ADWA: AN AFRICAN VICTORY (1999) with filmmaker Haile Gerima

40 Arts Circle Drive,Evanston IL 60208

12 May, 2023

Description

ADWA: AN AFRICAN VICTORY(Haile Gerima, 1999, 35 mm, 96 min)With filmmaker Haile Gerima in personMade in commemoration of the centennial anniversary of the 1896 Battle of Adwa. Haile Gerima's eponymous film tells the story of Ethiopia's revolutionary struggle against an imposing Italian colonial project. Part autobiography and part documentary, Gerima's Adwa (1996) presents a sweeping account of the historical events that paved the way for Ethiopia's liberation under the leadership of Emperor Menelik and Empress Taitu. Gerima gathers and interweaves oral accounts, allegories, songs and chants, as well as archival documents in an effort to quilt a response to a question posed early in the film: "Why didn't you come earlier if you wanted to know history?" The battle aids in the search for an answer and leads us to a central theme in Gerima's larger body of work. By filming the landscapes and the people of the region, Gerima demonstrates the role cinema can play in preserving memory, summoning history, and bringing both to life through the power of generational transmission in storytelling. Haile Gerima and Shirikiana Aina are 2023 Hoffman Visiting Artists for Documentary Media, a short-term filmmaker residency at Northwestern’s School of Communications funded by a generous gift from Jane Steiner Hoffman and Michael Hoffman. Co-presented with support from the Michael and Jane Hoffman Visiting Artist Series and the MFA in Documentary Media at Northwestern.