The Anglo-Ethiopian Society
Film - LIDF - Awra Amba + Forced to Marry
Saturday 1st May 2010
Stevenson Lecture Theatre, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG
3.45pm, Tickets £3.00.
Awra Amba + Forced to Marry
Awra Amba - Run Time : 28 mins
Forced to Marry - Run Time : 60 mins (on forced marriages in Pakistan)
This event is followed by a Q&A session.
Awra Amba
40 years ago an illiterate Ethiopian farmer decided to create his own heaven on earth based on equality and freedom from organised religions. He was driven by a belief that there is a way out of poverty, hunger and inequality simply by working hard and reversing traditional values. This is the story of his brainchild Awra Amba, a remarkable rural weaving community in the food insecure region of Amhara in Northern Ethiopia. It is a story of belief in a better, more equal world where humans do not have to suffer but can live in peace and harmony. The film follows the lives of two women in the village, a mother and her daughter. Zibad, the daughter, has just arrived in the village seeking refuge with her five children after a violent marriage. We follow her efforts to become a member and adjusting to a new way of life. Her mother Zeinab runs the tea house which is the heart of all social events in the village. The tea house is a meeting place where heated debates take place between the community members and outsiders who are either fascinated by, or sceptical of, Awra Amba. It provides a window through which we observe the every day challenges in the community. The esoteric 65 year old founder Zumra Nuru is confronted by a group of University students visiting the village and finds himself defending his utopian vision and ideology. Zumra's revolutionary ideas were often met with hostility and he still needs protection by an armed guard due to decades of hatred and death threats.
Director: Paulina Tervo, Cinematographer: Susi Arnott, Film Editor: Catalin Brylla, Producer: Paulina Tervo, Executive Producer: Hugh Purcell.
More information can be found on the London International Documentary Festival website.
Tickets can be booked through the British Museum Online Shop website.
Download the full London International Documentary Festival Programme.
Visit the Awra Amba film website where you can find a lot more information and can buy the DVD (£10 + p&p).