On Friday evening I saw the film Teza at the Avalon Theater directed by famed Ethiopian-America director Haile Gerima (Sankofa).
Teza tells the story (mainly through flashbacks)of Anberber, a young man who leaves his small Ethiopian village to study medicine in Germany in the early 70's. Anberber is swept up in the political tide of Socialism, black power and nationalism. He returns to a new Ethiopia freed from Selassie's autocratic monarchy. Energized, Anberber along with his fellow expats return as dedicated communists to help their country only to discover the revolution is just as corrupt. Along the way, he is beaten almost to death by a racist mob in Germany, falls in love with a woman branded a social pariah, and discovers why Ethiopia has called him back.
My description didn't do the film justice. It was heart-breaking, beautiful and bittersweet. Just watch it.
At the end of the showing, Gerima and some of the actors took questions from the crowd. Gerima spoke about his personal struggles on getting the 14-year project off the ground and finding support outside of the major studios. I remember leaving the theater with my heart heavy and smiling. It was that GOOD!
Here is a review in the Washington Post about TEZA
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