Ethiopian Film ‘Difret’ – A Story of Resilience Premieres at Sundance 2014

The World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival got underway this past weekend in Park City, Utah with the premiere of the Ethiopian film Difret (Amharic with English subtitles). The ninety-nine minute drama is based on the true story of Aberash Bekele (Hirut), a 14-year-old from a small, rural village — not far from Addis Ababa — whose widely publicized arrest for murder in the late 1990s ensued an epic court battle that resulted in her acquittal on the grounds of self-defense. The case and ordeal of Hirut (played by teen actress Tizita Hagere) legally ended the long-upheld cultural tradition of marriage by abduction in Ethiopia. Difret is the first Ethiopian film to be featured at the Sundance Film Festival.

A summary of the film describes Meaza Ashenafi as “an empowered and tenacious young lawyer,” who represents Hirut and argues that she acted in self-defense. “Meaza boldly embarks on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding by customary law, risking the ongoing work of her women’s legal-aid practice to save Hirut’s life. Ethiopian-born writer/director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari portrays, with panoramic beauty, the complexity of a country’s transformation toward equal rights, featuring the courageous generation that dares to own it.”

Indiewire highlighted Meron Getnet, who plays the feisty defense attorney Meaza Ashenafi, as one of the “10 Actors to Watch Out For at Sundance 2014.” In her own right Meron is also one of the leading actresses in Ethiopia.

The film’s producers include Mehret Mandefro, Leelai Demoz, Zeresenay Berhane Mehari as well as Executive Producers Angelina Jolie, Julie Mehretu, Jessica Rankin, Francesca Zampi and Lacey Schwartz.

Other credits include Cinematographer: Monika Lenczewska; Editor: Agnieszka Glinska; Production Designer: Dawit Shawel; Composers: David Schommer and David Eggar.

Difret premiered on Saturday, January 18th at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City and is scheduled to play on Monday January 20th at Broadway Centre Cinema in Salt Lake City. It returns back to Park City on Tuesday, January 21st at the Egyptian Theatre, followed by a screening at the Library Center Theatre on Thursday, January 23rd. The film concludes the ten-day festival with a showing at the Holiday Village Cinema in Park City on Saturday, January 25th.

Ethiopian Airlines plans order for 10-20 narrowbody jets - CEO

Jan 20 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines is looking at placing an order for 10-20 narrowbody jets, its chief executive told Reuters on Monday.

Such an order would be worth $1-2 billion at list prices.

Ethiopian will probably study proposals from Boeing, Airbus and Canada's Bombardier, a new entrant to the market for roughly 150-seat aircraft, Tewolde Gebremariam said.

The airline, which plans to increase its revenues five-fold to $10 billion by 2025, is separately evaluating Boeing's latest wide-body jet, the 406-seat 777X, but has no immediate plans to place an order, he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of an Airlines Economics conference in Dublin, he also downplayed concerns over the Boeing 787 Dreamliner following new glitches on the high-tech jet which was grounded over battery problems last year.

A Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 787 Dreamliner was grounded last week after white smoke vented from the plane and a battery cell showed signs of melting.

"We've never had any problems with the batteries," Gebremariam said. Ethiopian operates five Dreamliners.

An Ethiopian 787 which caught fire at London's Heathrow last year resumed service last month without any penalty in performance following repairs to its carbon-fibre fuselage, he said.

The fire has been widely linked to small batteries in an emergency beacon but UK authorities have yet to publish their official on the incident.

Gebremariam said load factors, or the proportion of seats sold, had increased when Ethiopian put the 787 on new routes, such as Frankfurt and London.

http://www.reuters.com

Glimpse of Reporter Newspaper Sheger TV

The Reporter newspaper is a private newspaper published by the Media and Communication Center (MCC). The MCC has been in operation for about 20 years now. The MCC has English and Amharic newspapers. The Amharic newspaper is one of the leading private newspapers in the country. Sheger TV has had the opportunity to visit the newsroom and talk to Managing Editor, Ato Biruh Yihunbelay (English) and Assistant Editor for the Amharic newspaper, Ato Yemane Nagish as they were producing their paper. Sheger TV has gotten a glimpse of the busy bustle of the newsroom to meet the deadline on December 26th, 2013 date.

Three Chinese Companies Awarded 6.5B Birr Road Construction Projects

The projects are part of thefourth Road Sector Development Programme, which aims to boost road coverage across the country

From left to right, Wang Guanghui, manager of Market Development of Chain Railway Seventh Group, Zhou Yongsheng representative of CCCC, Zaid Wolde Gebriel, director general of ERA and Zhao Sanbao, general manger of China Railway No.3 Engineering Group.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) awarded 6.5 billion Birr road construction projects to three Chinese companies in an agreement signed on Thursday, January 16, 2014.

Two of the projects, totaling 161.23kms, are found in Amhara, while the third, 28.1kms, is in Addis Abeba.

There will be three projects in Addis Abeba: the continuation of the Rapid Adama Expressway and two projects to connect this expressway with Addis Abeba. All three projects will be undertaken by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), which has already been working on the expressway.

Meet the Ethiopian girls who refuse to be silenced

In the small town of Akaki, 20km south of Addis Ababa, an overgrown stadium was transformed into a sea of thousands of girls, all dressed in brightly coloured T-shirts. All of them were part of something that had never been done before.

On the stage, Ethiopia's first girl band, Yegna, performed their hit single Abet with the crowd singing with them: "We are here, we will not be silenced." 

At the entrance, groups of men and boys looked on as hundreds of girls in the priority queue walked in ahead of them. The VIP area, usually reserved for members of the government, was this time set aside for teenage girls.

"Everything is amazing," said 14-year-old Rebkah who had walked from the nearby town Kaliti. "I got a ticket through my school and I've never been to a concert before. I came here with my sister, mother and my brothers. The songs all sound really beautiful."