The simple life in his mother's hut off the grid set against the huge TVs in the apartment blocks where the other children live. Asalif adapts to the changes to his familiar surroundings with growing autonomy. He becomes Anbessa, the lion.
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Title: Anbessa (2019)
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3 wins & 10 nominations.
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Cast
| Credited cast: | |||
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Asalif Tewold | ||
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Alem Sebisibe Ayitenfsu | ||
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Abinet | ||
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Aster Biruk Aderi | ||
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Birtukan Biruk Aderi | ||
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Biruk Aderi | ||
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Fikadu Biruk Aderi | ||
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Tigist Biruk Aderi | ||
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Tsehay Biruk Aderi | ||
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Meseret Dechasa | ||
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Getnet | ||
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Soloman Girma | ||
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Kuba | ||
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Misgan Assefa Lulie | ||
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Teshome Seifu | ||
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Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
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Storyline
Through a coming-of-age story, ANBESSA captures one boy taking on modernization on his own terms, revealing a unique and magical perspective on the myth of "progress" that entraps us all. Ten-year-old Asalif and his mother have been displaced from their farmland on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the construction of a condominium. As they watch the buildings take shape, they are reminded in small and big ways that their country's dream of "progress" is not for them. To fight back against those casting him out and those threatening his mother's safety, Asalif taps into a fantasy of becoming his hero: the lion ("anbessa" in Amharic). Asalif uses his imagination to battle forces beyond his control. His newfound power and fantasy take him to places he never imagined inside and out of the condo until finally, Asalif must find the strength that resides in him as a boy, and shed the lion persona, in order to deal with the tides of change and violence that are usurping a community,...
Plot Keywords:
title directed by female | title written by female | africa | ethiopia |Parents Guide:
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Details
Language:
AmharicRelease Date:
9 May 2019 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Anbessa - Löwe See more »Filming Locations:
Addis Ababa, EthiopiaCompany Credits
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Very well shot camera variete style Documentary. It is very sensitive to the pitfalls of superimposing the filmmakers' view point over that of the subject characters common to this documentary style. It avoids such bias well and should be commaded for this.
The film captures the reality of the population that is left behind and pushed around in Ethiopian society
The film juxtapositions the bleak existance of an exceptionally bright and outgoing child and his single mother living in a mus hur just outside so called condo development, with neighbors in these developments, who are just slightly better off but still a world apart.
The best of variete documentaries!