all of its socio-cultural sensibilities is the most potent emotional force. The heart will always have its reasons.

Notes Introduction: Courtship and the curiosity of cinema in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1 Abate Mekuria was amongst a group of leading cultural practitioners in Ethiopia during the 1970s and 1980s whose style of directing his prominent theatre company was dictatorial in style (see Plastow 2020). 2 Tezeta is a popular musical mode characterized by nostalgia (see Thomas and Asteway forthcoming). 3 The term, ‘screen worlds’ is the subject of a major theoretical intervention in the areas of African screen media and global film studies conducted under the auspices of the European Research Council funded project: African Screen Worlds: Decolonizing Film Studies. The project seeks to understand the emerging role of screen media in Africa and Asia from within the perspective of respective contexts in order to challenge mainstream, ‘Western’ assumptions. See the website screenworlds.org. 4 The call for a ‘cultural’ turn’ in film studies has been led by the scholarship of Rick Altman (1999), Steve Neale (2000), Barry Keith Grant (2007) and Raphaëlle Moine ([2002] 2008). 5 There are over eighty recorded ethnic groups in Ethiopia, and the Amhara are said to make up roughly 27 per cent of the population. It is also important to make clear that national fragmentation, ethnic and religious tensions have been at the very centre of Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa region in the modern and pre-modern eras. 6 A Marxist ideology was adopted by the military junta and dictatorship of Mengistu Hailemariam in 1974 that positioned itself as the liberators of the Ethiopian peasant class, replacing the Solomonic ideology that legitimized the divine mandate bestowed upon Ethiopian emperors and the aristocracy. 7 The battle of Adwa is hugely symbolic of Ethiopian nationalism and patriotism, helping to create an aura of exceptionality surrounding the Ethiopian nation as the only African nation to defeat a European colonial army in battle and maintain its sovereignty in the face of widespread foreign state-interventions on the continent.

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8 The hybridized nature of this example becomes even more apparent as both Orthodox Christian and Muslim religious practices and holidays are observed in many Ethiopian locales with multi-faith communities such as in Wello. 9 The unification of various factions under the Ethiopian banner was instrumental in mobilizing forces in the decisive victory over the imperialist Italians at the battle of Adwa in 1896. 10 African screen media is a term used by Lindiwe Dovey and others to describe African audio-visual productions (2010). The term is useful here as it is inclusive, treating both celluloid and video-film equally, analysing the pleasure, politics and performative aspects of these media through focusing on their ‘iconography, themes, histories and production, distribution and exhibition contexts’ as well as the filmic-text itself (2010: 1). 11 For further research on more diverse examples of Ethiopian cinema see CineEthiopia: The History and Politics of Film in the Horn of Africa (Thomas, Jedlowski and Aboneh 2018).

1 Film exhibition in Ethiopia – A long history 1 This simulator seats twelve people per showing with each film lasting roughly ten minutes each. 2 In March 2021 there were around forty cinemas operating in Addis Ababa. 3 From 2002 to 2015 there has been at least twenty privately-owned cinemas established in Addis Ababa compared with only three being built in the sixty-year period after the Italian occupation from 1941 to 2001. 4 E.C. denotes the date in the Ethiopian calendar. Where possible the corresponding date in the Gregorian calendar will follow. 5 Near where present Tewodros Square is today, the Wafa Cinema occupies the same site as this first cinema and is still referred to as ‘yeseytan bet’ by many locals. 6 Meseret Chekol Reta, however, states that the first cinema in Addis Ababa was opened by an Armenian in the early 1900s, a reference corresponding more with the second attempt by the Baicovich brothers. 7 The term Ras literally means head and was used to signify the position of governors of provinces within the hierarchy of the Ethiopian aristocracy. Ras Mekonnin (also known as Ras Mekonnen Welde-Mikaél) was the governor of Harar and the father of Tafari Mekonnen, who later became Emperor Haile Selassie I. Tekle-Haymanot of Gojjam was the ruler of Gojjam and a famous Ethiopian war hero for his exploits in the battle of Adwa in 1896.

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8 Orthodox Christianity was introduced into Ethiopia in the fourth century when it was embraced by Ezana of Aksum (ruler of the kingdom of Aksum, located in present day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and parts of Yemen and Sudan), long before missionaries from Europe spread Christianity to other parts of Africa. 9 Even the first bicycles introduced into Ethiopia were named የሰይጣን ፈረስ/yesaytan feres/the devil’s horse. The morality and influences of cinema in Ethiopia are still often debated, however it seems that Menelik and other modernizing elites were mostly successful in dispelling notions that linked the cinema and other modern technologies with the devil. 10 The Hôtel de France was the first hotel to be built in Ethiopia, soon followed by the construction of the Itege Taitu Hotel in 1898 E.C. (1905/6), these first hotels, along with their attempts at establishing cinema, were a function of the country’s urbanization and modernization (Gebremedhin 2007). 11 The Menelik thaler was often regarded as interchangeable with the Maria Theresa thaler (dollar) of Austria, formally used throughout Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Arabia and Ethiopia. 12 French citizens had a special legal status in Ethiopia because of the FrancoEthiopian treaty of 1908. In 1920 this law became institutionalized in the Special Court of Ethiopia, any disputes involving a foreigner and French citizens or French protected persons, such as the majority of Armenian, Lebanese and Djibouti nationals, were heard by a consular tribunal that followed French Metropolitan law. Ethiopian magistrates would act together with a French consular representative if disputes occurred between French protected peoples and Ethiopians (De Lorenzi 2016). By 1934 there were roughly 150 French citizens in Addis Ababa and over 2,000 French protected persons (De Tarlé 2015). 13 Built on the natural hot springs of Filwoha/Finfine, Hôtel de l’Europe still exists today as Finfine Aderash Hotel 14 Italian East Africa was an attempt by Italy to combine its earlier colonies, Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland after it had occupied the Ethiopian Empire. 15 Ras Haylu Tekle-Haymanot, son of Ras Tekle-Haymanot, conspired with the Italians when they entered Addis. He was held in esteem by the Italians, to the extent he was awarded the Star of Italy amongst other honours by the Italian Government with Ras Haylu and his family being exempt from the repercussions of Yekatit 12 (a massacre of Ethiopians in Addis Ababa following an attempt on the life of Italian Viceroy Rodolfo Graziani in 1937). 16 There have been similar analyses of African responses to colonial cinema particularly in relation to the Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment (Sanogo 2011).

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17 The first film to be screened after the ban was lifted was the 1973 Hindi film Bobby, which opened to a full house in the Cinema Ethiopia and reinvigorated cinemagoing in Ethiopia (Shah 2007). 18 Birr is the name of the Ethiopian currency and is also referred to by the acronym ETB, in Amharic birr is also the word for silver. As of March 2022 1.00 ETB was the equivalent of £0.015. 19 This number was recorded at ninety-eight in 2008 due to forced closures for a myriad of offences such as not paying taxes. The government’s crack-down on video-viewing houses instead of cinemas may have also had an influence on the subsequent rejuvenation of cinemagoing in the country (Dilalew 2008). 20 In the early 2000s, the cinema business in Addis Ababa was deteriorating to such an extent that there were only four cinemas in operation, all of them state-owned (although at this time theatres such as Hager Fikir, Ras Theatre and the Addis Ababa City Hall would still also occasionally screen films). 21 Although recently these industries are also preferring theatrical releases due to problems of piracy (Haynes 2014).

2 A history of film production in Ethiopia 1 Some of these films were Il grande appello (1936), Sentinelle di bronzo (1937), Sotto la Croce del Sud (1938), Luciano Serra pilota (1938), Abuna Messias (1939) and Piccoli naufraghi (1939). These films often featured long shots of local people as well as the landscapes of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Despite many major characters being performed in blackface, the Ethiopian actress, Birke Zeytu-Telke, played a major role in Abuna Messias. 2 This is an English interpretation by the author of the Amharic name: ፊልም ማዳበሪያና መቆጣጠሪያ ዋና ክፍል. 3 3002 was also shown at Festac ’77 enabling Teferi Bizuayehu to escape the Red Terror purge, carried out by Mengistu Hayle-Mariam, killing political opposition in the country including Desta Tadessa and his family (see Cowcher 2018). Teferi Bizuayehu was granted asylum in the United Kingdom. 4 The plot follows the life of Almaz who throws her husband, Abebe, out onto the streets after she finds out he is having multiple affairs. Just when Almaz’s life is beginning to improve, after she starts a relationship with a lawyer, tragedy befalls her family. 5 Many thematically interesting video films were made in the 1990s such as Demere Tsigie’s, የነቀዘች ህይወት – Yenekezech Hiywet/Her Worn-Out Life (1998); Tesfaye

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Mamo’s, ፍቅር መጨረሻ – Fiker Mecheresha/The Edge of Love (1994); Abreham Tsegaye’s, የጀንበር ጥላ – Yejenber Tila/The Sun’s Shadow (1994); የልብ ቀለበት – Yelib Kelebet/The Heart’s Ring (1996); Kidist Bayeliñ’s, ህይወት እንደዋዛ – Hiywet Indewaza/A Life Not Taken Seriously (1998) and Beminabu Kebede’s, ፍዳ – Fidda/ Recompense (1999). 6 As well as writing and directing the video film የነቀዘች ህይወት – Yenekezech Hiywet/ Her Worn-Out Life (1998) and more recently ስደት – Sidet/Exile (2007) and አብስትራክት – Abstract (2015), Demere also wrote ጉዲፈቻ – Gudifecha/Adoption (2002) and ንጉስ ናሁሠናይ – Nigus Nahusenay/King Nahusenay (2006) among others. 7 A krar is a lyre-type instrument with six strings that can be strummed or plucked and is widespread in Ethiopia and Eritrea. 8 The third month in the Ethiopian calandar.

3 The የፍቅር ፊልም – yefiker film (love film) 1 Yeberedow Zemen was a situational comedy originally made for television but later screened in Alem Cinema due to disagreements with ETV (now EBC). 2 Since Eritrea achieved independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a referendum was held in the aftermath of the Ethiopian Civil War, the two countries could not agree to issues arising from Eritrean independence. Relations worsened until the nations were finally at war, costing an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 lives. 3 The peace deal was only formally signed by PM Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia in 2018 which caused an immediate détente between the two nations. 4 Not a school teacher but a teacher of moral everyday instruction and traditions. 5 Rebuni won the Audience Choice Award and the award for Best Feature Film, along with writer/director Kidist Yilma winning Best Director and Original Screenplay. Lead actress Ruta Mengistaeb was awarded Best Female Actress while Yeabsira Tekilu was given the award in the Best Promising Child category. 6 Similarly, Rebuni won the Best Film award (jointly with Nishan), Kidist Yilma won Best Original Screenplay and Ruta Mengistaeb won Best Main Actress. 7 Sené is the tenth month in the Ethiopian calendar which generally falls between June and July. 8 Examples of these are ሶስት ማዕዘን – Sost Meazen/Triangle (2013); የገጠር ልጅ – Yegeter lij/The Country Girl (2016); ሶስት ማዕዘን 2 – Sost Meazen 2/Triangle 2 (2016) and films such as እንቆጳ – Enkopa (2015) and እውር አሞራ ቀላቢ – Ewir Amora Kelabi/ Feeder of the Blind Amora (Black Kite) (2016). 9 An obligatory payment to the Church or other religious institution.

230

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4 The rise of the አስቂኝ የፍቅር ፊልም – assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) 1 Each one of my interviewees agreed that Yewendoch Gudday was the instigator of the trend in the assikiñ yefiker film. This included Tewodros Teshome, Yidnekachew Shumete, Behailu Wassie, Tatek Tadesse, Tesfaye Mamo, Hermon Hailay, Eyerusaleam Kassahun, Paulos Regassa, Mesfin Haileyesus, Mikael Million, Abraham Gezahegn, Sewmehon Yismaw, Naod Lemma and Henok Ayele who jokingly also referred to the blame and contempt he receives from others for starting a filmmaking trend in what many perceive as a ‘low brow’ genre. 2 Hamlé is the eleventh month in the Ethiopian calendar.

5 Violence and order in the ልብ አንጠልጣይ ፊልም – lib anteltay film (suspense film) 1 Ensaro is a district in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.

6 The absence of romance and the የቤተሰብ ፊልም – yebeteseb film (family film) 1 The old commercial district in Addis Ababa. 2 A clear, traditionally made anise-flavoured alcoholic drink of between 40–65 per cent similar to Arak. 3 Eyob Dawit’s filmography includes: Yaltasebew (2013); ሳቅልኝ – Sakilign/Laugh For Me (2016); Ye’Arada Lij (2015); ይመችሽ: የአራዳ ልጅ 2 – Yimechesh: Ye’arada Lij 2/May You Be Comfortable: Arada’s Child 2 (2016); ያበደች: የአራዳ ልጅ 3 – Yabedech: Ye’arada Lij 3/She is Crazy:Arada’s Child 3 (2017); ሞኙ: የአራዳ ልጅ 4 – Moñu: Ye’arada Lij 4/ The Fool: Arada’s Child 4 (2018); ብላቴና – Bilatena/The Young Man (2014); ሀ እና ለ – Ha Enna Le/Ha and Le (2016); ደስ ሲል – Des Sil/When Happy (2017); አፄ ማንዴላ – Atsé Mandela/Emperor Mandela (2017); አንፋታም – Anfatam/Inseparable (2018); እስክትመጪ ልበድ – Eskitmechi Libed/Let me be Crazy until you Return (2015); ሔሮል – Herol (2016); ጊዜ ቤት – Gize Bet/House of Time (2016); ሔራን – Heran (2015); የልጅ ሃብታም – Yelij Habtam/Rich Kid (2016).

Notes

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7 Promoting Amharic film genres 1 By March 2021 the VCD market had practically ceased to exist with films being copied onto USB memory devices or streamed from internet sources. 2 A case in point here is the Protection Appellate Tribunal heard at the Federal Trade and Consumer’s Protection Authority that investigated the charge of unfair competition brought against Sebastopol cinemas by the smaller, neighbouring cinema Eyoha in 2016 (see Capital Ethiopia 15 January 2016). 3 As Altman has described in his comparison of the publicity of two biopics in 1939 and 1940 (see Altman 1999, 57–8).

8 Producing Amharic film genres 1 The similarities between the two films does not stop here, however, as Abay vs Vegas also cast Rekik Teshome (who also appears in Pendulum) in a supporting role after she shot to fame as the female lead in Yewendoch Gudday. Steven W. Thomas (2020) also points out the innovative use of sound and music in Yewendoch Gudday in his analysis of how the film helps theorize globalization.

Conclusion: Of fiker and film 1 ‘Separate’, due to these films’ lack of (as of 2017) commercial viability in Ethiopian cinemas.

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List of formal interviews Abebe Beyene (veteran filmmaker). 2014. Personal communication (notes taken during unrecorded interview). Ras Hotel, Addis Ababa. 28 July. Abraham Gezahegn (established filmmaker). 2017. Personal communication (audio interview). SOAS, London. 2 November. Behailu Wassie (established filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Giorges, Addis Ababa. 8 March. Bineyame Alemayehu (Head of Film Producers Assosiation). 2021. Unused vox-pop for Cinema Addis Ababa. Film Producers Association Office, Addis Ababa. 7 April. Biniyam Tefera (emerging filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Oslo Cafe, Addis Ababa. 11 March. Dawit Tesfaye (filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Arat Kilo, Addis Ababa. 27 February. Henok Ayele (established filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Taitu Hotel, Addis Ababa. 11 February. Hermon Hailay (established filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Kaldi’s Coffee (Bole Medhani-Alem branch), Addis Ababa. 17 February. Kebede Mesfin (cinema manager). 2016. Personal communication (written interview). Alem Cinema, Addis Ababa. 4 March. Kidus (VCD vendor). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Outside Sebastopol Cinema Megenaña, Addis Ababa. 3 March. Mesfin Haileyesus (established actor and filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Balderas condominium, Addis Ababa. 7 March. Michael Million (established actor and filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Michael’s home, Addis Ababa. 15 February. Naod Lemma (filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Pizza Romiya restaurant, Addis Ababa. 5 March. Paulos Regassa (filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). TriLux Pictures office, Addis Ababa. 9 February.

246

References

Sewmehon Yismaw (established filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Taitu Hotel, Addis Ababa. 26 February. Sintayehu Taye (cinema manager). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Ras Hotel, Addis Ababa. 7 March. Tatek Tadesse (filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Asni Gallery, Addis Ababa. 12 March. Tesfaye Mamo (veteran filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Addis View Hotel, Addis Ababa. 9 March. Tewodros Teshome (established filmmaker and cinema-chain owner). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Sebastopol Entertainment office, Addis Ababa. 18 February. Yidnekachew Shumete (established filmmaker). 2016. Personal communication (audio interview). Kurat Films office, Addis Ababa. 3 March.

Filmography 3002: Wondimu’s Memories. 1976. Teferi Bizuayehu. Ethiopia: Film Development and Control Board. 79 (Seba Zetegn)/79 (Seventy Nine). 2016. Tekabe Tadiwos. Ethiopia: Harvest Pictures and Sileshi Getahun Film Production. [79 (ሠባ ዘጠኝ)] 8:62. 2008. Sewmehon Yismaw. Ethiopia: Mogd Pictures. Aakasa Doothu. 1993. Sibi Malayil. India (Malayalam): Anupama Cinema. Abay vs Vegas. 2010. Tewodros Teshome. Ethiopia: Sebastopol Films. [አባይ ወይስ ቬጋስ] A Blast from the Past. 1999. Hugh Wilson. USA: Forge, Midnight Sun Pictures, New Line Cinema. Abissinija. 1936. Vladimir Yeshurin and Boris Zeitlin. USSR: Soyuzkino Chronika. Abro Abed/Together Crazy. 2012. Tesfaye-Kinfe. Ethiopia: TD Film Production. [አብሮ አበድ] Abstract. 2015. Demere Tsigie Ethiopia: Dreamer Film Production. [አብስትራክት] Abuna Messias/Cardinal Messias. 1939. Goffredo Alessandrini. Italy: Romana Editrice Film. Addis Ababa. 1985. Tesfaye Sinke. Ethiopia: Ethiopian Film Corporation. [አዲስ አበባ] Adeal. 2015. Dereje Fikeru and Mubarek Yesuf. Ethiopia: Makilianos Film Production. [አድኤል] Afrika. 1973. Alberto Cavallone. Italy/Ethiopia: Castle Film. Aladankushim/I Didn’t Save You. 2005. Abinet Agonafir. Ethiopia: AB Film Production. [አላዳንኩሽም] Alemé/My World. 2015. Sewmehon Yismaw. Ethiopia: Sabisa Films. [ዓለሜ] Amen. 2012. Aziz Mohamed. Ethiopia: Yared Film Production. [አሜን] Anfatam/Inseparable. 2018. Samuel Teshager. Ethiopia: Geter Film Production, Kibrit Pictures. [አንፋታም] Ankets 39/Article 39. 2019. Habtamu Dañaw Yezina. Ethiopia: Makbel Film Production, Selam Film Production. [አንቀፅ 39] Ashenge. 2007. Paulos Regassa. Ethiopia: TriLux Pictures. [አሼንጌ] Asra Andeñña Se’at/Eleventh Hour. 2006. Zelalem Woldemariam. Ethiopia: Zeleman Production. [አስራ አንደኛ ሰዓት] Aster. 1991/1992. Solomon Bekele Weya. Ethiopia: Ethiopian Film Corporation. [አስቴር]

247

248

Filmography

Atletu/The Athlete (2009). Rasselas Lakew and Davey Frankel. USA/Germany/ Ethiopia: Av Patchbay, El Atleta, Instinctive Film, Riot Entertainment, BiraBiro Films. [አትሌቱ] Atsé Mandela/Emperor Mandela. 2017. Mulualem Getachew. Ethiopia: Charda Film Production, Salkan Film Production. [አፄ ማንዴላ] Atwided Atwilid/Don’t Fall In Love, Don’t Give Birth. 2016. Naod Gashew. Ethiopia: Ge’ez Films. [አትውደድ አትውለድ] Ayrak/Don’t Be Distant. 2014. Fikreyesus Dinberu. Ethiopia: Cool Film Production. [አይራቅ] Balageru/The Country Man. 2012. Hermon Hailay. Ethiopia: Asaph Pictures, Sabisa Films. [ባላገሩ] Balekelem Hilmoch/Colourful Dreams. 2010. Fitsum Asfaw. Ethiopia: Cool Film Production and Bogas Film Production. [ባለቀለም ህልሞች] Bandit of Sherwood Forest, The. 1946. George Sherman and Henry Levin. USA: Colombia Pictures Corporation. Battleship Potemkin. 1925. Sergei Eisenstein. USSR: Mosfilm. Bech’irs Tatebeke/I Hid in the Smoke. 2014. Fitsum Asfaw. Ethiopia: Bogas Film Production, Kidus Film Production. [በጭስ ተደብቄ] Behiywet Zuriya/Around Life. 1989. Birhanu Shibiru. Ethiopia: Ethiopian Film Corporation. [በህይወት ዙሪያ] Bengal Brigade. 1954. László Benedek. USA: Universal International Pictures. Berari Liboch/Flying Hearts. 2010. Biniyam Werku. Ethiopia: KAM Global Pictures. [በራሪ ልቦች] Bermuda. 2006. Fitsum Kassahun. Ethiopia: Dunda Film Production, AB Film Production. [ቤርሙዳ] Betelihem. 2011. Sem Amanuel Haile. Ethiopia: Ergib Film Production, Buze Film Production. [ቤተልሔም] Beti and Amare. 2014. Andy Siege. USA, Spain, Romania, Germany, Canada, Ethiopia: FunDeMental Studios, Kalulu Entertainment. Bilatena/The Young Man. 2014. Kinfe Banbu. Ethiopia: Sheger Film Production. [ብላቴና] Bira/Brightness. 2006. Bemnabu Kebede. Ethiopia: TY Shalom. [ብራ] Bobby. 1973. Raj Kapoor. India: R.K. Films Ltd. Campus. 2004. Yirgashewa Teshome. Ethiopia: Linkage Film Production. [ካምፑስ] Captain Video, Master of the Stratosphere. 1951. Spencer Bennet and Wallace A. Grissell. USA: Columbia Pictures Corporation. Chamku. 2008. Kabeer Kaushik. India: Vijayta Films. Chuhet/Shout. 2005. Shewaferaw Desalegn. Ethiopia: Unique Digital Media Entertainment. [ጩኸት]

Filmography

249

Cinema Addis Ababa. 2022. Michael W. Thomas. UK/Ethiopia: Screen Worlds Collective, Kurat Pictures, Chouette Films. [ሲኒማ አዲስ አበባ] City Boyz. 2012. Roman Befikadu. Ethiopia: Sabisa Films and Kapital Film Production. [ሲቲ ቦይዝ] Comoros. 2008. Abreham Kenaw. Ethiopia: Abey Film Production and Oz Film Production. [ኮሞሮስ] Crumbs. 2015. Miguel Llansó. Spain, Ethiopia, Finland: BiraBiro Films, Lanzadera Films. Delalochu/The Dealers. 2014. Samson Tadesse. Ethiopia: Truth Film Production, Afider Film Production. [ደላሎቹ] Des Sil/When Happy. 2017. Dereje Gashaw. Ethiopia: El-Sofi Film Production, Abayneh Tekle Film Production. [ደስ ሲል] Difret. 2014. Zeresenay Berhane Mehari. USA/Ethiopia: Haile Addis, True Aid. Diplomat. 2012. Naod Gashew. Ethiopia: Benda Pictures. [ዲፕሎማት] Dramma nella Kasbah/The Man From Cairo. 1953. Ray Enright. UK/Italy/USA: Michael David Productions, Societa Italiana Gestioni Manifestazioni Artistiche Italarte. Elshaday. 2006. Yitagesu Gesit Techane. Ethiopia: Tumim Film Production. [ኤልሻዳይ] Elzabel/Jezebel. 2009. Getahun Tulu. Ethiopia: Jedidiah Film Production. [ኤልዛቤል] Enkopa. 2015. Alemtsehay Bekele. Ethiopia: Yodit Getachew Film Production. [እንቆጳ] Ensaro. 2020. Mesgana Atnafu. Ethiopia: Eladan Pictures, Yeneneh Film Production. [እንሳሮ] Eregnaye/My Shepherd. 2021–2. Kidist Yilma. Ethiopia: Arts Tv World. [እረኛዬ] Eskitmechi Libed/Let me be Crazy until you Return. 2015. Tariku Desalegn and Yohannes Getachew. Ethiopia: Tewodros Teshome Film Production. [እስክትመጪ ልበድ] Eta Fenta/Destiny. 2005. Tesfaye Mamo. Ethiopia: TFP Pictures, Tesfaye Film Production and Promotions. [ዕጣ ፈንታ] Etege 2/Empress 2. 2010/2011. Abiye Fenta. Ethiopia: Studio A. [እቴጌ ፪] Eton/Furnace. 2009. Yonas Berhane Mewa. Ethiopia: Imagine Productions, Ethio Film Production. [እቶን] Ewir Amora Kelabi/Feeder of the Blind Amora (Black Kite). 2016. Sewmehon Yismaw. Ethiopia: Sabisa Films. [እውር አሞራ ቀላቢ] F.B.I. 2011. Netsanet Werkneh. Ethiopia: Pagume Theatre and Film Production. Ferenj/European Foreigner. 1990/1991. Unknown Director. Ethiopia: Ethiopian Film Corporation; France: Medaco. [ፈረንጅ] Fidda/Recompense. 1999. Beminabu Kebede. Ethiopia: Electra. [ፍዳ] Fiker ena Dance/Love and Dance. 2006. Birhanu Nigusseie. Ethiopia: Axum Film Production. [ፍቅር እና ዳንስ]

250

Filmography

Fiker Mecheresha/The Edge of Love. 1994. Tesfaye Mamo. Ethiopia. [ፍቅር መጨረሻ] Fiker Siferd/When Love is Judged. 2005. Tewodros Teshome. Ethiopia: Teddy Studio. [ፍቅር ሲፈርድ] Geday Siyarefafid/When the Killer was Late. 2013. Naod Lemma. Ethiopia: Tana Entertainment. [ገዳይ ሲያረፋፍድ] Gemena/Family Confidences. 2009–2010. Birhanu Shibiru. Ethiopia: ETV. [ገመና] Gize Bet/House of Time. 2016. Abdisa Mitku. Ethiopia: Eliana Film Production, Ewnet Film Production. [ጊዜ ቤት] Gojo Mewichiya/To Begin a Household. N/A. Bemnabu Kebede. Ethiopia: Samy Plus. [ጎጆ መውጪያ] Gudifecha/Adoption. 2002. Tatek Tadesse. Ethiopia: Combe Pictures and Black Lion Film Production. [ጉዲፈቻ] Gouma/Blood Money [Gumma]. 1974. Michel Papatakis. Ethiopia: Amara Film Company. [ጉማ] Gunga Jumna. 1961. Nitin Bose. India: Mehboob Studio and Filmistan. Habayibi kthyr/Much-Loved. 1951. Kamal Attia. Egypt: N/A. Ha Enna Le/Ha and Le. 2016. Teshale Werku. Ethiopia: Viki Films, Ye’amlak Sira Film Production. [ሀ እና ለ] Hagerish Hageré/Your Country Is My Country. 2016. Mulualem Getachew. Ethiopia: Charda Film Production. [ሀገርሽ ሀገሬ] Hello Ethiopia. 2013. Yohannes Feleke. Ethiopia: Bifawaka Films, BiraBiro Films. [ሄሎ ኢትዮጵያ] Heran. 2015. Zelalem Banteyregu. Ethiopia: Fiar Film Production. [ሔራን] Hereyet. 2015. Birhane Getachew. Ethiopia: Biré Man Film Production. [ኀረየት] Hermela. 2005. Yonas Birhane Mewa. Ethiopia: EthioFilm P.L.C. [ሔርሜላ] Herol. 2016. Eyob Aragaw. Ethiopia: Super Film Production. [ሔሮል] Hidar. 2019. Bruk Mola. Ethiopia: Class Act and Dani Boy Production. [ህዳር] Hiroshima. 2011. Serawit Fikré. Ethiopia: Serawit Multimedia Production. [ሒሮሺማ] Hirut, abatwa mannew?/Hirut, Who Is Her Father? 1964. Lambros Jokaris. Ethiopia: National Film and Publicity Company. [ሂሩት አባቷ ማነው?] Hiyweté/My Life. 2012. Bisrat Mohammed. Ethiopia: Gerado Film Production. [ህይወቴ] Hiywet Indewaza/A Life Not Taken Seriously. 1998. Kidist Bayeliñ. Ethiopia: K.A. Film and Advertising Company. [ህይወት እንደዋዛ] Horizon Beautiful. 2013. Stefan Jäger. Switzerland, Ethiopia: Tellfilm. [ሆራይዝን ቢዩቲፉል] Il fiore delle Mille e una note/Arabian Nights. 1974. Pier Paolo Pasolini. Italy: PEA Produzioni Europee Associate; France: Les Productions Artistes Associés. Il grande appello/The Great Appeal. 1936. Mario Camerini. Italy: ADIA Films and Artisti Associati.

Filmography

251

Kay Sihtet/The Red Mistake. 2006. Tewodros Teshome. Ethiopia: Sebastopol Films. [ቀይ ስህተት] Kemaydersubet/Unreachable. 2009. Netsanet Werkneh. Ethiopia: Tsebet Films. [ከማደርሱበት] Kezkaza Welafen/Cold Flame. 2002. Tewodros Teshome. Ethiopia: Sebastopol Films. [ቀዝቃዛ ወላፈን] Konso. 1993. Michel Papatakis. Ethiopia, France: M.P. Production, Zaradoc. Kuragnaye/Enchained. 2019. Moges Tafessa. Ethiopia: Synergy Habesha Films and Communication. [ቁራኛዬ] La-Borena. 2013. Belay Getaneh. Ethiopia: Angel Eyes Film Production. [ላ-ቦረና] Lalombe. 2010. Abreham Tsegaye. Ethiopia. [ላሎምቤ] Lamb. 2015. Yared Zeleke. Ethiopia: Slum Kid Films, Gloria Films, Heimatfilm and Dublin Films, Film Farms and ZDF/Das kleine Fernsehspiel. Lawnderi Boy/Laundry Boy. 2011. Tsegaye Yohannes and Leul Solomon. Ethiopia: Abey Film Production. [ላውንደሪ ቦይ] Les Croix de Bois. 1932. Raymond Bernard. France: Pathé-Natan. Lomi Shita/Scent of Lemon. 2013. Abraham Gezahegn. Ethiopia. Mavrick Films. [ሎሚ ሽታ] Luciano Serra, pilota/Luciano Serra, Pilot. 1938. Goffredo Alessandrini. Italy: Aquila Cinematografica. Made in China. 2012. Mesfin Haileyesus and Tewodros Seyoum. Ethiopia: Misalé Film Production. [ሜድ ኢን ቻይና] Mandabi/Money Order. 1968. Ousmane Sembene. Senegal, France: Filmi Domirev, Comptoir Français du Film Production. Meba/Tithe. 2015. Kidist Yilma. Ethiopia: Galaxy Film Production. [መባ] Mefenkil Setoch/Revolt against Women. 2011. Michael Leulseged. Ethiopia: Shebele Films. [መፈንቅል ሴቶች] Mesenakil/The Obstacle. 1989/1990. Abreham Tsegaye. Ethiopia: The Prime of Life Theater. [መሰናክል] Meswe’at/Sacrifice. 2006. Henok Ayele. Ethiopia: Roha Film Production. [መሥዋዕት] Midstream. 1929. James Flood. USA: Tiffany Pictures. Mi’eraf Hulet/Chapter Two. 2016. Fikreyesus Dinberu. Ethiopia: Cool Film Production. [ምዕራፍ ሁለት] Mirt Sost Shi Amet/Harvest: 3,000 Years. 1976. Haile Gerima. USA/Ethiopia: Mypheduh Films. Mister Eks/Mr. X. 2011. Tewodros Tesfaye. Ethiopia: United Film Production. [ሚስተር ኤክስ] Mizewochu/The Groomsmen. 2008. Abraham Gezahegn. Ethiopia: Sublime Creative Arts and Press Works. [ሚዜዎቹ]

252

Filmography

Moñu: Ye’arada Lij 4/The Fool: Arada’s Child 4. 2018. Bruk Tamru. Ethiopia: Shadow Film Production. [ሞኙ: የአራዳ ልጅ 4] Moscow My Love. 1974. Aleksandr Mitta and Kenji Yoshida. USSR/Japan: Mosfilm, Toho. Noi peccatori/We, Sinners. 1953. Guido Brignone. Italy: Titanus. Netsa Tigil/Wrestle. 2012. Mahmud Dawud. Ethiopia: Amen Film Production, HaHu Film Production. [ነፃ ትግል] Never Weaken. 1921. Fred Newmeyer. USA: Rolin Films. Nigus Nahusenay/King Nahusenay. 2006. Arega Solomon. Ethiopia: Hule Woud Film Production. [ንጉስ ናሁሠናይ] Nishan/Nishan (Medal of Honour). 2013. Yidnekachew Shumete. Ethiopia: Kurat Films. [ኒሻን] Passion du Christ, La/Passion of Christ, The. 1897. Director N/A. France: La Bonne Presse. Pendulum. 2011. Henok Ayele. Ethiopia: Tom Film Production. [ፔንዱለም] Phoolan Devi/Bandit Queen. 1994. Shekhar Kapur. India: Kaleidoscope Entertainment, Channel Four Films. Piccoli naufraghi/Small Castaways. 1939. Flavio Calzavara. Italy: Alfa Film and Mediterranea Film. Rebuni/Teacher (of moral everyday instruction and traditions). 2014. Kidist Yilma. Ethiopia: Galaxy Film Production and 123 Studio. [ረቡኒ] Rotten Existence. 1968. Solomon Bekele Weya. Ethiopia: N/A. Running Against the Wind. 2019. Jan Philipp Weyl. Ethiopia, Germany: R&B Räuber and Banditen, Ac Independent Film. Saken Meleskut/Retracting my Laughter (2016). Wosen Debebe Mandefro. Ethiopia: Ruhama Film Production. [ሳቄን መለስኩት] Sakilign/Laugh For Me. 2016. Birhanu Werku. Ethiopia: Ewnet Film Production. [ሳቅልኝ] Sara. 2006. Helen Tadessa. Ethiopia: Tilahun Gugsa Advertising. [ሳራ] Sebebeña/The Provoker. 2013. Fitsum Kassahun. Ethiopia: AB Music and Film Production. [ሰበበኛ] Selayochu/The Spy. 2012. Fitsum Asfaw. Ethiopia: Bogas Film Production, Cool Film Production. [ሰላዮቹ] Semayawi Feres/Blue Horse. 2005. Serawit Fikré. Ethiopia: Serawit Multimedia Production. [ሰማያዊ ፈረስ] Sené 30. 2015. Fikreyesus Dinberu. Ethiopia: Cool Film Production. [ሰኔ 30] Sentinelle di bronzo/Sentinels of Bronze. 1937. Romolo Marcellini. Italy: Fono Roma. Set/Woman. 2011. Awol Hayredin. Ethiopia: King Awol Film Production. [ሴት]

Filmography

253

Sew Belké/Someone To Suit Me. 2006. Belay Getaneh. Ethiopia: Atronse Pictures. [ሰው በልኬ] Shaft in Africa. 1973. John Guillermin. USA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Shefu/The Chef. 2012. Mahmud Dawud. Ethiopia: Kam Global Pictures, Sam Ram Film Production, Miki Entertainment. [ሼፉ] Sherlock Holmes. 2009. Guy Ritchie. USA/Germany/UK/Australia: Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. 2011. Guy Ritchie. USA/UK: Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures. Shotelay/Demon (that inflicts a disease on new-born infants). 2005. Biniyam Addis. Ethiopia: Bini Brue Film Production. [ሾተላይ] Sidet/Exile. 2007. Demere Tsige. Ethiopia: Coster Picture. [ስደት] Siga Yata Menfes/Bodiless Spirit. 1996. Debebe Eshetu. Ethiopia: Dimbulka Productions [ሥጋ ያጣ መንፈስ] Silä Anchi/For You. 2008. Belay Getaneh. Ethiopia: Hanos Film Production and Oz Film Production. [ስለ አንቺ] Silä Enat Lij/For My Mother’s Son. 2015. Muluken Teshome. Ethiopia: Sebastopol Entertainment. [ስለ እናት ልጅ] Silemayzenega Wileta/The Unforgettable Favour. 2004. Yeneneh Tesfaye. Ethiopia: Abyssinia Production. [ስለማይዘነጋ ውለታ] Silemenna/About Menna. 2021. Michael Lulseged. Ethiopia: Sebastopol Entertainment. [ስለመና] Siryet/Absolution. 2007. Yidnekachew Shumete Desalegn. Ethiopia: Tom Film Production. [ስርየት] Sost Meazen/Triangle. 2013. Tewodros Teshome. Ethiopia: Sebastopol Entertainment. [ሶስት ማዕዘን] Sost Meazen 2/Triangle 2. 2016. Tewodros Teshome. Ethiopia: Sebastopol Entertainment. [ሶስት ማዕዘን 2] Sotto la Croce del Sud/Under the Southern Cross. 1938. Guido Brignone. Italy: Mediterranea Film. Tadañochu/The Hunted. 2005. Ermias Tadesse and Abebe T. Ethiopia. [ታዳኞቹ] Tagachu/The Hostage. 2005. Shewanesh Mola. Ethiopia: TY Shalom. [ታጋቹ] Taschershiñalesh/You’re Going to Finish Me. 2013. Bizuayew Eshetu and Habtamu Mamo. Ethiopia: Solar Film Production. [ታስጨርሽኛለሽ] Taza/Eave. 2017. Kidist Yilma. Ethiopia: Eskis Film Production, 123 Film Production. [ታዛ] Tiggil Dil, Dil Tiggil/Struggle Victory, Victory Struggle. 1978. Michel Papatakis. Ethiopia: Ethiopian Film Centre. [ትግል ድል ፤ ድል ትግል]

254

Filmography

Three Steps North. 1951. W. Lee Wilder. Italy/USA: W. Lee Wilder Productions, Continentalcine Tilaï. 1990. Idrissa Ouedraogo. Switzerland/UK/France/Burkina Faso/Germany: BBC, COF, Evangelish Reformiarte Kirche, Filmcooperative, French Ministry of Cooperation and Development, La Fondation Gan pour le Cinéma, Les Films des l’Avenir, Ministère de la Culture de la Republique Française, Rhea Films, Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung, Waca Films. Tilefeñ/Abduct Me. 2015. Mulualem Getachew. Ethiopia: Charda Film Production and Bethlehem Film Production. [ጥለፈኝ] Tinbit/Prophecy. 2005. Esayas Gizaw. Ethiopia: Esayas Gizaw Film Production. [ትንቢት] Tizitah/Remembrance. 2010. Habtamu Mebratu. Ethiopia: Heden Film Production. [ትዝታህ] Tizm/(Au)tism. 2016. Sophonyas Taddese. Ethiopia: Bekal Film Production. [ትዝም] Traffic Troubles. 1931. Burt Gillet. USA: Walt Disney Productions. Traffikwa/The Traffic Policewoman. 2013. Eyerusaleam Kassahun. Ethiopia: Arki Sira Production. [ትራፊኳ] Tsamako. 2001. Zekarias Haile-Mariam. Ethiopia: Mega Advertising. [ፃማኮ] Tsetset/Remorse. 1990/1991. Tesfaye Sinke. Ethiopia: International Film Production Company NRMIS. [ፀፀት] Tsinu Kal/The Binding Word. 2014. Daniel Beyene. Ethiopia: Tom Film Production. [ፅኑ ቃል] Una stagione all’inferno/A Season in Hell. 1971. Nelo Risi. Italy: Difnei Cinematografica; France: Ancinex. Utopia. 2015. Behailu Wassie. Ethiopia: Maki Film Production. [ዩቶጵያ] Wayay Wambot’och/Red Leaves. 2014. Bazi Geti. Israel: Daroma Productions. [ዋያይ ዋምቦጦች] Wedding Crashers. 2005. David Dobkin. USA: New Line Cinema, Tapestry Films, Avery Pix. Werk Bewerk/Gold by Gold. 2012. Roman Ayele. Ethiopia: Serawit Multimedia Production [ወርቅ በወርቅ] Wetat be97/Youth of 2005. 2019. Mulualem Getachew. Ethiopia: 16 Film Production. [ወጣት በ97] Wisané/Decision. 2008. Tom Thomas. Ethiopia: Fusion Addis. [ውሳኔ] Yabedech: Ye’arada Lij 3/She is Crazy: Arada’s Child 3. 2017. Bruk Tamru. Ethiopia: Shadow Film Production. [ያበደች: የአራዳ ልጅ 3] Yabets. 2016. Alazar Saleliñ. Ethiopia: Solomon Tilahun Film Production, Dany Boy Production. [ያበጽ] Ya Ken/That Day. 2013. Teshale Werku. Ethiopia: Master Sound, Mahlet Production. [ያ ቀን]

Filmography

255

Yalefew Shekimena Yemimetew Guzo/The Past Burden and the Journey Ahead. 1975. Michel Papatakis. Ethiopia: Film Development and Control Board. [ያለፈው ሸኪመና የሚመተው ጉዞ] Yaltasebew/Unthinkable. 2013. Hermon Hailay. Ethiopia: M. B. Z Film Production. [ያልታሰበው] Yanchiw Léba/Yours Thievingly. 2011. Belay Getaneh. Ethiopia: Green Mountain Film Production and Sofi Film Production. [ያንቺው ሌባ] Yanegeskeñ/The One Who Enthroned Me. 2015. Mahmud Dawud. Ethiopia: Spots Film Production [ያነገስከኝ] Ye’Arada Lij/Arada’s Child. 2015. Bruk Tamru. Ethiopia: Shadow Film Production. [የ’አራዳ ልጅ] Yeberedow Zemen/The Ice Age. 2002. Helen Tadessa. Ethiopia: Tilahun Gugsa Advertising and Sharp Videography. [የበረዶው ዘመን] Yefiker ABCD/Love’s ABCD . 2012. Dawit Negash. Ethiopia: Cool Film Production. [የፍቅር ABCD ] Yefiker Neger/Love’s Thing. 2006. Tsion Kiros. Ethiopia: Kasopiya Film Production. [የፍቅር ነገር] Yefiker Wagaw/The Price of Love. 2015. Hermon Hailay. Ethiopia: HM Film Production. [የፍቅር ዋጋው] Yegeter Lij/The Country Girl. 2016. Wondewosen Yihub. Ethiopia: Ewnet Film Production and Ney Entertainment. [የገጠር ልጅ] Yeger Ita/The Foot’s Lot. 2010. Tesfaye Gebremariyam. Ethiopia: Mimu Film Production. [የዕግር ዕጣ] Yehamlé Mushira/Hamlé’s Bride. 2015. Mesfin Haileyesus. Ethiopia: Misalé Film Production, 123 Studio. [የሐምሌ ሙሽራ] Yejenber Tila/The Sun’s Shadow. 1994. Abreham Tsegaye. Ethiopia: Sima Video and Electronics and East Africa Film Production. [የጀንበር ጥላ] Yekenfer Wedaj/Lovers. N/A. Bemnabu Kebede. Ethiopia [የከንፈር ወዳጅ] Yekitnesh/The Ordinary. Early 1990s (exact date unknown). Wibshit Werk-Alemahu. Ethiopia. [የክትነሽ] Yelib Kelebet/The Heart’s Ring. 1996. Abreham Tsegaye. Ethiopia: Ambassel Music Video and Electronics. [የልብ ቀለበት] Yelij Habtam/Rich Kid. 2016. Abdisa Mitku. Ethiopia: Charda Film Production, ABD Film Production. [የልጅ ሃብታም] Yemoriyam Midir/The Land of Moriah. 2008. Yonas Berhane Mewa. Ethiopia: Ethio Film Production. [የሞሪያም ምድር] Yemot Fiker/Love of Death. 1996/1997. Birhanu Shibiru. Ethiopia. [የሞት ፍቅር] Yenegen Alweldim/I Will Not Be Born Tomorrow. 2016. Abraham Gezahegn. Ethiopia: Formod Multimedia Production. [የነገን አልወልድም]

256

Filmography

Yenekezech Hiywet/Her Worn-Out Life. 1998. Demere Tsigie. Ethiopia. [የነቀዘች ህይወት] Yenetsa Tiwild/The Free Generation. 2002. Abreham Tsegaye. Ethiopia: Haile and Alem International. [የነፃ ትውልድ] Yeras Ashkir/Personal Servant. 2013. Zekariyas Kassa. Ethiopia: Awassa Family Film Production. [የራስ አሽክር] Ye’shoh Atir/Thorny Fence. 2004. Tekste Girma. Ethiopia. [የ’ሾህ አጥር] Yeshola Zaf/Fig Tree. 2018. Alam-Warqe Davidian. Israel/France/Ethiopia/Germany: Av medien penrose, Black Sheep Film Productions, En Compagnie Des Lamas. [የሾላ ዛፍ] Yesiol Mushiroch/Hell’s Bride and Groom. 2012. Girma Bekele Kemsi. Ethiopia: Blue Sky Film Production. [የሲኦል ሙሽሮች] Yetikur Fert/The Black Jewel. 2015. Asefa Mekonen. Ethiopia: Zewge Art Promotion. [የጥቁር ፈርጥ] Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch/Sons of Sunrise. 2016. Sewmehon Yismaw. Ethiopia: Sabisa Films. [የፀሃይ መውጫ ልጆች] Yewendoch Gudday/Men’s Affair. 2007. Henok Ayele. Ethiopia: Arki Sira Production. [የወንዶች ጉዳይ] Yewendoch Gudday 2/Men’s Affair 2. 2009. Admasu Kebede. Ethiopia: Arki Sira Production. [የወንዶች ጉዳይ 2] Yigbagn/Appeal. 2012. Henok Ayele. Ethiopia: Nolawi Film Production, Afromantic Films Production. [ይግባኝ] Yimechish: Ye’arada Lij 2/May You Be Comfortable: Arada’s Child 2. 2016. Bruk Tamru. Ethiopia: Shadow Film Production. [ይመችሽ: የአራዳ ልጅ 2]

Index Abay vs Vegas (Tewodros Teshome) 86, 192, 198–200, 231 n.8:1 Abebech Ejegu 70, 73 Abraham Gezahegn 87, 183, 193, 207, 230 n.4:1 Abreham Tsegaye 83, 98, 150, 229 n.2:5 Addis Ababa Cinema Houses Administration (AACHA) 33, 37, 45, 48, 50, 52, 53, 67 Addis Ababa City Cinema Houses Administration Enterprise (AACCHAE) 6, 33, 64, 66, 183 Addis Ababa University 6, 33, 101, 105, 134, 223 Admasu Kebede 124, 155 Alem Cinema 15, 61, 62, 67–8, 98, 99, 110, 122, 146, 147–8, 172, 183, 185–7, 189, 202, 209, 210, 229 n.3:1 Alemseged Tesfaye 107, 165, 169 Alemtsehay Bekele 109 Altman, Rick 175, 178, 189, 206, 225 n. Intro:4, 231 n.7:3 Ambassador Theatre 24, 52, 53, 55, 57, 60, 62, 66, 69, 76, 79, 80, 81, 82, 102, 183, 184, 209 Ashagrie, Aboneh 32, 33, 34, 52, 68, 221 Askale Ameneshewa 89 Asnakech Worku 80, 83 assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) or romantic comedy 12, 26–7, 85, 86–7, 89, 95–6, 112, 117, 120, 121–35, 137, 154, 169, 171, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 185–90, 191–2, 193, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 205, 207, 208, 213, 218–19, 222, 230 n.4:1 Aster (Solomon Bekele Weya) 66–7, 80, 81–2 Aster Bedane 101, 109, 151 audience, film 3, 6, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 22, 24, 28, 31, 41, 42, 51, 54, 57, 58, 64, 67, 72, 73, 85, 87–8, 90, 92, 93, 95–6, 97,

98, 100, 106, 114, 117, 118–19, 121, 122–4, 127, 132, 134, 137, 138, 140, 141, 149, 152, 160, 161, 164, 169, 171, 177, 179–82, 184, 186–8, 190, 191, 200, 201, 202, 203, 205–14, 216, 218–19, 220, 224, 229 n.3:5 Ayrak (Fikreyesus Dinberu) 123, 128, 129, 191 Aziza Ahmed 145 Balageru (Hermon Hailay) 129, 151, 202 Barber, Karin 83, 206 Behailu Wassie 11–12, 87, 93, 106, 117, 129, 133, 134, 177, 180–1, 191–2, 195, 216, 218, 230 n.4:1 Behiywet Zuriya (Birhanu Shibiru) 80, 81, 83 Bemnabu Kebede 149, 150 Ben-Ghiat, Ruth 33, 50–1 Bertukan Befkadu 141, 188–9, 195, 201, 222 Biniyam Werku 181 Bollywood 32, 58–60, 61, 82, 88, 205, 207, 216, 220 Brooks, Peter 100 censorship 40, 51, 57, 64, 73, 87, 88, 216 Cine-Ethiopia: The History and Politics of Film in the Horn of Africa (Thomas, Jedlowski and Ashagrie. eds) 32, 34, 109, 221, 226 n.11 Cinema Addis Ababa (Thomas) 5, 98–9, 117 Cinema Empire, 28, 42–6, 47, 50, 52, 53, 60, 62, 66, 125, 183, 208, 210–11 Cinema Ethiopia 31, 38, 52, 53, 55, 60, 62–4, 66, 71, 137, 178, 183, 212, 228 n.1:17 cinemagoing 3, 5, 12, 22, 24, 28, 31–2, 36, 49–51, 52, 54, 56, 60, 62, 65, 90, 91, 123, 152, 205, 207–13, 217, 222, 224, 228 n.1:17, 228 n.1:19 see also audience

257

258 comedy 43, 55, 56, 58, 60, 86, 98, 123, 127, 128, 133–5, 137, 145, 151, 167, 169, 170, 171–2, 183, 185–6, 188, 202, 203, 219, 220, 229 n.3:1 see also assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) Comoros (Abreham Kenaw) 86, 157–64, 171 Debebe Eshetu 74–6, 83, 89 Djerrahian, Robert 52–3 Derg (regime) 33, 57–8, 74, 77–81, 83, 97, 137, 142, 144, 216 diaspora (Ethiopian) 22, 24, 84, 90, 100, 124–5, 127, 152, 154, 206, 221 Difret (Berhane Mehari) 90, 208 documentary 5, 23, 68, 77, 79, 83, 89, 99, 117 meaning of ‘documentary’ in Ethiopia 151, 208 Dovey, Lindiwe 5, 6, 25, 31, 34, 57, 226 n. Intro:10 Eisenstaedt, Alfred 44, 55 Elsabet Getachew, 130–1 Elzabel (Getahun Tulu) 163–5, 171 Encyclopaedia Aethiopica 33, 44 Etege 2 (Abiye Fenta) 106–9, 110, 119 Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) 57, 229 n.3:1 see also Ethiopian Television (ETV) Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS) 71 Ethiopian Film Centre 78–9 Ethiopian Film Corporation 33, 37, 38, 46, 47, 50, 52, 79–80, 83 Ethiopian International Film Festival (ETHIOIFF) 67 85, 109, 137, 186 Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christianity 9, 20, 21, 35–6, 59, 72, 95, 105, 106–8, 113, 115, 149, 156, 160–1, 165, 168, 209, 216, 220, 226 n.Intro:8, 227 n.1:8 Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) 150 Ethiopian Television (ETV) 57–8, 77, 80, 229 n.3:1 Eyob Dawit 27, 162–3, 166–71, 221, 230 n.6:3

Index FESTAC 228 n.2:3 fiker (Ethiopian concept akin to love) xvii, 7–14, 18, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 58, 59, 73, 77, 81, 85, 88, 90, 91–2, 95, 96–7, 98–100, 106–10, 113, 115, 116–17, 119, 121, 124, 126, 133–4, 136, 142, 146, 148, 156, 162, 203, 205–6, 211, 213–14, 215–22, 224 Fiker Mecheresha (Tesfaye Mamo) 61, 96–7, 229 n.2:5 Film Development and Control Board (FDCB) 33, 78–9 film noir 27, 138–40, 141, 145, 219 Fuller, Mia 48, 49 Gabriel, Teshome Habte 36, 155 Garritano, Carmela 13–14, 16, 23, 25, 31, 82, 106, 160, 165, 203, 221 Geday Siyarefafid (Naod Lemma) 146–9, 151–2, 154, 173, 195, 197 Gerima, Haile 16, 31, 79, 90–1 Girum Ermias 73, 139, 141, 143, 189, 199, 201, 202 Gleyze, Georges 38–40, 41–2, 43, 44, 47 Gouma/Gumma (Papatakis) 48, 67, 75–7, 79, 148–9, 150, 223 Gudifecha (Tatek Tadesse) 26, 61, 84, 98, 101, 104–6, 118, 183, 184, 194, 217, 229 n.2:6 Gumma Film Awards, 89 109, 169, 170, 203 Hall, Stuart 1, 215 Hager Fiker Theatre 53, 62, 96 Haile Gebreselassie 61, 98–9, 183 Haile Selassie I (emperor) 37, 39, 40, 42, 45, 46, 48, 51, 52, 57, 68, 74, 75, 77, 144, 226 n.1:7 Harvest: 3,000 Years (Gerima) 79, 91 Haynes, Jonathan 16, 17, 18, 82, 89, 157, 160, 163, 165, 206, 220, 228 n.1:21 Henok Ayele 124, 131, 133, 180, 191–2, 199, 216, 230 n.4:1 Hermela (Yonas Birhane Mewa) 85, 127, 137, 138–40, 142–3, 188, 197 Hermon Hailay 91, 129, 151, 166, 168, 169, 193, 207, 230 n.4:1 Hirut, abatwa mannew? (Jokaris) 23, 66, 69–74, 76, 79, 81, 217

Index Hollywood 7, 11, 32, 51, 54, 56–7, 58, 59–60, 61, 62, 65, 82, 88, 122, 126, 133, 138, 188, 191, 205, 206–7, 209, 216, 218 identity cultural 9, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18–24, 27, 50, 51, 59, 72, 95, 99–101, 105–6, 111, 117, 119, 122–3, 127–8, 130, 131, 133–4, 154–5, 156, 161, 171, 172, 191, 206–7, 214, 217, 218, 220, 221, 222, 224 ethnic 18–24, 58, 64, 98, 162, 225 n. Intro:5 gender 123, 130–2, 159, 171–2, 209, 213–14 national 8, 18–24, 85, 97–8, 100–1, 106, 134, 136, 137, 144, 154, 157–62, 198–200, 206, 220–1, 225 n.Intro:7 Il fiore delle Mille e una notte/Arabian Nights (Pasolini) 75 Ilala Ibsa 69–70, 72, 74 Indian films 53, 54, 57–60, 156, 161 see also Bollywood Italian Fascist occupation of Ethiopia 25, 48–51, 54 Jedlowski, Alessandro 23, 25, 31, 32, 33–4, 66, 72, 89, 121–2, 155, 172, 178–9, 194, 198, 200, 221 Kalkidan Tibebu 189 Kassahun ‘Mandela’ Fiseha, 167–8, 188 Kezkaza Welafen (Tewodros Teshome) 26, 61, 84, 98, 101–6, 117, 118, 183, 198, 217 Kidist Yilma 87, 109, 114, 116, 117, 229 n.3:5 kung fu films 57, 85, 143, 145, 219 Lamb (Zeleke) 90, 151–2, 208 Larkin, Brian 16, 31, 38, 59, 60, 82, 134, 165, 209 Levine, Donald 20, 21 lib anteltay (yefiker) film ([romantic] suspense film) 12, 27, 85, 86, 120, 121, 124, 127, 136–9, 142, 143–6, 148, 152–3, 173, 181, 182, 185, 186, 187, 188, 193, 195, 196–7, 198, 199, 201, 205, 219, 220

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Lomi Shita (Abraham Gezahegn) 183 LUCE (L’Unione Cinematografica Educativa) Institute 68 Mahder Assefa 143, 189 Meba (Kidist Yilma) 120 melodrama 12–13, 16, 25, 26, 27, 28, 55, 58–9, 62, 90, 92, 95, 96, 98–100, 104, 106, 115, 121, 122, 124, 133, 134, 135–6, 138, 142, 152, 157, 160–1, 164, 169, 170, 207, 208, 209, 217–19, 220, 221 see also yefiker film (love film) ‘melodramatic imagination’ (concept) 100, 119, 122, 134, 138, 161–2, 171, 172, 214, 218 see melodrama Menelik II (emperor) 21, 25, 34–5, 48, 216 role of 74–5 Meron Getnet 163 Meseret Mebraté 104, 143, 189 Mesfin Haileyesus 86, 128–9, 172, 188, 230 n.4:1 Michael Million 58, 128, 167, 168, 189, 216 migration 21, 120, 144 Moine, Raphaëlle 15–16, 187, 206, 207, 225 n.Intro:4 Mulualem Getachew 117 Naod Gashew 203 Naod Lemma 148, 152, 193, 195, 197, 208, 230 n.4:1 nation, in Ethiopia 19, 22, 34, 134, 137, 144, 157–8, 160–1, 221, 225 n.Intro:7 nationalism 20, 106, 136, 154, 161–2, 220, 225 n.Intro:7 see also identity National Theatre 52, 62 Haile Selassie I Theatre 55 Neale, Steve 11, 133, 135, 225 n.Intro:4 Netsanet Werkneh 3, 5, 86, 133, 188 Nigatwa Kelkay 80 Nishan (Yidnekachew Shumete Desalegn) 5, 92, 181, 195, 197, 207, 229 n.3:6 Nollywood 16, 23, 25, 88, 89, 157, 207, 220 Nollywood: the Creation of Nigerian Film Genres (Haynes) 16 Okome, Onookome 16

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pan-Africanism 77, 90 Pankhurst, Richard 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 42, 67–8 Papatakis, Michel 48, 75–9, 89, 148, 223 Papatakis, Nikos 48 Papatakis, Tasso 77 Paulos Ñoño 33, 35–6, 37 Paulos Regassa 183, 193, 223, 230 n.4:1 philosophy 7, 9–10, 13, 72, 85, 106, 108–9, 115 propaganda 26, 33, 49, 50, 51, 77, 78, 79, 217 Quest for Press Freedom: One Hundered Years of History of the Media in Ethiopia, The (Meseret Chekol Reta) 32 Rebuni (Kidist Yilma) 26, 109–19, 142, 172, 229 n.3:5, 229 n.3:6 Red Leaves (Gete) 90 Reta, Meseret Chekol 45, 51, 57–8, 74, 217, 226 n.1:6 Rimbaud, Arthur 74, 80 Roman Befikadu 109 romance 10–11, 12, 13, 26, 27, 56, 58, 73, 84, 112–13, 115, 120, 122, 129, 132, 134, 144, 161, 169–70, 185–6, 191, 192, 206, 210, 218 see also yefiker film (love film) romantic comedy 3, 60, 121, 125, 127, 133, 185, 191–2, 205, 207, 210, 218 see also assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) Ruta Mengistaeb 110, 111, 229 n.3:5, 229 n.3:6 Russia (also Soviet Union and USSR) cinema 57–8, 68, 78 film training 78 ‘screen worlds’ 6, 18, 25, 28, 65, 87, 128, 217, 219, 224, 225 n.Intro:3 Sebastopol Cinema 62, 63, 64, 182, 198, 231 n.7:2 Selam Tesfaye 132, 189 Sembene, Ousmane 70 Sewmehon Yismaw 87, 193, 200, 201–2, 230 n.4:1 Seyat Demissie 189

Shaft in Africa (Guillermin) 74–5 Siryet (Yidnekachew Shumete Desalegn) 85, 121, 137–44, 181, 195, 197 Solomon Bekele Weya 78, 80 Solomon Bogale 101, 152, 163, 189, 199, 202 Tariku “Baba” Birhanu 189 television 28, 57, 58, 64, 74, 80, 83, 89, 133, 173, 193, 200, 209, 216, 222–3, 229 n.3:1 Tesfaye Mamo 33, 96, 97, 230 n.4:1 Tewodros Teshome 61, 64, 84, 98–9, 177, 181, 182, 191, 192, 198–200, 202, 230 n.4:1 Teza (Gerima) 90–1 theatre 2, 10, 11, 13, 22, 52, 61, 68, 83, 86, 132, 147, 225 n.Intro:1 tizita (Ethiopian concept akin to nostalgia) 106 3002: Wondimu’s Memories (Teferi Bizuayehu) 78, 79, 228 n.2:3 thriller 111, 136, 137, 138, 139, 145 see lib anteltay (yefiker) film ([romantic] suspense film) Tiggil Dil, Dil Tiggil/Struggle Victory, Victory Struggle (Papatakis) 77, 79 Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) 150 Tom Photography and Videography Training Centre 84 tragedy/tragic 27, 58, 80, 85, 96, 104, 109, 117, 118, 121, 155, 156–61, 163, 169, 171, 210, 220, 228 n.2:4 Tsamako (Zekarias Haile-Mariam) 97–8 Tsetset (Tesfaye Sinke) 83 Ukadike, Nwachukwu Frank 16, 31 Una stagione all’inferno/A Season in Hell (Risi) 74–5 Utopia (Behailu Wassie) 27, 129, 172 VCD 31, 109, 180, 186–7, 211–13, 231 n.7:1 Viewing African Cinema in the TwentyFirst Century (Şaul and Austen) 16 Waugh, Evelyn 44–6 Wisané (Tom Thomas) 86, 121, 155–7, 160, 161, 162–3, 171

Index Yalefew Shekimena Yemimetew Guzo/The Past Burden and the Journey Ahead (Papatakis) 77, 78 Yaltasebew (Hermon Hailay) 165–9, 170, 202, 230 n.6:3 Yanchiw Léba (Belay Getaneh) 3, 4, 86, 123 Yeberedow Zemen (Helen Tadessa) 98, 183, 229 n.3:1 yebeteseb film (family film) 12, 27, 86, 120, 121, 137, 148, 155–73, 185, 186, 219, 220–1 see also melodrama; comedy yefiker film (love film) 8, 12, 26, 27, 58, 59, 62, 73, 84, 85, 86, 95–120, 121, 122, 124, 129, 132, 133, 134–5, 136, 137, 142, 144, 150, 154, 156, 169, 172, 180, 185–6, 188, 191, 192, 198, 203, 206, 208, 210, 213, 217–19, 222

261

see also melodrama; fiker; romance Yefiker Wagaw/Price of Love (Hermon Hailay) 91, 207 Yenetsa Tiwild (Abreham Tsegaye) 85, 98, 150, 183 Yetsehay Mewicha Lijoch (Sewmehon Yismew) 179, 200–3 Yewendoch Gudday/Men’s Affair (Henok Ayele) 26, 86, 121, 124–32, 140, 179, 199, 230 n.4:1, 231 n.8:1 Yidnekachew Shumete Desalegn 5, 66, 137, 141, 181, 193, 195, 197, 207, 216, 230 n.4:1 youth 56, 57, 61, 95, 97, 103, 105, 123, 162, 213–14 Zeleke, Yared 90, 151

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