Ethiopian films

[abesha]

This film looks promising. I like the trailer.




Any movies seen lately? Any recommendations? I'll be in Addis next week for about 10 days so I'm planning to rent/buy DVDs and go to the movie theaters to check out what's currently out.

[abesha]

Sara - I didn't watch it, mostly because I heard conflicting opinions on it - people either seemed to love it or hate it..

[mike7743]

Originally Posted by abesha

This film looks promising. I like the trailer.




Any movies seen lately? Any recommendations? I'll be in Addis next week for about 10 days so I'm planning to rent/buy DVDs and go to the movie theaters to check out what's currently out.

Thanks for this. I really like the trailer. it seems to touch on a lot of subjects including the "adoption" issue. even the Cinematography is impressive to say the least. where can one see this besides the local theater in Addis?

Originally Posted by abesha

Sara - I didn't watch it, mostly because I heard conflicting opinions on it - people either seemed to love it or hate it..

I don't get this. it seems like the whole movie is explained by the trailer, unless there's more to the story than what's on the trailer. if so the trailer does a bad job introducing the audience to the movie. I hope there's more to it.

[abnet]

this days 'adis mushra ' became a must see comedy movie in addis. it just kills you with laghter and 'enqoqilish' is a good one .today i try to upload a lot of awassa's pictures but as usual the network was shitty so i couldn't make it. so when i came back to the states i will post a ton of awassa's pictures. to live and die in awassa

[Yoniii]

Originally Posted by abnet

this days 'adis mushra ' became a must see comedy movie in addis. it just kills you with laghter and 'enqoqilish' is a good one .today i try to upload a lot of awassa's pictures but as usual the network was shitty so i couldn't make it. so when i came back to the states i will post a ton of awassa's pictures. to live and die in awassa

My dad can only see himself living in Awassa if he ever moves back, he loves that city (of course, he only knows it from before the 80s), so it can only be better now! The perfect climate, the stunning nature. I can't wait to see those photos.

[abnet]

Originally Posted by Yoniii

My dad can only see himself living in Awassa if he ever moves back, he loves that city (of course, he only knows it from before the 80s), so it can only be better now! The perfect climate, the stunning nature. I can't wait to see those photos.

I don't blame him .my talk all day became how i can buy some land in awassa move there, unfortunately i am broke as hell but awassa is clean, awassa is organized ,awassa is building a ton of hotels and buildings awassa is the future. guys if u have some money come and do something in awassa. the land price is dirt cheap compare to addis and there is a lot of opportunities in every sector its one of the highest tourist destination city in the country. anyways give me two weeks and i will let the picture talk.

[abesha]

Great website on films - http://www.ethiopianfilminitiative.org/

[Yoniii]

Originally Posted by abesha

This film looks promising. I like the trailer.




Any movies seen lately? Any recommendations? I'll be in Addis next week for about 10 days so I'm planning to rent/buy DVDs and go to the movie theaters to check out what's currently out.

Nice trailer. Ethio films are finally starting to look professional.

[abnet]

greetings from addis everybody! i saw yetafene fikir last thursday in ambassador and i like it. and am planning to watch some more movies and theatres any feed back is much appreciated.
bytheway the video abesha posted above is not showing here. the internet connection is very slow and frustrating. if things look ok i will post some updates here.

[Simfan34]

Originally Posted by Yoniii

Nice trailer. Ethio films are finally starting to look professional.

You can say that again!

[abesha]

Hi Abnet! Hope you'll come back with lots and lots of pictures and news from the motherland.

I don't know if it's still in theaters in Addis, but a movie called Aldewelem has gotten some pretty good reviews from people I know. I haven't watched it though.

[NineTribeNation]

Ethiopian movies are the worst in the world, no creativity, no ideas, just talking. know there is no school for film makers in Ethiopia.but i see filmmakers are learning only the parts we don't need from western movies.

[Ahadu]

Originally Posted by NineTribeNation

Ethiopian movies are the worst in the world, no creativity, no ideas, just talking. know there is no school for film makers in Ethiopia.but i see filmmakers are learning only the parts we don't need from western movies.

Go back & get lost to your cemetery - Asmara!

[Simfan34]

Can't they count?

[Simfan34]

Abay vs. Vegas The final countdown

By Alemayeh Seife-Selassie

The making of the highly publicized Ethiopian film, Abay Vs. Vegas is nearing completion. Using the highly sophisticated ‘Red One’ camera, the film is expected to be one of the most expensive films ever made in Ethiopia.

With an estimated one moth before its release, the film’s writer, actor and director, Theodros Teshome, speaks of the process of making it.

For the filmmaker, the making of the film was not much of a challenge, it was rather the involvement of Hollywood professionals that made it a bit of a new experience. He says that it was fun to make this film with the new fancy gadget. Yet, since the camera was new for Ethiopia, and with only four used previously in Africa, he had to bring from abroad a the professional crew to operate it.

Theodros brought a production designer, a first assistant, and a director of photography from Hollywood. He explains how that benefited him and other Ethiopian filmmakers. “Part of the reason for bringing the professionals was to have them transfer their knowledge. The professionals have shared their knowledge with the whole crew that was working on the film, and Bisrat Getachew is the one who captured the camera technique most. Currently he is our Red One technician.”

The director says that the Red One camera was bought for USD 62,000 and consumed a total of 1.2 million birr by the time he took possession of it. “When we bought it, there was one in South Africa and they had ordered a second one. Egypt and Nigeria also had one each."

After 25 days of shooting in Bahir Dar, 10 days in Las Vegas and an additional 15 days shooting in Addis Ababa/ Bahir Dar, Theodros will be flying to America today to blend in the new shoots and for final editing. “The shooting of the film with such a camera will give it an international feel, at least when it comes to the image quality,” says the director. Theodros has worked with actors that have experience acting in the renowned TV series 24 and Lost.

The filmmaker refused to reveal the cost of making the film yet. But he indicated that it had cost him 35 percent more than the original budget. “All I can tell you is it is one of the most expensive films we have made, and it is 10 times more expensive than the other local films.”
As to the profitability of the film, the director believes it will not cover the cost of the making if it is screened in the regular manner. “It will not even cover a quarter of the making cost even if it was screened for a packed of audience for one whole year.”

Theodros, however, hopes to screen the film in seven cities at the same time and recover the cost through other means. “Our main aim was not to make money from it. If it was, we did not need to use such an expensive camera. Our audience did not ask for it, they have not refused to see films in regular hi-definitions. It is us who thought that it is time we need to give Ethiopian films an international presence.” Despite the high expense of producing such a film, Theodros says it is worth it. “It is not because we are rich. We have less than 50,000 birr remaining in our account because the film has eaten it all. But we know that if you leave a good legacy, you can always start from scratch.”

The director has not chosen to have the editing of the film done in Ethiopia. He explains that this is due to his previous experience while making what he claims is the first hi-definition camera film ‘Key Sihtet’ (Red Mistake).

The output of the Red One camera is said to be 4K (400 percent more crisp than the average hi-definition camera). “It records it just as the eye would see it, so it gives you much chance to work on the color correction later. As opposed to the other cameras which record with the color touch and gives you very little room for later correction, this one records it raw.”

The filmmaker adds that having the film edited in America allows him to have it blown up to 35 mm.

Shooting a high quality image for a country with no high standard projector posed another challenge for Theodros. To meet such a challenge he had to bring in a 4K projector that cost an estimated USD 31,000 and a D5 player capable of producing the 4K output in order to project the film with its original quality. “The new projector will project films in hi-definition. So far the films we are projecting in Ethiopia are not in hi-definition. So the quality of the films even drops from the hi-definition they were initially shot with.”

The filmmaker hopes that the new camera will pave the way for filming in hi-definition and so far Birhane Negussie’s film Mussie has been shot by it while Serawit Fikre’s new film Hiroshima is next on the queue. The editing of Mussie will be done abroad. The price to rent the new gadget to shoot the whole film is a staggering 300,000 birr. “We have a lot of demands from filmmakers but they are a bit shocked by the price we have calculated after depreciation. This, of course, is a result of the comparison they make with regular cameras. Our price is 90 percent cheaper than the international price. We are hoping that after the premier of our film they will not compromise.”

Theodros Teshome’s studio (Teddy Studio) has previously rented its cameras to filmmakers. The last time it did was for the shooting of Alwedishim, for which it charged 95,000 birr. But he says the price for the regular hi-definition cameras has gone up to 125,000-200,000 birr.

For this filmmaker, directing and acting is not something new. This time, however, he had to use an assistant director for his shootings abroad. Theodros’s assistant director, Markus Nash, has directed the scenes in Las Vegas. But as far as the shooting in Bahir Dar is concerned, Theodros did it himself. “I had to send Girum Ermias and Solomon Bogale to Bahir Dar to live there for four months before the shooting started. Such experience is not common. They had to live around Tis Abay (Smoking Nile) and Bahir Dar and to get a first-hand experience of the life of the locals.” The transformation of the actors has been something that stunned the director. “I was shocked to see Solomon losing that much weight, and totally adopting the local accent.” The director himself has spent one year working on the script and pre-production.

The film's shooting has been finalized and about 70 percent of the editing has been completed. The original sound score was done in Addis Ababa as the price was a bit steep for the filmmaker to have it done in Hollywood. The renowned Ethiopian musicians, namely Gossaye Tesfaye, Madingo Afework and Getish Mamo, sang the songs in the soundtrack for Abay vs. Vegas while the music was arranged by Sultan, a.k.a. Soffi. “This time we are using an independent sound engineer. The film is going to be in Dolby Surround Sound and will be registered under the Dolby (double DD Surround) license after I pay 5,000 USD," Theodros disclosed.
Theodros has also used a dedicated professional color corrector and editor. Abay vs. Vegas has used 42 technical and acting professionals in Ethiopia as well as additional film crew and 21 professionals behind the camera in Las Vegas. “This was not a gorilla shooting; we had permission and insurance for the staff." Having rented the camera here for the shooting of Mussie, Theodros had to rent another Red One for his filming in Las Vegas.

Originally set for release on October 2, 2010, the release date of the film has been postponed. Theodros says that he expects the film to be finished in one month's time.

The director’s last film, Key Sihtet (Red Mistake), had a huge premier and earned actor Fekadu Tekle Mariam a Hyundai Atoz vehicle in award. Theodros says that there will be some surprise awards this time as well at the premier

..

[African Lion]

Ethiopian movies are lame at best. I want to get in the game, especially documentrories. Yo Simfan, what the movie world in your better half(for now) Ghana.

[Yoniii]

Reviewed by Gillian Weiner. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

“The Athlete” is an uplifting story about an Ethiopian runner named Abebe Bikila who became the first black African to win a marathon gold medal at the Rome Olympics (barefoot nonetheless). Years later, he then repeated his victory and record at the Tokyo Games making him the first runner ever to accomplish this consecutively. Through all his accomplishments he managed to be his countries hero second to Ethiopia’s emperor Haile Selsassie who he admired tremendously.

...

The one thing the audience loved and praised Rasselas for were the beautiful panoramic shots of Ethiopia. No one there, including myself, realized how golden and beautiful Ethiopia could be.

Full review

“The Athlete” (Atletu), an internationally acclaimed film based on the true story of Abebe Bikila, Ethiopia's legendary and greatest athlete of all time, is one of the entries competing for best foreign film at the Oscars from 65 nations.

It was released back in 2009, anyone seen it? I hadn't even heard about it until now..

[Simfan34]

Originally Posted by African Lion

Ethiopian movies are lame at best. I want to get in the game, especially documentrories. Yo Simfan, what the movie world in your better half(for now) Ghana.

Worse.

[dorzew]

Ethiopian movie industry is growing so little. Most movie makers in ethio are eager to make profit than lifting up the industry. Most movies do not have better storyline. The actions that we see in the movie is 1. not well done, or 2. sampled from foreign movies. I also hate to hear sound tracks at all. I dont understand why they use soundtracks from hollywood movies or instruments which is not ethiopian. Most of the time the action in the movie and the soundtrack that they used don't much. Atleast they have to make a research before they use any foreign soundtracks. In my opnion I dont think it is hard to produce original soundtracks by local artists. (it is better to learn from Bollywood India) It is a matter of trying and willing to work together for the sake of art. But remember, there are few film maker in ethio who are trying hard to make a difference. I appreciate them a lot.

[abesha]

I totally agree with you.

The problem is that every Tom, Dick and Harry (Abebe, Kebede and Tasew ) think they can make movies. It's ridiculous.