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Anbessa
IDFA 2019

Anbessa

Mo Scarpelli
Italy, United States
2019
86 min
Dutch Premiere
Festival history

From their little house just outside the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 10-year-old Asalif and his mother look out on rows of newly-built, concrete apartment blocks. From the forest behind their house, they hear the hyenas howl at night. They used to live where the condominiums now stand. Asalif’s mother had a plot of land there, where she grew crops and kept animals. Now, developers already have their eyes on their new home—they’re worse than the hyenas, his mother says.

It’s a struggle to make a good life for himself here, but fortunately Asalif has no lack of spirit and talent. He’s very skilled when it comes to repairing the discarded electronic devices he finds at the garbage dump. In his dreams, he transforms into a lion (anbessa in Amharic), the only animal that can beat a hyena. Sometimes his imagination takes over, and he finds himself in a fantasy world in which he roams freely and fearlessly through the forests and the new building developments—the latter of which no longer present a threat to his existence.

Credits
Director
Production
    Caitlin Mae Burke for Rake Films,
    Mo Scarpelli for Rake Films
    Caitlin Mae Burke for Rake Films,
    Mo Scarpelli for Rake Films
Executive producer
    Danielle Perissi,
    Gelila Bekele
    Danielle Perissi,
    Gelila Bekele
Editing
Music
    Erik K Skodvin
    Erik K Skodvin
Involved TV Channel
    ARTE/ZDF
    ARTE/ZDF
Screening copy
    Lightdox
    Lightdox
World Sales
    Lightdox
    Lightdox

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