Home / Arts and Entertainment / 30-Year Struggle: Gerima Unveils Ethiopian History
30-Year Struggle: Gerima Unveils Ethiopian History
16 Feb
Summary
- Haile Gerima's 531-minute film chronicles Italy's brutal colonial campaign.
- The filmmaker spent 30 years reclaiming Italian colonial film archives.
- Gerima aims to mobilize society for African filmmakers' archive access.
Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima has premiered his monumental 531-minute film, "Black Lions - Roman Wolves," at the Berlin Film Festival. This ambitious project meticulously chronicles Italy's brutal colonial campaign in Ethiopia, a subject Gerima felt compelled to address due to pervasive historical inaccuracies.
Gerima revealed that the film's extensive 30-year production stemmed from his frustration with Italian historical narratives and the "miseducation" he received about the war. He utilized archival footage, much of it captured by Italian filmmakers under Mussolini, to challenge and subvert the colonizer's perspective.
The veteran filmmaker also highlighted the significant obstacles faced in accessing these archives, noting that Italian professors and even the mayor of Rome intervened on his behalf. He is now championing a petition to ensure African filmmakers have rightful access to colonial-era footage.
"Black Lions - Roman Wolves" was produced by Gerima and Shirikiana Aina Gerima through their company, Mypheduh Films, which is handling international sales.
