Cineculture : Ambessa

March 27: Anbessa  (2019)

Discussant: Mo Scarpelli (Director)

Through a coming-of-age story, Anbessa tells the story of one boy taking on modernization on his own terms, revealing a unique and magical perspective on the myth of “progress” that entraps us all. Ten-year-old Asalif and his mother have been displaced from their farmland on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the construction of a condominium. As they watch the buildings take shape, they are reminded in big and small ways that their country’s dream of “progress” is not for them. To fight back against those casting him out and those threatening his mother’s safety, Asalif taps into a fantasy of becoming “Anbessa” i.e. a “lion” in the Ethiopian language of Amharic. Asalif uses his imagination to battle forces beyond his control. His newfound power and fantasy take him to places he never imagined inside and out of the condo until he  must find the strength that resides in him as a boy, and shed the lion persona, in order to deal with the tides of change and violence that are usurping a community, a country, and his own identity. In Amharic with English subtitles. 85 minutes. Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-mSdHqdpTo

Sponsor: Center for Creativity and the Arts and The Fresno Bee