Cinema
Blood Is Not Fresh Water
Theo Eshetu · 1997
Synopsis
Back in Ethiopia, a filmmaker raised in Europe finds his grandfather again, Tekle Tsadik Mekouria, a historian and former diplomat, whom he had seen only twice since childhood. The old man becomes the thread of the film: through his memories and his books, the history of the country is told over long spans of time, from its legends to the Italian occupation. The journey leads to the supposed sources of the Nile and on the trail of the Ark of the Covenant, between travel diary, family portrait and quest for self.
Context
Produced by Eve Silvester and edited by Walter Fasano, the film also bears an Italian title, its author working in Rome. The critic Mbye Cham sees the grandfather serve as a narrative vehicle to tell Ethiopia through the centuries, by a mosaic of images, archives, testimonies and humour: the Solomonic origins, the heritage of culture, religion and art, then the Fascist invasion of 1936, which came to avenge the defeat of half a century earlier. It has circulated in festivals and museums rather than in cinemas.
Who it is for
A documentary of under an hour, between travelogue and video essay, which proceeds by association of images rather than by exposition.
Prizes and reception
Awarded several prizes, it is regarded as its author's masterwork, and Stuart Klawans judged it one of the most gripping films of his festival.