Africa

MADE IN ETHIOPIA: it’s just like China used to be

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Photo caption: MADE IN ETHIOPIA. Courtesy of POV.

In the scintillating documentry Made in Ethiopia, businesswoman Motto is the face of a huge, new Chinese industrial park in Ethiopia. How huge? A factory with 3,000 workers is just one of its 130 businesses – and Motto is working on an 18,000-acre expansion.

Motto is smart, zealous, charismatic and utterly non-ironic. Along with the other Chinese, she has drunk the Koo-Aid and sees the park as entirely benevolent – bringing large scale employment and investment to a poor and neglected society. A visiting Chinese official exclaims, “it’s just like China used to be!“.

All of the workers are Ethiopian, who earn $50 per month in what is essentially a clean and gleaming sweatshop. All of the supervisors are Chinese who have left their families behind in China. The local farmers feel ripped off by their government, and an armed rebellion may be brewing. Apart from a global pandemic, what could possibly go wrong? In their first feature, directors Xinyan Yu and Max Duncan have created a brilliant exploration of clashing cultures and economic imperialism.

I screened Made in Ethiopia for the SLO Film Fest, where it made my Best of the SLO Film Fest. Now it’s on PBS’ POV. You can stream Made in Ethiopia on the PBS app or directly at the POV website.

BANEL AND ADAMA: we want to be together and left alone

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Photo caption: Khady Mane and Mamadou Diallo in BANEL AND ADAMA. Courtesy of Kino Lorber.

In the well-crafted and beautifully shot Senegalese drama Banel and Adama, a 19-year-old couple live in a remote village, happily in love with each other, but chafing at cultural traditions. Banel (Khady Mane) suffers her nightmare of a mother-in-law, and Adama (Mamadou Diallo) resists the burdens of community leadership that he knows he isn’t ready for. Can they find happiness in their village? Will they leave together?

Their personal stories are set in a dramatic, drought-stricken landscape with houses buried in sand and dust. Writer-director Ramata-Toulaye Sy, in her first feature, and cinematographer Amine Berrada deliver one of the most visually singular films of the year.

Sy gets fine performances out of cast of non-actors. Mane is especially charismatic as Banel.

I screened Banel and Adama for this year’s SFFILM, where I highlighted it in my Under the radar at SFFILM. It’s now been released into arthouse theaters by Kino Lorber.