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Anbessa

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Anbessa

original title:

Anbessa

directed by:

Mo Scarpelli

cast:

Asalif Tewold, Alem Sebisibe, Ayitenfsu

screenplay:

Mo Scarpelli

cinematography:

Mo Scarpelli

editing:

Nico Leunen, Thomas Pooters

music:

Erik K. Skodvin

producer:

Mo Scarpelli, Caitlin Mae Burke

production:

Rake Films, Catapult Film Fund

world sales:

Lightdox [Switzerland]

country:

USA/Italy

year:

2019

film run:

85'

format:

colour

status:

Ready (21/01/2019)

festivals & awards:

  • Atlanta Film Festival 2020: Documentary Feature
  • Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2020: Docs for Kids
  • Berlinale 2019: Generation KpPlus
  • CIFF - Cleveland International Film Festival 2019: Standing Up
  • Docfest - San Francisco Documentary Festival 2019
  • Durban International Film Festival 2019: Documentary Films in Competition
  • Hot Docs 2019: World Showcase
  • IDFA - Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2019: Competition for Kids & Docs
  • LIFFe - Ljubljana International Film Festival 2019: Kinobalon
  • RIFF - Roma Independent Film Festival 2019: Documentaries
  • Addis International Film Festival 2021: Opening Night Film
  • MiradasDoc 2020:El Mirador Award for Best Documentary Feature
  • Sole Luna Doc Fest 2020: Best Cinematography Prize
  • Fabrique du Cinéma Awards 2020: Nominated for Best International Documentary
  • Docudays Ukraine 2020: International Documentary Feature Competition
  • Busan International Children & Youth Festival 2020: Embrace the Difference Competition
  • Stockfish Film Festival Iceland 2020: Documentary Feature Competition
  • Olympia Intl Film Festival for Children & Youth 2019: ECFA Award for Best Documentary
  • MountainFilm Telluride 2019: Best Director Award, Special Mention for Best Documentary Feature
  • RiverRun Intl Film Festival 2019: Special Mention for Best Documentary Feature
  • Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA) 2019: Best Cinematography Prize
  • Human Rights Watch Film Festival London 2019: Official Selection
  • This Human World Film Festival Vienna 2019: Official Selection in Dis:pace:ments
  • UNICEF Innocenti Film Festival 2019: Opening Night Film
  • Heartland Film Festival 2019: Official Selection for Documentary Feature Competition, Nomination for Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award, Nomination for Humor & Humanity Award
  • Santa Fe Independent Film Festival 2019: Official Selection for International Documentary Feature Competition
  • Woods Hole Film Festival 2019: Awarded Runner-Up for Best Documentary Feature
  • Maryland Film Festival 2019: Official Selection
  • Take One Action Film Festival 2019: Official Selection

Asalif and his mother defy the newly-built housing estate which is like all the other ones springing up all over Ethiopia, and continue their life within the traditional village community: grazing their animals, tending their gardens and picking fruit off the trees. Asalif’s hut lacks electricity, but the windows of the surrounding high-rises outshine the moon at night. Asalif scours the new city’s streets for electro-junk and builds a spaceship with an engine. His mother recounts ancient legends. Real estate developers buy up more land. Asalif feels increasingly threatened, stalked by the invisible hyena that haunts the area. With a sensitive grasp of her protagonist’s emotional reality, the documentary filmmaker and camerawoman Mo Scarpelli traces Asalif’s transformation into Anbessa, the lion.