Hello Readers! I'm back and with something new!
My fellow classmate, Yolanda Pesnell and I have been mandated to collaborate on our blogs. So we joined forces and decided to swap and issue a blog on each other's topic.
Yolanda's blog is based on Literature and exploring the world through text, so to switch things up a bit, she decided that she would watch a narrative feature from the 2014 trinidad+tobgao film festival and post a review, thereby exploring the world through film!
The film that Yolanda chose to watch was Diffret, below is her review. Enjoy!
FILM: DIFRET
Type: Narrative Feature
Director: Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
Region: Ethiopia
Year: 2014
Time: 99 Minutes
Language: Amharic, English Subtitles
Rating: 14+
About difret :
This film is a true story about the abduction and rape of a 14 year old girl in a rural area in Southern Ethiopia. The story spans two years from 1996 to 1998 and documents the trial or as BBC News puts it the “Revenge of the abducted bride,” starring Aberash Bekele as Hirut in the film.
The Story :
Hirut was snatched by a group of men on her way home from school, beaten, taken to a deserted Hut and, later that evening, rapped by one of her abductors. The very next morning she was awakened by her abductor/rapist who entered the Hut and gave her a cup of coffee. After he left the barn, Hirut noticed a riffle in the corner of the Hut and saw an opportunity to escape. She took the riffle and quietly slipped out of the barn and began running. One of the men saw her and raised an alarm and they all chased and cornered her. She threatened to shoot if they came any closer. Her rapist disobeyed and she shot and killed him. The men were about to kill her when a passerby intervened and stopped them. She was taken to the police station where she was denied her right to medical attention.
The men of the village met with the Elders to determine Hirut’s fate. In this meeting it was revealed that abduction was the traditional way of getting a Bride in that village when the father refuses to give consent. Those for Hirut’s abductor/rapist, Gemechu Kebede, believed that Hirut lacked respect for their tradition and believed that she should have been killed and buried alongside her abductor/rapist. However, the Elders decided that since Hirut was in police custody, judgment was out of their hands and instead exiled Hirut from the village. Her abductor’s father therefore vowed to avenge his son’s death.
Hirut’s case attracted the attention of a women’s advocate lawyer, Meaza Ashinafi, who persevered in spite of meeting many stumbling blocks, the most persistent of which was the traditional practice of marriage by abduction. Hirut was eventually acquitted in 1998 on the grounds of self-defense, but felt hopeless for fear that her little sister, two years her junior who was pulled out of school for fear that she too would be abducted and suffer the same fate.
Comments on Cinematography :
The story was a traditional one and the images reflected just that. The lighting was or looked natural and the houses, offices, buildings and the standard of living and dress styles of the actors sold the image of a rural community. So for me this was great! There was no question, no confusion as to whether the film reflected Hollywood or a rural area in Ethiopia. To add to this, the positioning, colour and size of the subtitles were perfect, making it quite easy to follow the speech of the actors. One thumbs down for me, was the movement of the camera whenever there were running scenes or fast paced movement in the film. But given all my likes, I’m sure that I have already convinced you that overall this film was great!
There is so much to learn from Literature, whether it’s a book, a film or even music, there is always something else to explore and share.
This was an awesome experience!
So I hope you all enjoyed Yolanda's review, I surely did.
I just want to thank Yolanda for taking the time to go see one of the films at the festival and providing for us readers, an excellent review!
To see more from Yolanda Pesnell, click here to check out her blog. You'll love it!
TRAILER FOR DIFRET
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