Trailer: Adama, Ethiopia

OmU 20 min. Germany/Ethiopia 2024.

The film impressively describes what brings internally displaced people from eastern Ethiopia to Adama. In moving scenes, we hear how men and women suffer from the loss of their homes, their possessions and their old lives. But with the help of the project, which is being realised together with the EECMY DASSC, the ELM and the generous support of the regional church of Hanover, they try to regain their footing. First and foremost, the protagonist Ibrahim Mohammed Hassan tells how he regains his courage and what his wish for the future is. While he is initially desperate and says that he does not even have enough water to wear clean clothes or that he skips the main meal so that his children get enough and tells them that he has already eaten, he gains hope that his living conditions will improve with the help of the project. Like him, some women are also traumatised by the immeasurable violence they experienced during the eviction, where "people were poured into pits with excavators" (quote). Only slowly can things change for them and so you can also see the women who, in a joint effort, ensure that their refugee camp is put back in order and that everyone helps to clean up. Young men talk about their lost dreams.
But in the end, it is Ibrahim Mohammed Hassan's dream of a world in which all people are equal and live in peace, regardless of their ethnicity, that touches the viewer the most.

Participation in:
Return International Film & Art Festival, Germany (2024)
RESONANS - A Fringe of Nature & Culture, Denmark (2024)
Kotka Human Rights Film Festival, Finland (2024)
Africa International Human Rights Film Festival, Nigeria (2024)
Sofia MENAR Film Festival, Bulgaria (2024)
Corto Dorico Film Festival, Italy (2024)
Bamberger Kurzfilmtage, Germany (2025)

 

Background to the project:

The project pursues the strategy of addressing the problems of the respective target groups, internally displaced persons and returnees, with a focus on women and young people through economic and social empowerment. The economic empowerment approach aims to enable people to engage in various income-generating activities or small businesses. One basis is the provision of training in entrepreneurial skills and start-up capital. The social empowerment approach includes awareness training and capacity building measures. These are intended to strengthen decision-making power, control over assets, self-confidence, gender roles and responsibilities, etc.
In addition, the project aims to promote peace-building, tolerance and coexistence between people through seminars, training workshops, dialogue meetings, etc. It focuses on independent conflict resolution mechanisms. Local faith leaders, councils of elders, traditional leaders, women and youth, local government representatives and other interested groups are involved.