Led by the Market: How the Market-oriented Ethiopian Infant Film ‘Industry’ Staggers to Stand on its Feet

Led by the Market: How the Market-oriented Ethiopian Infant Film ‘Industry’ Staggers to Stand on its Feet

How It All Began

We neither eat nor drink it, why would we pay for something we see with our own eyes?” was the question posed by many of the aristocrats of Emperor Menelik II, when asked to pay to watch the first ever film screened in Ethiopia at what later became to be known as “Saitan Bet” - the house of the devil. Others concluded “this is the work of the devil not humans” after watching it.
Now, almost a century later, people wait in long queues at the gates of Cinemas to watch Ethiopian films, willing to pay their hard earned money, knowing that they are the works of their fellow countrymen.

Despite the fact that the inauguration of movie theaters in Ethiopia is a century old, the history of filmmaking traces back to only forty years ago, when the country provided the setting for the shooting of ‘Shaft in Africa’ for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and other documentary films by foreigners in the 1960s and early 1970s. In 1971 the first Ethiopian-produced movie, Hirut Abatua Man New?, a 90 minute, black and white 35mm film was made. A couple of years later, Gouma and Behiyiwot Zuria were also produced locally. Many refer to this period as the “golden age” of Ethiopian arts, as art in its several  forms flourished during this time.  

Since then, the production and marketing of films in Ethiopia can be said to have been in hibernation for a long period of time. The inspiration burgeoned in the early 70s had been halted and slowed down with the redirection of arts towards propaganda by the ruling military junta. Though the Ethiopian Film Corporation, a center for an Ethiopian film industry and co-productions equipped with substantial film and editing devices, was established later in 1986, only one feature film, ‘Aster’, directed by Solomon Bekele, was produced.

The Revival 

The last decade showed the resurgence of Ethiopian cinema. This revival was heralded in the early 2000s when young filmmakers began to produce films with the help of digital filmmaking technologies and started showing them on big screens; the government’s ban on showing films (for their supposed adverse effects on society) was lifted unceremoniously during this time; Alem Cinema, the first privately owned Cinema also started showing Ethiopian films on big screens side by side with the government owned Cinemas.

Rank	Country	Number of films produced per year
1	India	1,091
2	Nigeria	872
3	United States	485
4	Japan	417
5	China	330

Rank	Countries	Number of Cinemas
1	United States	38,415
2	China	37,753
3	India	11,183
4	France	5,362
5	Nigeria	4,871

Rank	Countries	Box Office Income in Billions USD (2012)
1	United States / Canada	10.8
2	China	2.7
3	Japan	2.4
4	UK	1.7
5	France	1.7

“We don’t have a lot to talk about films  as we have a lot of things to talk about Ethiopia” says Tesfaye Mamo, President of Ethiopian Filmmakers Association in an interview with EBR. “However, the production of video films, intermingled and transformed to digital video filmmaking and editing technologies, has shown a remarkable development of production and commercialization in the last decade” he adds. Films such as Kezkaza Wolafen by Tewodros Teshome, Yeberedo Zemen by Helen Tadesse and Gudifecha by Tatek Kassa can be considered as pioneers of the renaissance of Ethiopian film industry. 

As digital technologies in filmmaking have made cinema accessible to the emerging talent, numerous domestic film production companies have increasingly targeted the big screen, to penetrate into the promising market. Young Ethiopians who have acquired the skills through the process locally and those educated in the West have produced films and the reward for most of them has been encouraging. 

Almost all of the film producers and directors EBR approached conclude that the film industry is a promising business. 

The production and marketing of films is showing an unprecedented growth recently. According to data from the Addis Ababa City Administration Culture and Tourism Bureau, about 400 films have been produced and granted permission to be screened in the past five years alone.

There are many self-made filmmakers in Ethiopia, who without even going to formal school succeed to produce some of the commercially successful movies. Tewodros Teshome, who started making movies with the skills he acquired while working in a photography studio, has already made a big impact in the Ethiopian film industry. His movies Kezkaza Wolafen, Fikir Siferd, Key Sihtet and now Sost Maezen have been popular and market success. His courage to invest and reinvest huge capital into filmmaking has earned him praise from industry observers; though some have reservations about the roles he plays in some of his movies. “He should be given the credit as a pioneer and should be appreciated for his commitments and relentless investment” argues Tefaye.

Nevertheless, Tewodros considers himself a groundbreaker for opening Ethiopia up to digital filmmaking. However, the director and producer also has some regrets that he could have set a ‘higher standard’ of filmmaking had he exerted extra effort in his movie Kezkaza Wolafen. “People tend to use [the movie] as a template and much better films may have been made had I set the bar higher” he told EBR. 

A growing number of people are now investing in movie-making as it has become a profitable business, Tewodros asserts. Back then, only a few people used to be engaged in the sector. Many other filmmakers have made some of the relatively good movies afterwards, such as “Semayawi Feres”, by Serawit Fikre, a commercially successful movie whose theme explores the Blue Nile and one man’s quest to harness its potential.  

The Young Bloods 

Young filmmakers have been exerting aggressive efforts in improving the production quality of films made in the country and they have been successful so far. Yonas Birhane Mewa is one example of these success stories. Yonas, who   began his filmmaking career with Yegizew Sewoch, starring the now popular singer, Ejigayehu Shibabaw (Gigi) when he was a teenager, later went to the United States to study filmmaking. “With this tryout, I realized that making movies need enormous knowledge and decided to study the science of filmmaking” says Yonas remembering the time he started a career which made him one of the popular filmmakers today. 

Returning home after seven years of rigorous study and practical training, at the San Francisco and Wayne State Universities in California and Michigan, Yonas has produced 11 movies in the past ten years. These include some of the market successes such as Hermela, Yemoriam Midir, Baletaxiw and Mekaniku. His 12th feature film Bitania will be released soon. “When we started making movies 10 years ago the business was not on its feet, rather it followed the trend of theaters” Yonas told EBR. “Since the theaters fee was ETB10, we used to charge the same amount to show our movies; the process used to be a trial and error exercise”.

Another young filmmaker Yidnekachew Shumete, who started filmmaking while teaching videography at one of the training institutes in Addis Ababa, has directed two of the commercially successful films.  His films Siryet and Nishan are recognized as ‘different’ from most of the films produced and marketed in the country. “I want to put my philosophy and thoughts in my movies rather than putting what the market wants” he said. The acceptance both from the audiences and critics has been remarkable” he added. His second movie Nishan was screened among the 16 movies selected from more than 1,000 movies submitted for the best feature film selection at Festival Pan-African du Cinema de Ouagadougou (FESPACO), the ‘African Oscar’. It has also been featured in several film festivals in the US, Europe and Latin America as well. 

Many of the filmmakers operating in the country at the moment are young self-made producers, who learnt the techniques and business of filmmaking on their own way.

The Business and the Money

Capital investment in feature filmmaking has grown from a few hundred thousand birr a decade ago to more than a million now. The contribution of inflation, like in any other sector is visible in the surge for increased financial needs. Films such as Nishan and Mekaniku have cost ETB700 and 750 thousand respectively. While, Sost Maezen, a film about illegal migration by Tewodros Teshome which is on screens now, has been said to cost in millions since it includes scenes in far remote desert and on the sea. Some parts of the movie were also shot in Mexico and the United States. According to Tewodros, some of the post production activities –such as the sound and animation– were done in the United States with the cost of USD85,000 (close to ETB1.7 million), though the director declined to disclose the total cost of the movie.

“In Ethiopia we only have some of the most essential crew members and technicians necessary in filmmaking” says one of the directors EBR approached. Several responsibilities and activities are taken care of by few individuals usually familiar with the producer. Some of the inputs are also acquired through sponsorship and cooperation. For example, many filmmakers use costumes received through sponsorships from tailors and fashion designers rather than hiring a costume designer and paying for expenses.

 On the other hand, payment to actors and actresses as well as other crew members and professionals has grown astoundingly. Ten years ago the highest payment for lead acting roles used to be ETB3,000- 7,000. The figure  has now grown to more than tenfold. Prominent male actors request from ETB75,000 - 120,000 to play in the lead acting roles in feature films, while payment for lead female actresses has also reached ETB70,000-100,000. A film director is paid from ETB60,000-70,000 on average, whereas the fee for film scripts has grown to ETB40,000-50,000. Makeup artists are also paid around ETB50,000. 

International Recognition s

The first Ethiopian film to achieve international recognition was directed by Haile Gerima, an independent filmmaker and professor of film at Howard University, Washington DC, the United States. His movie Teza, has won several acclamations including: best film award at FESPACO which took the Stallion of Yenenga (named after the horse of the famous warrior Queen of the Mossi of Burkina Faso) to East Africa for the first time. It has also won the Special Jury and Best Screenplay awards at the Venice Film Festival, (in the best screenplay category, Slumdog Millionaire placed second and won the Best Film at the American Oscars and became highly successful, while very few people who aren’t related with films outside Ethiopia have heard of Teza), a Golden Taint for best film at the Carthage film festival, and other several awards in different film festivals.    

One important feature of filmmaking is that many filmmakers also get sponsorships to produce their movies. Several businesses, companies and other institutions sponsor production; they pay a substantial amount of money to promote their products and services in the movies, as well as to inculcate their missions in the stories. Aida Ashenafi’s film Guzo was the first Ethiopian movie to be shown on Ethiopian Airlines, the airline provided a sponsorship grant of ETB250,000 for the production. 

The Quality Problem 

All this growth and recognition isn’t without faults. A lecturer at Yoftahe Nigussie School of Theatrical Arts at Addis Ababa University watches this development cautiously. Though the number of films produced, and the money involved has increased substantially, the quality of the films in respective to arts and cinematography seems flat, he explained to EBR. “The qualities of sounds and pictures have in fact improved thanks to the digital technology, but other artistic and cinematographic elements as well as the themes and stories in movies haven’t shown significant improvements” he argues refering some of the movies he has watched.

Although a large number of youth in urban areas enjoy local films, western films familiar moviegoers aren’t satisfied with the quality of local films.  Mekedes Nega, 31, is one of such movie lovers who thinks life without movies [and music] would be unbearable. “I have seen Hollywood movies from Gone with the Wind to Avatar” she claims when approached by EBR while she was getting tickets at Mathi Cenema. (The cinema, located inside Edna Mall around the booming Bole Medhanialem Business District in Downtown Addis Ababa, is a privately-owned venue that screens newly released Hollywood blockbusters and Ethiopian movies.) “I have also seen many of the movies produced locally but I have never been satisfied with any of them” she adds. She attributes her dissatisfaction to the absence of professional elements in the movies, mainly a plot. “They [Ethiopian movies] lack a lot of things you would expect from a movie, mainly a story” she adds.

One reason why local movies have not satisfied the expectations of moviegoers is due to their genres, which in recent years have become more or less similar - comedy or romantic comedy.  Another moviegoer, Thomas Urgesa, is “sick and tired” of watching these similar genre films. “The plots are very similar in several of the movies I have watched” he reflects to EBR. “The themes of the films usually revolve around the affluent and simple way of life with fun and comedy scenes in the cities, particularly in Addis Ababa.” Thomas adds. “This is not the only way of life in Ethiopia, if movies are supposed to show our lives”.

In the initial years of filmmaking in Ethiopia, the genre of the movies was focused on showing the dark side of life; portraying crime, murder and corruption Yonas Berhane explains. These days most of the movies produced and marketed locally are either comedy, or romantic comedies. Filmmakers believe that such movies are what the market needs. Despite the commercial success his films have achieved, Yonas isn’t contented with the level of the film industry in the country. “Though art is  meant to show basic challenges and ways of life in the society, our movies are mostly market-oriented and couldn’t do that” he says. “We are just not doing art for the sake of art” he confesses.

Several of the stakeholders EBR has approached agree on one thing, in a country where there is no formal education at a university level on filmmaking, the growth of the industry has been encouraging, but improvement is needed in all spheres. Some say with the absence of critical filmgoers who watch most of the films on screen, improvement may take time. 

Yonas argues, in a country where the art of watching film is a new phenomenon, the responsibility of producing quality movies solenly goes to the filmmakers, the cinema houses and the government in producing and screening better quality films.

Yidnekachew Shumete has made films that are not in the romantic comedy genre, and yet has been successful. He argues that even though the demand in the market dictates the success and failure of films thematic and cinematographic qualities of movies can still win over the taste of the audiences. Teza which has been a ground breaking in bringing  thought provoking  stories and of course, the highest level of cinematography is one good example of this, he asserts. An Amharic movie has never been seen with that intensity, he says.

The Long Queue at the Cinema Halls

It is not only the movie goers who stand in a queue at the gates of the cinema; filmmakers too have to get to the queues to get their films screened for the public. In government-owned cinemas film producers wait up to two years to get their turn, whereas in privately owned cinema they have to pass the criteria set by the cinemas – to present a movie that film goers would like or “laugh” at.

The number of cinemas has grown parallel to the number of films produced in the country, though it still can’t satisfy the high demand. There are now 15 cinemas in Addis Ababa where movies are premiered in big screens. These include three of the state owned cinemas; Ambassador Theater, Cinema Ethiopia and Cinema Empire which have 1,447, 1,012 and 805 seats respectively. There are also 12 privately owned cinemas with accommodation capacities of more than 100 seats. The Addis Ababa City Culture and Tourism Bureau give permission to screen movies to cinemas that has a minimum of 100 seats. 

Understanding this, many buildings in Addis Ababa are re-designing their facilities to have cinemas. Many new buildings are also including cinemas as part of their real estate business. Buildings that have cinemas attract a large number of visitors per day, which contributes well to tenants interest to acquire a place at a higher rate. The opening of a new cinema at Getu Commercial Center on Africa Avenue and dedication of a floor at the Zefmesh Building around Megenagna are good  examples.

Sebastopol Entertainment Plc, owned by Tewodros Teshome, is constructing a six-storey multiplex in Arada District at a cost of ETB50 million. The multiplex will have 10 cinemas, five with 250 seats, two with 400, the other two with 600 seats and the biggest one with 1,000 seats. The top two stories of the building will have a sound stage where much of the resources needed to shoot movies will be available. The earth work for construction has already started.

Edna Mall, which has Mathi Cinema around Bole Medhanealem, is also planning to build a new cinema soon. Dembel and Ambassador real estates have also plans to include cinemas in their buildings.

The future

Ethiopia’s rich and diverse culture, history, geography and topography make the country favorable for filmmaking. “Government should enact a policy for filmmaking by separating it from other sectors and it can earn the country a substantial income and help in image-building” urges Tesfaye Mamo, president of the Ethiopian Filmmakers Association. He argues that a policy that encourages and supports co-production of films with those who have vast knowledge and experience in the sector, will help with technology and knowledge transfer.

Filmmaking and screening has come a long way through the commitments and efforts of individuals. Now, policy-makers should work towards institutionalizing and enhancing its development to the next professional level. Creating connection and opening up the sector for more advanced and experienced foreign filmmaking companies will help achieve this. 

Some countries joined the movie industry very recently and have registered a remarkable achievement, Nigeria being a good case in point. The Nigerian Film Industry hit a turning point when Living in Bondage hit the market in 1992, and when the government set up a favorable atmosphere for filmmaking. Government and institutions need to support the production of Cinematic Arts, which will help in applying the principles of the discipline. As it stands, the movie making ‘industry’ is inclined to satisfy the taste of the audience. That is why the genre of most films is either comedy or romantic comedies, which are genres the audience enjoys more. 

Producers, directors, cinemas and others involved in the sector should sacrifice to help the ‘industry’ grow a step ahead rather than focusing on money-making motives and disregarding the development of the art. The ‘industry’ should evolve to higher standards of professionalism at all aspects. Otherwise, film goers may not label the films as the “works of devil”, but may refuse to pay as aristocrats of Menelik II did a century ago.

link to:- http://ethiopianbusinessreview.net/index.php/topic/item/402-led-by-the-market-how-the-market-oriented-ethiopian-infant-film-%E2%80%98industry%E2%80%99-staggers-to-stand-on-its-feet

The New Negress Film Society

The Question of an Ethiopian Cinema

25 Dec

I just returned from a week-long trip to Ethiopia where I was — among other things — investigating the question of an Ethiopian Cinema. What I mean by “Ethiopian Cinema” is a film industry that is not only vibrant but also one that has a self-conscious identity and a unique “film language.” If you’ve been following my blog, you might recall that earlier this year I asked a similar question about an “African film language” and a “Third (World) Cinema” when I was studying African cinema. You might also recall that exactly a year ago I visited Ethiopia with some colleagues and with my wife to begin exploring this question, about which I blogged in a series of six posts composed during the trip [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], and [6].

The timing of my trip this year almost couldn’t have been better. Over the past decade, the number of films produced in Ethiopia and by Ethiopians has increased from about five per year to about a hundred per year. This is in part due to the new digital technologies and in part due to the nation’s overall economic growth. Consequently, this year Addis Ababa University (AAU) created its first masters degree program in film within the School of Fine Arts and Design (inexplicably doing this before creating an undergraduate program in film; incidentally, everyone I talked to in Ethiopia thought AAU’s creating a masters program before an undergraduate program was strange.) Also this year the Ministry of Culture and Tourism began hosting workshops with film professionals as it continues to work on its draft of the nation’s first comprehensive film policy.  Perhaps not so coincidentally, also this year the national television station ETV changed its name to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Company (EBC) and has begun to show locally and internationally produced films. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Diaspora community has also been busy, with the creation of the Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS) in Silver Spring, Maryland in 2008, to distribute Ethiopian media entertainment. Earlier this year, an oppositional network representing the Oromo ethnic group and language, the Oromo Media Network (OMN) was created in Minneapolis, Minnesota (though unfortunately so far it only broadcasts news and political opinions); meanwhile, some young Oromos living in Diaspora have independently begun to make movies in their language.

my interview with film director Berhanu in my hotel room at the Bole Ambassador

My trip actually had four separate goals, so my time was a bit hectic, and I wasn’t able to accomplish all of the things that I wanted to accomplish or spend time with even half the people I would have liked to have seen. In addition to my research question, I also needed to do some preparation for a possible study-abroad program for which students from Wagner College will — I hope — travel with me to Ethiopia for a couple of weeks next summer. Where they will stay, what they will do, and the formalities of the international relationships between institutions are all tricky details. Also, I will be teaching a class on “African Cinema” at Wagner College in the spring, and in collaboration with Sandscribe Communications in Ethiopia, will make this course available via the internet as a workshop to students in Ethiopia. Copies of all of the movies that I will teach the textbook are now at Sandscribe’s office in Addis. To advertise this workshop, I gave a rather lengthy presentation at the Bole campus of Rift Valley University in which I attempted to relate the question of an Ethiopian cinema to the history of African cinema. Lastly, I did a little work for Sandscribe so that it can grow.

my interview with movie maker Tesfaye

Hence, to achieve all these goals, my six days in Ethiopia’s capital city Addis Ababa were essentially a series of meetings and interviews at various places around the city that I did with the help of Sandscribe’s manager Tesfaye and his capable wife Metsihet, who video-recorded some of our activity. I had formal meetings with faculty at Rift Valley University and informal meetings with friends at Slow Food International and the Gudina Tumsa Foundation.  I conducted interviews with a professor at Addis Ababa and with six film-makers, representing three different generations of film-making in the country. I also met with two individuals from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism who are working on a governmental film policy. Lastly, of course, was my own presentation, the audience for which included several people active in the film-making community. I had a really good time full of engaging conversations even though, it must be said, a lot of my time was spent in taxis stuck in traffic, since Ethiopia is building a new metro-rail that cuts right across the city and, for the time-being, creates a lot of congestion. Such is the big city.

me with Sandscribe Communications manager Tesfaye and Rift Valley University professors Merga and Teshome

To be quite honest, I’m overwhelmed with all that there is to think about and still learn. Debates about tax policy and infrastructure continue. Observations about the ways Ethiopia’s film industry is so unique present interesting questions — questions such as why Ethiopia’s market is so driven by theaters rather than by the DVD or internet markets and why so many of the films are romantic comedies rather than other genres. One question that I repeatedly raised is whether “Ethiopian cinema” is really only an “Addis Ababa cinema” that doesn’t truly express the entire country or even connect with audiences outside the capital city. Different ethnic groups within Ethiopia certainly experience “Ethiopian cinema” differently.

with former students Hiwote, Fiker, and Yimeka and film-maker Paolos at the delicious Efoy pizza parlor in Addis

But to return to the question with which I began, is there such a thing as a distinctly Ethiopian film language? And how might this relate to that ever-problematic and ineffable something that some might call an “African film language” — what scholar Manthia Diawara explores in his 2010 book African Film: New Forms of Aesthetics and Politics, which will be the textbook for my class in the spring. The term “film language” can mean a lot of things, and at the core of its meaning is something of a paradox. On the one hand, film language has a universal grammar of images and sounds and how they are sequenced to create meaning and evoke emotion; the elements of this film language are pretty much the same no matter who the film-maker is (e.g., various kinds of shots, editing techniques, lighting, etc.) On the other hand, it is sometimes said that individual directors have a distinct style or that different national industries have recognizably different film languages (for example, Hollywood versus Paris.) More substantial than mere stylistic difference, and also more technical than the mere reflection of a national culture, the “film language” involves something that is sometimes called “looking relations” — how the camera positions the audience in relation to characters and objects. Such looking relations are intimately bound up with both politics and culture. For instance, feminist scholars have analyzed how much cinema objectifies women from a male perspective, and postcolonial scholars have analyzed how American and Hollywood cinema dehumanizes African people by gazing upon Africa from a condescending colonialist viewpoint that seems to reaffirm an implied feeling of white male privilege. Hence, in some ways, an “African film language” was a way of making films in opposition to the racist, sexist, and imperialist “looking relations” that persisted (and still persist) in so much of American and European movies. What is problematic about such oppositional cinema is that it is defined negatively “against” a more dominant cinema rather than simply being sui generis, of itself, or of its own culture. One way a film might define itself more positively and more nationally is through characters and looking relations that hold up a mirror to the whole country — rich and poor, male and female, etc. — that reflects critically on the multiplicity of relations out of which a culture is formed.

Considering this question historically, for Ethiopia, I noticed a difference between the earlier generation of filmmakers and the new generation. The earlier Ethiopian generations during the Haile Selassie and Derg regimes were trained and experienced film in a remarkably international context — studying at film schools in Paris, Berlin, London, Kiev, and Moscow with a cohort of individuals from countries such as Cuba and Argentina as well as other African countries. Those film-makers participated in the pan-African film festivals such as FESPACO and film movements such as “Third Cinema.” But the new generation that came of age under Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles after the 1991 revolution trained more locally, either self-taught or learned at small film academies in Addis with one-year programs. Their films tend to borrow (somewhat unconsciously according to some individuals I met) from the conventions of Hollywood and Bollywood movies and Latin-American soap operas, and they are somewhat disconnected from the rest of African cinema.

The paradox I want to emphasize here is that the more “national” cinema of the 1980s was forged out of the cauldron of an international education, Marxist thought, and Pan-African solidarities. In other words, a “national” film language was created out of an “international” consciousness. In contrast, today’s attempt by Ethiopian film makers at a “universal” film language is being created out of local contexts.

me and Karl Marx after meeting with Professor Aboneh at the outdoor cafe across the street from Addis Ababa University

Admittedly, my observation is somewhat casual, simplistic, and incomplete. I pose this problematic dichotomy between “old” and “new” generations in hopes that the wrongness of my conceptualization might provoke a response so that I might continue to learn.

link to :-https://filmandmedia.net/2014/12/25/the-question-of-an-ethiopian-cinema/

A Brief Overview of Ethiopian Film History

Published: Sep 12, 2016 by Admin Filed under: Ethiopian Film - 560 Views

1. A Brief Review of Ethiopian Film History

1.1 Introduction

Ethiopia has been labeled possessing a long history of three thousand years and more. At various times, its governors and rulers had played their roles in shaping the geographical, cultural, historical, religious etc. -all aspects of the country. As a result most of the status quo today is, to a great extent, the legacy of our past history. That is why the growth and development of film production and practice go back and forth for the past hundred years. As a matter of fact the film art and technology had been introduced to Ethiopian almost as equal as to Europeans, but still the industry is in its infant stage.

1.2 Early Cinema Development from Minilik II- Haileselassie I

Emperor Minilik II of Ethiopia

Cinema was introduced to Ethiopia only three years after the world's first film ever was projected in Paris in December 28, 1895 by the Louis Lumiere brothers. Following this big historical moment the first film screening in Ethiopia occurred during Emperor Minilik II reign at the palace. , Dr. Berhanuo Abebe(2003) In an article appeared in 'Annales d'Ethiopie ', a French journal on Ethiopia, he wrote that in 1898, a Frenchman from Algeria brought one of the first cinematic artifacts to Ethiopia, and sold it to the Italian minister Ciccodicola, who presented it to Emperor Menilek of Ethiopia as a gift. (Arefayine 2006) By looking back to the historical happenings at the time of Minilik one can come up with a wild guess, like other imported technologies of the time the clergy had heard about the inventions of film technologies and had a lot of interest to get the Cinematograph. According to the two most prominent Historians Dr. Berhanuo and R.Pankerest books before the first public film screening occurred in (1909- 1910) the majesty watched several films in his palace almost for more than a decade.

Some of the scholarly written works mentioned the year the public introduced to film is 1923 which means after 26 years of the first cinematograph arrived in the country. Rather 1923 is the possible year the first cinema house owned and built by Ethiopians. Dr. Berhanou, further elaborate this point, there was a film house called 'Pate' owned by MM. Baicovich from 1909 -1910. People were stunned by this magical invention for the first months but soon they turned in different. A French historian, Merab, in his 'Impressions d'Ethiopie (1922),quoted by Dr. Berhanou, said, 'people apparently didn't like to entertain themselves.’ Also Dr. Richard Pankhurst (1968), a distinguished historian with several publications and books to his credit, in his widely-acclaimed book 'Economic History of Ethiopia' further strengthen the above point, about another attempt made in 1909-10 by some Armenians, but the project attracted only temporary interest, and was soon abandoned. (Arefayine 2006)

The clergy, who were very powerful and influential, intensely opposed to this new medium. By the people who are resistant to modern technology associated cinema to the devil’s work. This is attested by the naming of the first cinema ʽYeseyetan Betʼ (The Devil’s house).Which was opened in the year 1923.According to, Encyclopedia Aethiopica,Vol. I (2003), in the early days cinema, cinema houses were called 'Ye Seytan Bet', (House of Satan), a definition which well suited the technological “devilry ˮ of cinematographically combined images and movement. The introduction of this magical medium to Ethiopia was quite different in its historical and political context when it compared to the rest of Africans. Film brought to most of African countries following the foot stapes of their colonizers. According to Chris Prouty, Ethiopia and Eritrea are one of the more documented countries in the African continent. The first Ethiopian movie au de Menilek was made in 1909 by a French man, Charles Martel. The history of cinema quiet different from the rest of Africa in many aspects most of African countries literature, theater and cinema is a colonial history which was introduced through colonial imposition, Ethiopia was introduced to cinema through the natural course as other agencies of modernization-railway, postal, modern education, telephone, etc were popularized in the country. Emperor Minilik II is credited to the introduction of cinema to Ethiopia. (Abebe 2009)

Apart from introduction of film technology and screening, Arefayine, in his article points out the most important progressive phase in the history of Ethiopian film. The first film known to be produced in Ethiopia was a short 16mm black-and- white film, produced by a certain Tedla on the occasion of Empress Zewditu's coronation day in 1917. Similarly Chris Prouty mentioned the first Ethiopian movie au de Menilek was made in 1909 by a French man, Charles Martel. Which is a few year earlier than Arefayine, therefore by taking these two references in to consideration it is possible to conclude that film production in Ethiopia was began at a maximum of 10 years after film medium introduced to the country. In November of 1928, Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia crowned Taffari Makonnen as King and Heir to the Throne of Ethiopia. The Production of film in Ethiopia continued during the Reign of Hailesselassie I with a film in his coronation.

Emperor Haile Selasse I and Empress Menen with their children at the time of their coronation. November, 2nd 1930.

Following this historical moment, documentary films on different issues featuring historical sites, developmental activities were produced. During Italian occupation in the years between 1936 and 1941 the Italians exploited the power of film medium in the glorification and promotion of their culture and politics. They built movie houses in Addis Ababa, Dessie, Dire Dewa and Jimma.

1.3 Socialist Derg and Ethiopian Cinema

After Hailesselassie I following the popular revolutionary outburst of February 1974 against the archaic and oppressive feudal monarchy the military dictatorship Derg tried to nationalize or the existing commercial cinema's into People's Cinema with extreme censorship in place. Ek (2009) briefly explains a first steps in formulating the Ethiopian film industry was taken over thirty years ago when the country provided the set for the filming of Shaft in Africa in (1973) and the local production Gouma in (1975) by Michel Papatakis.

Photos of Michel Papatakis

Until 1974, there were many cinema halls in the country and American and Indian movies have been popular. During the Derg era it is worth to mention that with the nationalization of the Cinema houses, there was a small period that only Russian films having a communist message were allowed to be screened. In that period due to the nationalization of all cinema houses the number of cinema houses, instead of showing progress has gradually decreased. This period in terms of quality and content of production a number of films were produced including a film entitled “Harvest Three Thousand Yearsˮ which features the bitterness of the life of the peasantry under the feudal system was produced by a renowned film director Haile Gerima in 1976. Since then he directed several other films. He is Ethiopia's most proficient director and exporter, who have made seven films including Sankofa (1993) and Imperfect Journey (1994).There were also films produced by Ethiopians such as Guma (Vandeta), and Hirut. Following this, the film production section established under the ministry of culture and sports affairs, produced another film entitled “3002ˮ

Haile Gerima Prof. UCLA

According to a survey study of culture and Media in Ethiopia (February 2003) the Ethiopian film industry that focused on production of documentary films continued with the establishment of Ethiopian film center in 1978.The center then replaced by the Ethiopian film corporation(EFC), which was established by Proclamation No.306/1986(7). Derg established Film Corporation for the purpose of one for news and socialist propaganda; and the other for art productions. These institutions were able to produced 27 documentaries all together. Apart from these documentaries two feature films entitled Behiwot Zuria and Aster were produced. In the period of the HaileSelassie and Mengistu a number of films produced by Ethiopian filmmakers projected as nostalgia along the lines of social changes. According to Pfaff (2004) the thread that runs through Haile Gerima's Harvest: 3000 Years (1976) and Imperfect Journey (1994), Salem Mekuria's Deluge (1995), and Yemane Demissie's Tumult (1996) is a project to revision the foundational narrative of a 3000 year Solomonic Ethiopia in light of the experience with feudalism and a failed revolution and their legacies. "Harvest: 3000 Years" casts a critical glance at the ways the feudal state under Haile Selassie, especially, manipulated legend and myth to perpetuate allegiance to a glorious past that was able to keep the vast majority of Ethiopian peasantry under feudal control. Made at a moment of transition between the end of the feudal regime and dawn of the revolutionary regime of Mengistu, Harvest contests and subverts the reigning feudal narratives and also anticipates the still unfinished struggle against the postfeudal era. Tumult, for its part, revisits the 1960s failed attempts by students, in alliance with segments of the military, to topple Haile Selassie's regime. The film eloquently provides a solid foundation for better understanding of the continuing struggles in contemporary Ethiopia. This is also what Salem Mekuria accomplishes in Deluge, which revisits, from a more personal point of view, a more recent moment in 1970s and 1980s Ethiopia under the reign of Mengistu Haile Mariam. Mekuria's second major work, Yewonz Maibel (Deluge, 1995), is a moving personal journey back to the post-Haile Selassie Ethiopia and the 1978-79 bloody moment of the Red Terror campaign of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia against his opposition.

1.4 Film Industry in the Cotemporary Ethiopia

After the fall of the military government by the democracy fighters Ethiopian People’s Republic Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991, there is almost no film production was takes place for a decade. Consequently in January 1999 the government totally dissolute the former more fruitful Ethiopian film corporation by proclamation No.151/1999.After the dissolution of Ethiopian Film Corporation some of the members of EFC subsequently formed the Ethiopian film Association which is currently named Ethiopian Film Production Association (AFPA). This period due to the advent of video technology the video films became popular in the world and some of the African countries like the Nigerians Nolly wood boost and flood the film word in a massive number of video productions. In contrary Ethiopian film industry is struggling with the past and the present sociopolitical hangover. Though, the numbers of produced films are too small from the view point of the huge socio-cultural heritage of the country. There is actually a dramatic development in the film production sector of Ethiopia in the last three decades. (Masersha 2009)

According to Masresha the film sector in Ethiopia has gained momentum in 1985 when films began to be produced in Amharic language and simultaneously accessed to the audience via CDs.

2. Conclusion and Recommendations

Ethiopian film industry has experienced a robust growth over the past couple of decades. But still the industry faces various kinds of challenges. It consists of many small producers working with a tiny amount of capital; it therefore has not been able to build its own spaces-studios, theaters, office complexes and remain nearly invisible in the Addis Ababa city space, apart from film posters and the films themselves displayed for sale as cassettes or video compact discs. The current growth and development of the industry is shapeless, it is not institutionalized, and it is full of untrained individuals who thought that film making is a profitable business area and a people who have a passion and interest. In addition to this there are no educational institutions who train qualified film makers. Apart from this there are so many studies on different areas of film practices in the west, Australia, China, India, Japan and few African countries like South Africa and Nigeria. Generally, there is the significant absence of research on third world films specially those of Ethiopia. In order to accelerate the growth of film industry which is the most beneficiary sector to the countries economical and cultural development specially the government must take an immediate action in the following three critical problems.

Professional associations should be organized and be free to work without any political, social and economic influences, so that they can serve to create favorable conditions for to be rightful beneficiaries of their creative works.

Due to drastic development of ICT and cyber technology the nature and scope of plagiarism and violation of copy right law became a major problem even in the most developed countries. Therefore The country in order to be beneficiary; and to exploit every possible opportunity from this sector to the countries future economical and cultural development, to take one step ahead the growth and development of the film industry the government has to take a major action and to be put in to effect the copy right law.

 The last but not the list recommendation is both the government and the private business sectors should work aggressively to reduce the dominant academic and technical knowledge and skill gap problem of the industry .Most of the current Ethiopian film industry problems are a collective problems over come by the absence educational institutions. Therefore the government must look back to the educational policy and curriculum and take possible actions in order to encourage the private business sector to be active participant in the sector.
link to :-http://www.ethiopian-movies.com/articles/a-brief-overview-of-ethiopian-film-history_1.html