Here’s another random selection of ten films to watch (some of them already doing the rounds, others still in production). In no particular order: Lomi Shita (Abraham Gezahagne’s “The Scent of Lemon”), is “set in 1972, in a season of hot political turmoil that started the downfall of the [Ethiopian] Emperor and the mass executions of top officials.” Cast: Elisabeth Melaku, Moges Chekol and Solomon Tesfaye. Ethiotube has the trailer. ‘Lomi Shita’ is screening at the Ethiopian Colours of the Nile film festival this week (Addis Ababa, November 7 – 11). Also showing at the Addis festival is Hisab, a short animation film by Ezra Wube. ‘Hisab’ is a humorous take on the hustle and bustle of Addis Ababa, and has the best opening lines. For those of us not in Ethiopia, the film’s available on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZgS0Zga5zI

Mkhobbi fi Kobba (Fr. “Soubresauts”; Eng. [ballet term] “Sudden Leaps”) is a short film by Leyla Bouzid (who is the daughter of director Nouri Bouzid), exploring a mother-daughter relationship in a Tunisian “petit bourgeois” milieu. The film’s sound score was composed by oud player Anouar Brahem. A fragment (while waiting for an official trailer):

Le Sac de Farine (“The Bag of Flour”), is a film by Kadija Leclere about a young Moroccan girl kidnapped from a Belgian orphanage — where she was placed by her father — and forcibly returned to Morocco — by her father:

Some outtakes from Music and War Stories, a film the SoundThread team made with South Sudanese musicians in the wake of the country’s independence:

The trailer for Sea Pavillion, a short by Marysia Makowska and Todd Somodevilla, recorded in Macassar (a former South African “coloured beach” which sits in between Khayelitsha and Somerset West), featuring South African actors Stefan de Clerk and Colleen van Rensburg. We’ll have to watch it to understand the South Africa connection:

Trailer/teaser for For Those Whose God is Dead, a film directed by Jeremiah L. Mosese (born in Leribe, Lesotho):

And three films that have no trailers yet:

Laan (“Leaf”) is a short film by actress Lula Ali Ismaïl (Djibouti/Canada), also her directing debut, tackling khat abuse in Djibouti. Here’s an interview with the director (in French) about her recording of the film in Djibouti and the obstacles she had to overcome while there — financial troubles, mostly.


Kenyan Hawa Essuman’s film project Djin, chronicling the clash between a coastal village’s old mythologies and new developments, received a €25,000 prize for the film’s production at the African Film Festival of Cordoba in Spain recently. Details on the film’s website.


And Le Rite, la Folle et Moi (“The ritual, the crazy woman, and I”) is Togolese Gentille Assih Menguizani’s second film about Togolese rituals. Her first film, Itchombi, spoke about male initiation. In her new film she documents ‘Akpéma’ — a ritual ceremony in the Kabyé region during which elderly women teach young girls how to become “dignified and mature” women.

(This week’s list of 10 included, we’ve arrived at 100 new films to watch. Recap: 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, 81-90, 91-100. More next week.)