Teza, part of the film series Resistance & Revolution: The Cinema of Haile Gerima
Thu Apr 18 2019
2:45 PM – 5:30 PM
Image from Teza, courtesy the speaker.
Thursday, 18 April 2019, 6:45 PM
TIFF Bell Lightbox
TPP & TIFF 365-Level Members $9.75 | Public $14
Dir. Haile Gerima
2008 | 140 min
The film reflects on the effects of the fall of Emperor Selassie, and the ways in which political upheaval and social change have impacted cultures and nations across the larger African Diaspora. Told mainly through a series of flashbacks, Teza follows the personal narrative of Anberber, who after leaving Ethiopia for Germany to become a doctor, is led to return to his home village by lingering spirits and haunting visions from his childhood. Using the power of memory as its primary device, Teza recounts the historical circumstances that have framed the context in which contemporary Ethiopia exists. The movie chronicles Anberber's internal struggle to stay true - both to himself and to his homeland- but above all, the film explores the possession of memory, a right that humanity mandates that each of us have: the right to own our pasts.
The screening will be introduced by Alison Duke, an artistic activist, award-winning filmmaker, and passionate producer committed to the Canadian visual art form. Recently, she co-wrote and co-produced the television documentary Mr. Jane & Finch (19) for CBC Docs POV. She also directed the upcoming television special The Cool Black North for Rogers/Citytv.
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Haile Gerima is an independent filmmaker and professor of film at Howard University. Born and raised in Ethiopia, Gerima emigrated to the United States in 1967. He studied acting in Chicago before entering the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. His thesis film, Bush Mama (75), received international acclaim, and his Ethiopian drama Harvest: 3,000 Years (76) won the Silver Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. Gerima continues to distribute and promote his own films, including Teza (08), which won the Grand Jury Prize and Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival.
This Haile Gerima mini-retrospective is a celebration of a remarkable film-maker, a complement to two of The Power Plant’s Winter 2019 exhibitions, and represents co-presentations of five films with The Power Plant and Art Gallery of Ontario, Hot Docs, and TIFF.
More Films in this Series
For more information on the Resistance & Revolution: The Cinema of Haile Gerima film series, please contact programs[at]thepowerplant.org