Ethiopian film wins UN, World Bank prize at FESPACO Awards

The film depicts a scenario in the early 1970s, when Anberber, the movie's main character, leaves his village of Minzero for Germany, to study. When he comes back to Ethiopia in 1990, he is not the same person saying he has come to die. The contemporary realities of Ethiopia are depicted through the adventures of Anberber, his dreams, disillusion, drama, hopes.

The prize - five million CFA francs (US$10,000) — and a trophy were presented by the resident co-ordinator of the United Nations System in Burkina Faso, Babacar Cissé, along with Galina Sotirova, the World Bank country manager.

Salome Gerima, sister of the filmmaker, and also a member of the film production team, received the prize in the midst of thunderous applause. In accepting the award, Gerima said, “I am touched that the jury unanimously selected "Teza." My happiness is great and I lack words to express it.”

Commenting on the award, Bassirou Sanogo, a well-known cinema critic and member of the jury, noted that, “Teza deals with relevance, sound sensitivity and an in-depth approach to the issue of development from the angle of the Millennium Development Goals. It highlights the problems of health, human rights, education, governance and access to social services and food security.”

According to Sotirova, “this first participation by the World Bank in FESPACO is an opportunity to reinforce the dialogue and debate on poverty. It is also a new approach of the bank to work with civil society and the media, in short to be closer to the broader public. We congratulate the winner of our joint special prize with the UN.”

“Teza” was selected among 23 films competing in the categories of feature film, short film, TV video and documentary at FESPACO. This festival, created in 1969, celebrates its 40 years of existence this year.

Haile Gerima was born in Ethiopia in 1946. He moved to the United States in 1968 where he entered the black filmmakers' school in Los Angeles. He has been teaching at Howard University in Washington since 1975. His recent films are: “Voyage Imparfait” (1994) and “Une Victoire Africaine” (1999).

World Bank country director for Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Ishac Diwan, in congratulating the winner noted, "Coming to Ouaga for this FESPACO has given me more confidence that we can really work with African artists and other players to promote poverty reduction and development through the creative industries. It was a delight for us from the bank to participate this first time. We will remain engaged because the creativity and innovation in this industry could be better harnessed for job and wealth creation throughout Africa. Let's hope that FESPACO and other initiatives will soon help unearth African talents to win prestigious global awards, just like the film 'Slum Dog Millionaire' has done at the Oscars."

For more information on FESPACO visit http://www.fespaco.bf/.