Work of jury at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2011
TEZA by Haile Gerima
Heile Gerima / Ethiopia, Germany, France / 2008 / Amharic, English / Colour / 35mm / 140 min
After studying medicine abroad in Germany for several years, Anberber returns home to Ethiopia only to find his beloved Ethiopia, and soon the quiet of his dreams, stifled and disarrayed by the country political turmoil. Seeking escape from the center of violence, Anberber turns to the solace of his countryside childhood home, but quickly realizes that there is no shelter there. The competing forces of the military and opposition factions usurp the comfort he thought the memories of his youth would invoke. Anberber must determine if he can bear the strain of his reality and piece together a life from the fragments of a complete existence that lie around him. (Extract from official website)
Haile Gerima
Born 1946 in Gondar, Ethiopia. Teaches at Howard University’s Department of Radio, Television, and Film in Washington, DC. His films are noted for their exploration of the issues and the history pertinent to members of the African diaspora, from the perspectives of Africans themselves. With Harvest: 3,000 Years (1976), which won the Silver Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival, he became known as one of the most important filmmakers of the African continent. Harvest: 3,000 Years was recently digitally remastered and screened in the 2006 Cannes Classic Official Selection. His Ashes and Embers (1982) won the FIPRESCI (International Film Critics Association) Prize at the Berlin Film Festival (Forum), and his Sankofa (1993) was acclaimed again in Berlin in Competition. Teza (2008) premiered at the Venice Film Festival in Competition and received the Special Jury Prize, the OSELLA (for best screenplay), and the SIGNIS Prize.