among us women tells the story of 3 powerful women doing their best to navigate along patriarchal structures. Set in Megendi Gojam, among us women, has for its central character, Huluager, a woman that’s about to have her fourth child.
After tracking down and hacking into google servers we tracked down one of the best yet super batshit crazy movies ever made. We met the mind behind this film an decided to have chat about why he decided to make this film and why he likes to make films in Ethiopia.
My work is greatly inspired by the two cultures I come from. My mother is from Jamaica, and my father is from Ethiopia. I am inspired to tell the stories of the histories of both ancestries. I do so mainly through my films, combining folklore with real histories through animation.
This is a film that took me nearly ten years to make due to the research and also the slow process of financing a feature film. The film looks at the Red Terror only through the stories and memories of women. I felt that historical content in Ethiopia is dominated by the perspectives of men and I wanted to provide a different approach. I think that it is important to look at multiple sides of a story.
As most of the creative people working in the industry, I am self-taugh. My teacher was the Internet and other “creatively sourced” inspirations. Filmmaking is not something you master by reading. It’s in the name itself: Film-Making. You need to make films to learn more and be better. It’s not a stagnant education, you keep learning as you go.
We pondered a lot, in terms, of what to highlight on the importance of cinema in Ethiopia. The truth of the matter, there’s a lot to complain about, especially, in the current times (with Corona and Civil War looming over the country). But it’s important to look at the positives. Mostly because, we all know what’s wrong with the local cinema but we can’t really appreciate it’s importance. So here’s why we here GETZ love the movies and why we think it’s important to keep pushing until we’re in that ideal state where we can rightfully hate on whatever version of cinematic universe will eventually form in Ethiopia.
We are nothing more than a mosaic of our stories, an encapsulation of lived experiences. Cinema has the power to gather people and for 120 minutes it allows us a glimpse of what is, could be, or has been. There is an undeniable magic.
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