Michel Papatakis-A pioneering Cinematographer

A year ago I was researching on the early days of Ethiopian cinema hoping to produce a story for a paper that I was freelancing then. In the course of working on it, there was a name that kept emerging: Michel Papatakis.

His was a success story in pioneering the Ethiopian cinema by realizing the potential of the film medium to both entertain and inform society. Not only did he run his own production company, he also wrote, directed, filmed, and edited his own films. The major one was Guma (Blood Money) that he produced around 1974 but he has also many documentaries to his credit.

What is it about Michel that has made him a pioneering force in Ethiopian cinema, yet never appropriately acknowledged in his own land?

Probably it is because of his quiet, self-effacing nature and the simple life he has been leading for almost two decades. He avoids film premiers and any conferences. But if you had a chance to talk to him, you would see a friendly man and a pleasant one to deal with.

La Môme comes to Alliance

The Alliance Ethio-Francaise is showing the award winning film “La Môme”, a movie about the life of French cabaret singer Edith Piaf on March 11 at 8 PM.

According the description on the Alliance brochure, the film shows the exceptional course of life led by Edith Piaf, “from childhood to fame, from victories to heartaches, from Belleville to New York”.

The actress Marion Cotillard won the 2008 Acadamey Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Yewondoch Guday

YEWONDOCH GUDAY

DIRECTOR	Henok Ayele
PRODUCER	Arkey Sera Prodn.
TIME	6:00  PM  25
INTERANCE FEE	25
DISCRIPTION	Romanotic comedy

By Cyril Sabra

I’ve been yesterday to the movie, been trying for weeks now, but never managed because I thought it was too early.. ends up it’s actually 6:25PM… stupid stupid me… read 6PM… Ethiopians laughed 99% of the time, about half the time broken in two, tears running down their cheeks, and me a good 40% greatly enjoying the remaining 60% (no tears, but some good laughs and smiling all the way).

A tribute well earned

Haile Gebreselassie is often described as the greatest athletes in history. His was unprecedented success that earned him wide recognition at home and abroad. Streets, songs and children have been named after him, and his life has been chronicled in a book and film.

A recently made 30-minute CNN documentary ‘Haile Revealed’ adds to the list and provides another look at the man who has “redefined the art of long-distance running”. Last Thursday I was at Alem Cinema to watch the documentary along with journalists, diplomats and athletes, including the perky Kenenisa Bekele who was reading for a nuptial ceremony the next Saturday. While Kenenisa’s marriage with the young film actress got the town talking, it was Haile who loomed large in the hall. The basic thesis of the film looks similar with story of other fellow Ethiopian athletes: A boy from a farm made a career in athletics, made a lot of money, built his own business empire, got to hang with the rich and famous.

Morgan Freeman to star as Mandela

Got news that I want to share!

Morgan Freeman will play former South African President Nelson Mandela in “The Human Factor,” an independently financed drama, based on the upcoming John Carlin book “The human Factor:Nelson Mandela and the Game that Changed the World.”

Read the rest at Variety.com.

Cinema Ethiopia

The recent wave of movie production in Ethiopia is not going totally unnoticed. Nor is my blog. A recent issue in Impressions, in-flight magazine of BMED operating as British Airways, has run a story on the current boom of Ethiopian film industry.

In the article, Yves Stranger, an Addis resident Englishman asks if Ethiopia’s film industry is finally coming into its own with the completion of the country’s first full-length animated feature.

You could read the story here.

And Yves recommends his readers to look at  my blog  for ‘an eloquent and up-to-date lowdown on the Ethiopian film scene’. A little reason for autosatisfaction!

Haile Gerima on Ethiopia’s Current Film Productions

Is there a film industry in Ethiopia ? What do you make of the video productions that are coming in large numbers?

Some says there are some fantastic things taking shape in the Young Ethiopian cinema. For others, they have simply commodity status and they are not even worth talking about.

Haile Gerima, the highly acclaimed director and a professor at Howard University says he finds it difficult to call the current video productions, ‘cinema.’

In a discussion held at Addis Ababa University three years ago and reported in Fert, an Amharic literary magazine,  he said  hasn’t come a cross  anything that be called cinema and has a sense of Ethiopian history and culture. He sees the productions as sit-com that revolves around  single events and leaves much to be desired.

The Father and other Ethio-German films at the Goethe-Institut

Ermias woldeamlak’s 2000 film, The Father , is about one of the darkest periods of Ethiopian history- the Red Terror that followed in the wake of the misdirected 1974 revolution .It is a short film that runs only for 20 minutes but critics  agree it has successfully portrayed aspect of this Ethiopian Holocaust through the story one family.

The film won best debut movie at the Ghanaian film festival in August 2001 and silver show at the Zanzibar Film Festival 2001.It has got a coverage from international medias, including  the BBC.

The Goethe-Institut Addis Abeba Gebrekristos Desta Center is intending to screen this film on Monday, September 18, 2006 along with other German and  Ethiopian films on its Ethio-German Short Film Fesival week.

Zewede Araya Revisited

I hope you remember one of my posts about Miss Asmara Expo, Zewde Araya who was arrested in Dire Dawa town for wearing short miniskirts, that Dire Dawa policemen found disturbing.

But reading Encyclopaedia Aethiopica gave me an idea of how she was a much more important figure in Ethiopian cinema than a tempting lot.And the Encyclopaedia never raised the question of her nationality, considring that today Ethiopia and Eritrea are two separate countries. Another Ethiopian dilemma?

It was written by a certain Ettore Million Bonnano.(Italian name?).

Hirut, Abatwa Mann New? An Early Ethiopian Film

At last, I have become a library member at German Cultural Institute.All the books there aren’t in German.In fact, one of the books they’ve got is  Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, whose publications I have heard of but haven’t come across before.There are two volumes ,the first one from A to C, the second one from D to Ha.So, you could see , itsn’t complete yet.

But if what you are looking for is within the bounds of these alphabets, be sure to find comprehensive peices of writings.

I checked about what is written about cinema, and I have found alot about  the early days of Ethiopian cinema,which I wasn’t informed about. I’d like to share you about one of the first acclaimed locally produced films, Hirut , abatwa mann new? ( Hirut, who is her father?).