Popular Ethiopian Cinema: Love and Other Genres (World Cinema)

This book shines much-needed light on the history, structures and films of the Amharic film industry in Ethiopia. Focusing on the rise of the industry from 2002, until today, and embedded in archival, ethnographic and textual research methods, this book offers a sustained and detailed appreciation of Amharic-language cinema. Michael Thomas considers ‘fiker’/love as an organising principle in national Ethiopian culture and, by extension, Amharic cinema. Placing ‘fiker’ as central to understanding Amharic film genres also illuminates the continuous negotiations at play between romantic, familial, patriotic and spiritual notions of love in these films. Thomas considers the production and exhibition of films in Ethiopia, charting fluctuations and continuities between the past and the present. Having done so, he offers detailed textual readings of films, identifying important junctures in the industry’s development and the emergence of new genres. The findings of the book detail the affective characteristics that delineate most Amharic genres and the role culturally specific concepts, such as fiker, play in maintaining the relevance of commercial cinemas reliant on domestic audiences. Cover Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Figures Acknowledgements Note Introduction: Courtship and the curiosity of cinema in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ፍ ቅር – Fiker (love) and Amharic film Amharic film genres, melodrama and fiker Ethiopia, identity and Amharic film Structure of the book Part One The history 1 Film exhibition in Ethiopia – A long history Menelik, modernity and movies Foreigners and early film exhibition Cinéma-parlant chez Gleyze Cinema Empire opens, 1934 Waugh between Mon Ciné and the Cinema Empire The Hellenic-French connection Italian occupation Reclaiming and renaming cinemas Genre imports Hollywood allure and corruption Socialism on big and small screens Bollywood and a new love The decline of cinemas and the rise of video houses New cinemas for a new era 2 A history of film production in Ethiopia ሂ ሩት አባቷ ማነው ? – Hirut, abatwa mannew? 1964 Television, training and foreign film productions ጉ ማ – Gouma (Gumma), 1974 and Michel Papatakis The Derg and state-funded film production The Ethiopian film corporation The video revolution and the regime change Commercial Amharic cinema begins – 2002 to 2007 The golden years – 2007 to 2011 Reaching a plateau and diversifying Amharic festival films Part Two The films 3 The የፍቅር ፊልም – yefiker film (love film) Frontrunners Commercial viability and the melodramatic mode Love and money in ቀዝቃዛ ወላፈን – Kezkaza Welafen (2002) ጉ ዲፈቻ – Gudifecha (2002) a family affair Philosophizing fiker in እቴጌ ፪ – Etege 2 (2010/11) ረ ቡኒ – R ebuni (2014) and romantic reservations Love and sacrifice Pathos, sentimentality and suffering 4 The rise of the አስቂኝ የፍቅር ፊልም – assikiñ yefiker film (humorous love film) Whether to laugh or cry የወንዶች ጉዳይ – Yewendoch Gudday a man’s world Characters and community Gendered conflicts Convergent aesthetics of fiker in commercial Amharic cinema 5 Violence and order in the ልብ አንጠልጣይ ፊልም – lib anteltay film (suspense film) The film noir/thriller aesthetics of Ethiopian suspense ሔ ርሜላ – Hermela (2005) a threat in the shadows Non-linear narratives and ስርየት – Siryet (2007) Didactic dénouements Crime, kick-ass women and genre hybridity Infiltrating Amharic film genres The rural aesthetic Beyond ‘village films’ 6 The absence of romance and the የቤተሰብ ፊልም – yebeteseb film (family film) Fiker of family ኮሞሮስ – Comoros (2008) expressing national tragedy Public/private displays of the family as nation The innocence of youth and the child actor A comedic turn Family before romance The affective acrobatics of Amharic film genres Part Three The industry 7 Promoting Amharic film genres Theatrical release The distribution dilemma A film promoter’s prerogative? Paratextual indicators of genre 8 Producing Amharic film genres Divergent genre discourses Genre in the production pipe-line The case of Tewodros ‘Teddy’ Teshome Film premieres and genre prestige 9 Perceiving Amharic film genres Consuming the global Who are Ethiopia’s cinemagoers and why the cinema? Structuring free time and an education of fiker Conclusion: Of fiker and film Notes References Filmography Index "This volume shines much-needed light on the history, structures and films of the Amharic film industry in Ethiopia. Focusing on the rise of the industry from 2002, until today, and embedded in archival, ethnographic and textual research methods, this book offers a sustained and detailed appreciation of Amharic-language cinema. Michael Thomas considers 'fiker'/love as an organising principle in national Ethiopian culture and, by extension, Amharic cinema. Placing 'fiker' as central to understanding Amharic film genres also illuminates the continuous negotiations at play between romantic, familial, patriotic and spiritual notions of love in these films. Thomas considers the production and exhibition of films in Ethiopia, charting fluctuations and continuities between the past and the present. Having done so, he offers detailed textual readings of films, identifying important junctures in the industry's development and the emergence of new genres. The findings of the book detail the affective characteristics that delineate most Amharic genres and the role culturally specific concepts, such as fiker, play in maintaining the relevance of commercial cinemas reliant on domestic audiences."-- Provided by publisher