Over 150 women came together in Cannes to celebrate Black women in international film, including producer and former Netflix exec Fiona Lamptey, Rocks producer Ameenah Ayub Allen and founders of distribution and exhibition specialist We Are Parable, Anthony and Teanne Andrews.
“’Do better’ was our message to Cannes Film Festival leadership in May 2022,” said Yolonda Brinkley, founder of grassroots equality movement, Diversity in Cannes, who also launched a new initiative at this year’s festival, Black Women Cannes, to celebrate, support and uplift Black women at the festival, and to start a film fund. ”In [the festival’s] 75-year history, they’d only selected one Black women in competition.
“’Do better’ was our message to Cannes Film Festival leadership in May 2022,” said Yolonda Brinkley, founder of grassroots equality movement, Diversity in Cannes, who also launched a new initiative at this year’s festival, Black Women Cannes, to celebrate, support and uplift Black women at the festival, and to start a film fund. ”In [the festival’s] 75-year history, they’d only selected one Black women in competition.
- 5/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
Ama Ampadu, Louise Ortega, Aoife Hayes, Phoebe Sutherland and Charley Fox all have expanded their remits within the fund.
Studiocanal’s Anna Hintzen has joined the British Film Institute (BFI) as senior production executive at the BFI National Lottery Filmmaking Fund.
Hintzen will have oversight of all aspects of production on BFI-backed projects. She will initially engage with projects at application stage to advise on their viability, ensuring they are appropriately budgeted and scheduled, and will support filmmaking teams both practically and creatively through pre-production, shooting and post to help them maximise budgets and use the funding responsibly.
“We are...
Studiocanal’s Anna Hintzen has joined the British Film Institute (BFI) as senior production executive at the BFI National Lottery Filmmaking Fund.
Hintzen will have oversight of all aspects of production on BFI-backed projects. She will initially engage with projects at application stage to advise on their viability, ensuring they are appropriately budgeted and scheduled, and will support filmmaking teams both practically and creatively through pre-production, shooting and post to help them maximise budgets and use the funding responsibly.
“We are...
- 11/20/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
“Rye Lane”, “Scrapper”, “All of Us Strangers”, “How to Have Sex” y “Femme” encabezan las nominaciones a los premios BIFA.
El jueves se anunciaron los nominados a los premios BIFA (British Independent Film Awards). Estos premios son galardones cinematográficos que se otorgan en el Reino Unido para destacar y honrar las películas independientes británicas. Los ganadores de los premios BIFA 2023 se darán a conocer el 3 de diciembre. Aquí os dejamos con la lista de los nominados de esta edición:
Mejor PELÍCULA Independiente BRITÁNICA
All Of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh
Femme, Sam H Freeman & Ng Choon Ping
How To Have Sex, Molly Manning Walker
Rye Lane, Raine Allen-Miller
Scrapper, Charlotte Regan
Mejor PELÍCULA Independiente Internacional
Anatomy Of A Fall, Justine Triet
Fallen Leaves, Aki Kauriskmäki
Fremont, Babak Jalali
Monster, Hirokazu Kore-eda
Past Lives, Celine Song
Mejor DIRECCIÓN
Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane
Sam H Freeman & Ng Choon Ping, Femme
Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers...
El jueves se anunciaron los nominados a los premios BIFA (British Independent Film Awards). Estos premios son galardones cinematográficos que se otorgan en el Reino Unido para destacar y honrar las películas independientes británicas. Los ganadores de los premios BIFA 2023 se darán a conocer el 3 de diciembre. Aquí os dejamos con la lista de los nominados de esta edición:
Mejor PELÍCULA Independiente BRITÁNICA
All Of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh
Femme, Sam H Freeman & Ng Choon Ping
How To Have Sex, Molly Manning Walker
Rye Lane, Raine Allen-Miller
Scrapper, Charlotte Regan
Mejor PELÍCULA Independiente Internacional
Anatomy Of A Fall, Justine Triet
Fallen Leaves, Aki Kauriskmäki
Fremont, Babak Jalali
Monster, Hirokazu Kore-eda
Past Lives, Celine Song
Mejor DIRECCIÓN
Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane
Sam H Freeman & Ng Choon Ping, Femme
Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers...
- 11/4/2023
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
The BFI has hired veteran sales exec Vicki Brown as Senior Executive for Sales and Distribution for the BFI National Lottery Filmmaking Fund.
Brown, who joins from Together Films, where she was Head of Acquisitions, Sales, and Distribution, will be responsible for delivering features that are awarded BFI National Lottery production funding to the market as well as to UK and international audiences.
Her remit will include oversight and joint approval of production funding decisions from Discovery and Impact funds and inputting into and signing off sales, distribution, and commercial strategies for all titles. She will also be responsible for aligning her work supporting Filmmaking Fund titles with the UK Global Screen Fund, the BFI’s National Lottery International Fund, and working with other key stakeholders such as BBC Film, Film4, and other national, regional, and commercial funders.
In addition to Brown’s hire, the BFI said today that a...
Brown, who joins from Together Films, where she was Head of Acquisitions, Sales, and Distribution, will be responsible for delivering features that are awarded BFI National Lottery production funding to the market as well as to UK and international audiences.
Her remit will include oversight and joint approval of production funding decisions from Discovery and Impact funds and inputting into and signing off sales, distribution, and commercial strategies for all titles. She will also be responsible for aligning her work supporting Filmmaking Fund titles with the UK Global Screen Fund, the BFI’s National Lottery International Fund, and working with other key stakeholders such as BBC Film, Film4, and other national, regional, and commercial funders.
In addition to Brown’s hire, the BFI said today that a...
- 6/29/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
“Be as production-ready as possible,” they advised of applications to the new-look Fund.
The BFI Filmmaking Fund executives said the revamped National Lottery fund is looking for projects “as production ready” as possible, and have underlined the limited pot “can’t be all the answers” for supporting the UK independent industry.
Mia Bays, director of the BFI Filmmaking fund and senior production and development executives Ama Ampadu and Louise Ortega were speaking on a panel on Monday in the UK Pavilion in Cannes, moderated by Telefilm Canada’s Mehernaz Lentin.
Details of the revamped fund were first announced in March,...
The BFI Filmmaking Fund executives said the revamped National Lottery fund is looking for projects “as production ready” as possible, and have underlined the limited pot “can’t be all the answers” for supporting the UK independent industry.
Mia Bays, director of the BFI Filmmaking fund and senior production and development executives Ama Ampadu and Louise Ortega were speaking on a panel on Monday in the UK Pavilion in Cannes, moderated by Telefilm Canada’s Mehernaz Lentin.
Details of the revamped fund were first announced in March,...
- 5/25/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
BFI’s Ben Luxford and Ama Ampadu; Glasgow Film CEO Allison Gardner; and Quiddity Films’ Emily Morgan are on today’s line-up.
Ben Luxford, the British Film Institute’s head of UK audiences, will lead a discussion on how to encourage audiences back to arthouse cinemas around the world at a panel taking place today as part of the UK Pavilion industry programme in Cannes.
The UK Pavilion runs from May 18 to May 23, and is based at the Cannes Marché International Village.
“As an industry we are all still talking about post-pandemic recovery,” said Luxford, ”taking heart from release schedules...
Ben Luxford, the British Film Institute’s head of UK audiences, will lead a discussion on how to encourage audiences back to arthouse cinemas around the world at a panel taking place today as part of the UK Pavilion industry programme in Cannes.
The UK Pavilion runs from May 18 to May 23, and is based at the Cannes Marché International Village.
“As an industry we are all still talking about post-pandemic recovery,” said Luxford, ”taking heart from release schedules...
- 5/19/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
BFI’s Ben Luxford and Ama Ampadu; Glasgow Film CEO Allison Gardner; and Quiddity Films’ Emily Morgan are on today’s line-up.
The British Film Institute’s head of UK audiences Ben Luxford will be leading a discussion on how to encourage audiences back to arthouse cinemas around the world at a panel taking place today as part of the UK Pavilion industry programme in Cannes.
The UK Pavilion runs from May 18 to May 23, and is based at the Cannes Marché International Village.
“As an industry we are all still talking about post-pandemic recovery,” said Luxford, ”taking heart from release...
The British Film Institute’s head of UK audiences Ben Luxford will be leading a discussion on how to encourage audiences back to arthouse cinemas around the world at a panel taking place today as part of the UK Pavilion industry programme in Cannes.
The UK Pavilion runs from May 18 to May 23, and is based at the Cannes Marché International Village.
“As an industry we are all still talking about post-pandemic recovery,” said Luxford, ”taking heart from release...
- 5/19/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Bays was speaking alongside BFI exec Ama Ampadu, following allegations that the organisation has failed to address systemic racism.
Mia Bays, director of the BFI (British Film Institute) Filmmaking Fund, used a panel at The New Black Film Collective Xpo event in London this week to underline the BFI’s commitment to diversity, following allegations from filmmakers of colour that the organisation has failed to address systemic racism.
“The team I’m part of and the executive I’m part of are committed to being an anti-racist organisation. There’s been a lot of change that hasn’t been reported,...
Mia Bays, director of the BFI (British Film Institute) Filmmaking Fund, used a panel at The New Black Film Collective Xpo event in London this week to underline the BFI’s commitment to diversity, following allegations from filmmakers of colour that the organisation has failed to address systemic racism.
“The team I’m part of and the executive I’m part of are committed to being an anti-racist organisation. There’s been a lot of change that hasn’t been reported,...
- 3/31/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Creative and executives from the UK screen industries came together for the second day of the London event.
Creatives and executives from across the UK screen industries came together today (March 30) at the second edition of The New Black Film Collective Xpo in London, to discuss the “glass ceiling” facing Black individuals in film and TV.
“People of colour said we’re tired of being overlooked,” reflected Courtney Pryce, a VFX artist, of the impact of the murder of George Floyd in the US at the hands of the police, and the global eruption of the Black Lives Matter movement...
Creatives and executives from across the UK screen industries came together today (March 30) at the second edition of The New Black Film Collective Xpo in London, to discuss the “glass ceiling” facing Black individuals in film and TV.
“People of colour said we’re tired of being overlooked,” reflected Courtney Pryce, a VFX artist, of the impact of the murder of George Floyd in the US at the hands of the police, and the global eruption of the Black Lives Matter movement...
- 3/30/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The British Film Institute (BFI) today announced that it will grant $44m (£36.6m) in cash awards over three years to support fiction feature films as part of its new National Lottery Filmmaking Fund.
The cash will be available through four distinct funds:
Discovery – The discovery fund will be dedicated to directorial debuts and aim to support six feature films per year, each budgeted below $4m (£3.5m). The first deadline for applications is April 24 for fully-developed projects seeking to shoot this year. Applications will reopen in July and November. Impact — The impact fund will be a rolling fund focused on projects from second-time filmmakers and beyond or debuts budgeted over £3.5m. The cash pot will aim to support five projects a year with an emphasis on scale and audience impact. Development — The development fund will cover costs at all stages of the development process. The fund will aim to support around 60-70 projects per year.
The cash will be available through four distinct funds:
Discovery – The discovery fund will be dedicated to directorial debuts and aim to support six feature films per year, each budgeted below $4m (£3.5m). The first deadline for applications is April 24 for fully-developed projects seeking to shoot this year. Applications will reopen in July and November. Impact — The impact fund will be a rolling fund focused on projects from second-time filmmakers and beyond or debuts budgeted over £3.5m. The cash pot will aim to support five projects a year with an emphasis on scale and audience impact. Development — The development fund will cover costs at all stages of the development process. The fund will aim to support around 60-70 projects per year.
- 3/21/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The British Film Institute (BFI) has hired Ama Ampadu as a senior production and development executive for the BFI Film Fund.
Ampadu has worked as an independent producer across U.K. and international projects for over 12 years and produced Yared Zeleke’s “Lamb” (2015), the first Ethiopian film selected at Cannes.
Reporting to Natascha Wharton, the fund’s head of editorial, Ampadu will work alongside fellow senior production and development executive Louise Ortega, as well as editor-at-large Lizzie Francke. She replaces Kristin Irving, who joined BBC Film last year. With Ortega, Ampadu’s portfolio will have a focus on debuts, as well as working closely with BFI Network to ensure there is an effective crossover for new and emerging talent. Working on both development and production funds, Ampadu will assess applications, recommend funding decisions and provide support for filmmakers and film projects.
Mia Bays, director of the BFI Film Fund, said:...
Ampadu has worked as an independent producer across U.K. and international projects for over 12 years and produced Yared Zeleke’s “Lamb” (2015), the first Ethiopian film selected at Cannes.
Reporting to Natascha Wharton, the fund’s head of editorial, Ampadu will work alongside fellow senior production and development executive Louise Ortega, as well as editor-at-large Lizzie Francke. She replaces Kristin Irving, who joined BBC Film last year. With Ortega, Ampadu’s portfolio will have a focus on debuts, as well as working closely with BFI Network to ensure there is an effective crossover for new and emerging talent. Working on both development and production funds, Ampadu will assess applications, recommend funding decisions and provide support for filmmakers and film projects.
Mia Bays, director of the BFI Film Fund, said:...
- 1/20/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The BFI has hired independent producer Ama Ampadu as the new senior production and development executive for the BFI Film Fund. Ampadu replaces Kristin Irving, who joined BBC Film late last year.
Reporting to Natascha Wharton, the film fund’s Head of Editorial, Ampadu will work alongside Louise Ortega, who joined the organization last year as a Senior Production and Development Executive, as well as Editor-at-Large Lizzie Francke.
Ampadu’s brief will have a central focus on filmmaking debuts, as well as working closely with BFI Network to ensure there is a practical crossover for new and emerging talent.
Alongside Ortega and the rest of the team, Ampadu will also oversee the fund’s slate, which has projects at various stages of production, supporting filmmakers at each stage of the filmmaking process and beyond, as well as developing outreach strategies to engage filmmakers with the BFI.
The BFI said that...
Reporting to Natascha Wharton, the film fund’s Head of Editorial, Ampadu will work alongside Louise Ortega, who joined the organization last year as a Senior Production and Development Executive, as well as Editor-at-Large Lizzie Francke.
Ampadu’s brief will have a central focus on filmmaking debuts, as well as working closely with BFI Network to ensure there is a practical crossover for new and emerging talent.
Alongside Ortega and the rest of the team, Ampadu will also oversee the fund’s slate, which has projects at various stages of production, supporting filmmakers at each stage of the filmmaking process and beyond, as well as developing outreach strategies to engage filmmakers with the BFI.
The BFI said that...
- 1/20/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Ama Ampadu will report to Fund’s head of editorial Natascha Wharton.
UK producer Ama Ampadu has been appointed senior production and development executive for the BFI Film Fund.
Ampadu, who has worked as an independent producer across UK and international projects for over 12 years, started in her role this week.
She will work on both the development and production funds, assessing applications, recommending funding decisions and providing hands-on creative, production and holistic support for filmmakers and film projects.
Ampadu will report to Natascha Wharton, the Fund’s head of editorial. She will work alongside Louise Ortega, who joined the...
UK producer Ama Ampadu has been appointed senior production and development executive for the BFI Film Fund.
Ampadu, who has worked as an independent producer across UK and international projects for over 12 years, started in her role this week.
She will work on both the development and production funds, assessing applications, recommending funding decisions and providing hands-on creative, production and holistic support for filmmakers and film projects.
Ampadu will report to Natascha Wharton, the Fund’s head of editorial. She will work alongside Louise Ortega, who joined the...
- 1/20/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
New initiative aims to develop and empower African producers.
Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson has joined a new initiative that aims to develop and empower African producers.
Jackson will be one of several speakers at the inaugural Creative Producer Indaba training programme and will help build the leadership skills of participants.
Further speakers include Cara Mertes, project director of moving image strategies at the Ford Foundation, and Makhosazana Khanyile, CEO of the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa (Nfvf).
There will also be sessions with international producers and experts, including Iffr’s Hubert Bals fund manager Fay Breeman,...
Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson has joined a new initiative that aims to develop and empower African producers.
Jackson will be one of several speakers at the inaugural Creative Producer Indaba training programme and will help build the leadership skills of participants.
Further speakers include Cara Mertes, project director of moving image strategies at the Ford Foundation, and Makhosazana Khanyile, CEO of the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa (Nfvf).
There will also be sessions with international producers and experts, including Iffr’s Hubert Bals fund manager Fay Breeman,...
- 9/1/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
While we eat “doubles” we talk one on one with selected filmmakers…
Great to be back for my fourth year at the Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival.
Jamaicans going to watch Jamaican shorts. Photo by actor director Tony Hendricks
My first night, I went with my new favorite delegation, whom I already wrote about in my Tiff It’s a Wrap blog, the group of Jamaican filmmakers to see their five shorts showing here at ttff as part of the Jafta Propella initiative to put money into the production and distribution of shorts (rather than in yet-another film festival). The range of stories and storytelling styles was a tasting menu of hors d’oevres for the festival.
Great to be back for my fourth year at the Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival.
Jamaicans going to watch Jamaican shorts. Photo by actor director Tony Hendricks
My first night, I went with my new favorite delegation, whom I already wrote about in my Tiff It’s a Wrap blog, the group of Jamaican filmmakers to see their five shorts showing here at ttff as part of the Jafta Propella initiative to put money into the production and distribution of shorts (rather than in yet-another film festival). The range of stories and storytelling styles was a tasting menu of hors d’oevres for the festival.
- 9/29/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
It made its World Premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, marking the very first time in Cannes Film Festival history that an Ethiopian film has screened as an "Official Selection." Yared Zeleke's "Lamb" hails from Slum Kid Films, an Ethiopia-based film production company co-founded by Ama Ampadu, which aims to discover and nurture emerging talent in Ethiopia, as well as to support the development of Ethiopian filmmaking. It was also Ethiopia's selection for Best Foreign Language Oscar consideration this year. "Lamb" tells the tale of nine-year-old Ephraim and his constant companion, a sheep named Chuni. Ephraim’s affection for Chuni deepens after he...
- 2/26/2016
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
“Lamb”, directed by Yared Zeleke and presented by Ama Ampadu and Laurent Lavolé showed in Competition at Doha's Ajyal Youth Film Festival this month to an audience of youth and children under the age of 18. “Lamb” premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard 2015, marking the first time an Ethiopian film has ever screened as an Official Selection at Cannes. ). It was this year’s Ethiopian submission for Academy Award© nomination for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar©.
This is no Little Bo Peep lamb. This lamb has rough brown wool and is led on a rope, dragged on a rope by a young boy, Ephraim, eight years old, who lives in the devout Coptic Christian land of Northern Ethiopia
“Lamb” is a classic tale of a child and pet, the type of story which has been loved by children in every generation. Think “Old Yeller”, “Black Beauty”, “Charlotte’s Web”, “Babe”, “Lassie Come Home”. Ephraim’s pet lamb Chuni belonged to his mother who has died from the drought-caused famine hitting their land. His father must leave the boy with distant relatives while he seeks work in the city. His lamb is the only link he has to a life of happy innocence once shared with his loving mother and father.
The small nuclear family where he must stay lives together in a one-room hut: a grandmother who presides over the family, her son an authoritarian father who reacts against change of any sort, his wife and their sick child. They have also taken in the sixteen year old Tsion who is always reading and seeking ways to educate herself and eventually leaves for the city.
Ephraim does not conform to the norms of males as farmers; instead he prefers cooking.
The authoritarian patriarch of the family refuses to listen to advice of his niece about modern ways of growing crops during the drought and he forbids the child Ephraim, whose love of cooking (“girl’s work! The uncle says) leads him to make money by selling samosas at the market.
Moreover, the authoritarian father of the family wants to serve Ephraim’s lamb as a meal for the upcoming holiday feast and to save his family from starvation.
This moves Ephraim to act to save his lamb. In order to make money he sells his extraordinary samosas in the market place to raise enough to finance his trip to the city to find his father and save his sheep from being sacrificed and served for the upcoming holiday feast.
The children who saw this film at Ajyal Film Festival were entranced by how foreign and strange the landscape, and indeed, the people themselves were. The questions they asked Yared Zeleke, the director, and the two young stars, sixteen-year-old Kidist Siyum and eight year old Rediat Amare were startling. Not the usual Q&A of adults that you hear after they have seen a movie.
Was the boy really being hit?
Yared: Well yes and no. He had lots of padding, lots of practice, and the whip was very small."
Why did you have so much landscape?
Yared: Because the land was a character in the movie. The land shapes who we are. This special land in Ethiopia shapes the characters in the movie. It is as ancient as the people who practice the earliest form of Christianity and Judaism. There is so much history in the mountains. Ethiopia is the only country in Africa never colonized by Europeans. The mountains protected them and the people are very spiritual.
Yared: It was shot in Gondar, the most Jewish section of Ethiopia where Felashas (Jews) and Christians live. The Felashas are a minority and so you see the little boy is an outsider because his mother, who died of the famine and draught, was a Jew and he is given a special blessing by the priest.
When the action was going on, focus was on the boy. Why did you make the film like that?
Yared: The movie is about the boy, so everything is shown around him. Staying with the boy it’s is more “true” to stick with the character.
What was your favorite scene?
Yared: My favorite scene is the magic forest. The hardest scenes were with Chuni the lamb. I’ll never work with an animal again.
Why does your film say “dedicated to my grandmother”?
Yared: I’m from the city; I never had a pet and I don’t cook. But I went to visit my family in the country when I was little and I met my grandmother. When I was 10, I lost all my family in Ethiopia and I moved to New York.
Where do you live?
Yared: I live in Addis Adaba.
I liked seeing Muslim, Jewish and Christians together. I liked the landscapes. They were works of art. How did you choose the actors?
Yared: We auditioned and videotaped 7,000 people over six months. Half of them were kids. The two stars chosen just stood out. Without Rediat Amare playing Ephraim and Kidist Siyum playing Tsion, the movie would be completely different.
How did the 16 year old actress like her role?
Kidist Siyum: I’m a city girl, it was hard to learn to be a country girl.
Yared: Both Kidist and were very smart good students and had not acted before.
Rediat Amare : Ephraim is quiet and introverted. I am not. I’m very outgoing. We are both mischievous and misfits.
How do you feel about audiences their age seeing the movie?
Yared: As the writer, I never thought of who it was for. I only wrote about my loss. The country is like a fairy-tale, so beautiful. I have only had adults watching it in the past so showing it to kids is great! What do you think?
Kidist Siyum : I am happy to see people my age. I hope people will take away lessons from the movie.
Why did the boy leave the lamb?
Yared: He had to let go in order to grow. Sometimes that is a part of growing up, to let go of childish things.
“Lamb” is a carefully nuanced film of silences and understatements, stunning landscapes and beautiful people dressing in exotic styles. Three female figures, the grandmother, the mother and the teenaged Tsion, the strong-willed nose-in-a-book girl bring a measured warmth and depth which increases our feel that we are participating in their lives, lived in such close quarters, beautifully shot and a contrast to the vast and beautiful mountainous countryside of Ethiopia where Ephraim spends much of his waking and dreaming hours.
Christians, Jews, Muslims and others lead a peaceful coexistence in what looks like a hard life but still a life in a sort of paradise which is disappearing. To see it in a family setting will instill a special feeling of participating in the audiences.
The music is outstanding as is the final celebratory dance, with shimmy shoulder shaking I have never seen before.
“Lamb” (not to be confused with Ross Partridge’s “Lamb” soon to be released stateside by The Orchard) is the first film of director Yared Zeleke, who received an Mfa in Writing and Directing from Nyu.
It was workshopped in Addis Ababa. The producer, Slum Kid Films, an Ethiopia-based film production company co-founded by Ama Ampadu aims to discover and nurture emerging talent in Ethiopia, as well as to support the development of Ethiopian filmmaking.
Ama knows the European system of filmmaking and was able to secure support from Acp from Norway and Cnc from France. The fact that "Lamb" was selected for the Cannes L'Atelier film financing summit two years ago, almost assured that, upon completion, it would premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, as it now has.
France, Ethiopia, Germany and Norway are represented by coproducers Gloria Films, Slum Kid Films, Heimatfilm, Dublin Films, Film Farms, Zdf/Das kleine Fernsehspiel.
Producers are Ama Ampadu, Laurent Lavolé, Johannes Rexin. Co-producers are Alan R. Milligan. Executive producers David Hurst, Bettina Brokemper.
Medienboard Berlin funded this international co-production and Naomi Kawase’s “An”, both of which played in Cannes’ official selection this year.
It was supported by the Doha Film Institute, which has funded more than 220 projects since its inception. Five of their grantees made their world premieres in the Festival de Cannes this year in various sections among which ‘"Lamb" was in the main world cinema showcase, Un Certain Regard. The others were "Waves ’98" by Elie Dagher (Lebanon, Qatar) in the Official Short Film Competition; "Dégradé" by Tarzan and Arab Abunasser (Palestine, France, Qatar) and " Mediterranea" by Jonas Carpignano (Italy, France, Germany, Qatar) in the Critics’ Week and "Mustang" by Deniz Gamze Ergüven (Turkey, France, Germany, Qatar) selected for the Directors’ Fortnight.
International sales agent is Films Distribution. The film has been has licensed to
Kimstim Films for U.S.
Haut et Court for France
Neue Visionen for Germany
Trigon film for Switzerland
Filmarti for Turkey
Moving Turtle for Middle East
Ost for Paradis for Denmark
Mantarraya for Mexico
Betta Pictures for Spain
Maison Motion for Taiwan
Suraya for South Asia
Bio Paradis for Iceland
DDDream for China
7ème Ciné Art for Tunisia and Morocco...
This is no Little Bo Peep lamb. This lamb has rough brown wool and is led on a rope, dragged on a rope by a young boy, Ephraim, eight years old, who lives in the devout Coptic Christian land of Northern Ethiopia
“Lamb” is a classic tale of a child and pet, the type of story which has been loved by children in every generation. Think “Old Yeller”, “Black Beauty”, “Charlotte’s Web”, “Babe”, “Lassie Come Home”. Ephraim’s pet lamb Chuni belonged to his mother who has died from the drought-caused famine hitting their land. His father must leave the boy with distant relatives while he seeks work in the city. His lamb is the only link he has to a life of happy innocence once shared with his loving mother and father.
The small nuclear family where he must stay lives together in a one-room hut: a grandmother who presides over the family, her son an authoritarian father who reacts against change of any sort, his wife and their sick child. They have also taken in the sixteen year old Tsion who is always reading and seeking ways to educate herself and eventually leaves for the city.
Ephraim does not conform to the norms of males as farmers; instead he prefers cooking.
The authoritarian patriarch of the family refuses to listen to advice of his niece about modern ways of growing crops during the drought and he forbids the child Ephraim, whose love of cooking (“girl’s work! The uncle says) leads him to make money by selling samosas at the market.
Moreover, the authoritarian father of the family wants to serve Ephraim’s lamb as a meal for the upcoming holiday feast and to save his family from starvation.
This moves Ephraim to act to save his lamb. In order to make money he sells his extraordinary samosas in the market place to raise enough to finance his trip to the city to find his father and save his sheep from being sacrificed and served for the upcoming holiday feast.
The children who saw this film at Ajyal Film Festival were entranced by how foreign and strange the landscape, and indeed, the people themselves were. The questions they asked Yared Zeleke, the director, and the two young stars, sixteen-year-old Kidist Siyum and eight year old Rediat Amare were startling. Not the usual Q&A of adults that you hear after they have seen a movie.
Was the boy really being hit?
Yared: Well yes and no. He had lots of padding, lots of practice, and the whip was very small."
Why did you have so much landscape?
Yared: Because the land was a character in the movie. The land shapes who we are. This special land in Ethiopia shapes the characters in the movie. It is as ancient as the people who practice the earliest form of Christianity and Judaism. There is so much history in the mountains. Ethiopia is the only country in Africa never colonized by Europeans. The mountains protected them and the people are very spiritual.
Yared: It was shot in Gondar, the most Jewish section of Ethiopia where Felashas (Jews) and Christians live. The Felashas are a minority and so you see the little boy is an outsider because his mother, who died of the famine and draught, was a Jew and he is given a special blessing by the priest.
When the action was going on, focus was on the boy. Why did you make the film like that?
Yared: The movie is about the boy, so everything is shown around him. Staying with the boy it’s is more “true” to stick with the character.
What was your favorite scene?
Yared: My favorite scene is the magic forest. The hardest scenes were with Chuni the lamb. I’ll never work with an animal again.
Why does your film say “dedicated to my grandmother”?
Yared: I’m from the city; I never had a pet and I don’t cook. But I went to visit my family in the country when I was little and I met my grandmother. When I was 10, I lost all my family in Ethiopia and I moved to New York.
Where do you live?
Yared: I live in Addis Adaba.
I liked seeing Muslim, Jewish and Christians together. I liked the landscapes. They were works of art. How did you choose the actors?
Yared: We auditioned and videotaped 7,000 people over six months. Half of them were kids. The two stars chosen just stood out. Without Rediat Amare playing Ephraim and Kidist Siyum playing Tsion, the movie would be completely different.
How did the 16 year old actress like her role?
Kidist Siyum: I’m a city girl, it was hard to learn to be a country girl.
Yared: Both Kidist and were very smart good students and had not acted before.
Rediat Amare : Ephraim is quiet and introverted. I am not. I’m very outgoing. We are both mischievous and misfits.
How do you feel about audiences their age seeing the movie?
Yared: As the writer, I never thought of who it was for. I only wrote about my loss. The country is like a fairy-tale, so beautiful. I have only had adults watching it in the past so showing it to kids is great! What do you think?
Kidist Siyum : I am happy to see people my age. I hope people will take away lessons from the movie.
Why did the boy leave the lamb?
Yared: He had to let go in order to grow. Sometimes that is a part of growing up, to let go of childish things.
“Lamb” is a carefully nuanced film of silences and understatements, stunning landscapes and beautiful people dressing in exotic styles. Three female figures, the grandmother, the mother and the teenaged Tsion, the strong-willed nose-in-a-book girl bring a measured warmth and depth which increases our feel that we are participating in their lives, lived in such close quarters, beautifully shot and a contrast to the vast and beautiful mountainous countryside of Ethiopia where Ephraim spends much of his waking and dreaming hours.
Christians, Jews, Muslims and others lead a peaceful coexistence in what looks like a hard life but still a life in a sort of paradise which is disappearing. To see it in a family setting will instill a special feeling of participating in the audiences.
The music is outstanding as is the final celebratory dance, with shimmy shoulder shaking I have never seen before.
“Lamb” (not to be confused with Ross Partridge’s “Lamb” soon to be released stateside by The Orchard) is the first film of director Yared Zeleke, who received an Mfa in Writing and Directing from Nyu.
It was workshopped in Addis Ababa. The producer, Slum Kid Films, an Ethiopia-based film production company co-founded by Ama Ampadu aims to discover and nurture emerging talent in Ethiopia, as well as to support the development of Ethiopian filmmaking.
Ama knows the European system of filmmaking and was able to secure support from Acp from Norway and Cnc from France. The fact that "Lamb" was selected for the Cannes L'Atelier film financing summit two years ago, almost assured that, upon completion, it would premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, as it now has.
France, Ethiopia, Germany and Norway are represented by coproducers Gloria Films, Slum Kid Films, Heimatfilm, Dublin Films, Film Farms, Zdf/Das kleine Fernsehspiel.
Producers are Ama Ampadu, Laurent Lavolé, Johannes Rexin. Co-producers are Alan R. Milligan. Executive producers David Hurst, Bettina Brokemper.
Medienboard Berlin funded this international co-production and Naomi Kawase’s “An”, both of which played in Cannes’ official selection this year.
It was supported by the Doha Film Institute, which has funded more than 220 projects since its inception. Five of their grantees made their world premieres in the Festival de Cannes this year in various sections among which ‘"Lamb" was in the main world cinema showcase, Un Certain Regard. The others were "Waves ’98" by Elie Dagher (Lebanon, Qatar) in the Official Short Film Competition; "Dégradé" by Tarzan and Arab Abunasser (Palestine, France, Qatar) and " Mediterranea" by Jonas Carpignano (Italy, France, Germany, Qatar) in the Critics’ Week and "Mustang" by Deniz Gamze Ergüven (Turkey, France, Germany, Qatar) selected for the Directors’ Fortnight.
International sales agent is Films Distribution. The film has been has licensed to
Kimstim Films for U.S.
Haut et Court for France
Neue Visionen for Germany
Trigon film for Switzerland
Filmarti for Turkey
Moving Turtle for Middle East
Ost for Paradis for Denmark
Mantarraya for Mexico
Betta Pictures for Spain
Maison Motion for Taiwan
Suraya for South Asia
Bio Paradis for Iceland
DDDream for China
7ème Ciné Art for Tunisia and Morocco...
- 1/30/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
It made its World Premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, marking the very first time in Cannes Film Festival history that an Ethiopian film has screened as an "Official Selection." Yared Zeleke's "Lamb" hails from Slum Kid Films, an Ethiopia-based film production company co-founded by Ama Ampadu, which aims to discover and nurture emerging talent in Ethiopia, as well as to support the development of Ethiopian filmmaking. It's also Ethiopia's selection for Best Foreign Language Oscar consideration thus year. "Lamb" tells the tale of nine-year-old Ephraim and his constant companion, a sheep named Chuni. Ephraim’s affection for Chuni deepens after he...
- 10/9/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
It made its World Premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, marking the very first time in Cannes Film Festival history that an Ethiopian film has screened as an "Official Selection." Yared Zeleke's "Lamb" hails from Slum Kid Films, an Ethiopia-based film production company co-founded by Ama Ampadu, which aims to discover and nurture emerging talent in Ethiopia, as well as to support the development of Ethiopian filmmaking. "Lamb" tells the tale of nine-year-old Ephraim and his constant companion, a sheep named Chuni. Ephraim’s affection for Chuni deepens after he loses his mother to famine. Consequently, his beloved father sends him and Chuni far away...
- 9/1/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
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