Teza

VENICE 2008, Special Jury Prize

Where is the wise man

to untangle the riddle?

Where is the wise man

to untangle the riddle

of how things will fare

in the world on high

for those who

suffer here on earth?

Judgment Day is here,

Judgment Day is here,

unrelenting in its gloom and chaos.

The children of Adam

are being burned on the scorched earth.

Nurse, I'm worried

he might not live through the night.

No! I am not dying!

Not before I see my poor mother!

No!

I won't die! I won't die!

Have courage! Come!

Don't be afraid! Come!

Rise up! It's in the prophecy!

Did you hear me? Rise up!

Anberber! Come here!

Sister Dendersse,

our father is back from the war,

our mother is back from the grave.

They brought shoes for your feet

and a necklace for you to wear.

My childhood - so vivid!

I see youngsters

from my village playing Enkokilish.

The top and bottom are lifeless,

in the middle is life.

A pot of stew!

- A bowl of butter!

No. I get one of your states.

Take Minzro.

- Minzro suits me.

The lid's the top, the pan's the bottom,

the middle's injera.

He got us!

My turn.

- Go for it.

She goes to the market with fancy hair.

- A sunflower!

He got it right away!

My turn.

- Go for it.

I saw it when I left.

When I returned, it was gone.

Rain?

- How about love?

Might as well give me a state.

Life!

- Do you think so?

Childhood?

Dew! Dew! Dew!

Mergeta, my childhood teacher,

welcoming the dawn with songs of praise.

My poor mother waiting for me.

Lame Bora, Lame Bora,

I'm leaving my children in your care.

Mother of Anberber, the coffee.

The flames are intense.

Who could be coming?

Who else but him?

Who do you mean?

The one

you worry about, Anberber.

I don't think

I'll ever see Anberber again.

Maybe in the afterlife.

Only in my dreams.

Don't be so morbid.

Only the fire knows of my return.

See it? There it is.

Maybe he's not coming.

Is that my Anberber?

I don't see my son.

There's no one left!

Please check, my son's missing!

There's nobody left!

- But he was supposed to be here!

Please look around!

Please, I've waited too long!

Mom, Anberber's here!

Oh God, could it be!

- Over there, see?

It's me!

Anberber, dear! Oh my!

My son, my son!

Get the mule!

Mom, that's enough.

He's tired after the long journey.

Anberber, these are my blessings.

Go on, pay your respects.

See, you've got your education

and I'm keeping the lineage going.

Meet my wife, my blessing.

Anberber, no offspring yet?

You sang so well at church.

- You still have that voice?

You were the best in all the parishes.

Your father was no ordinary man.

He was a hero.

He died only after

chopping off countless Italian heads.

That's whose son you are!

You're the hope of the village!

Welcome home!

You rascal! When the motherland calls,

you're nowhere to be found!

He's my only son, my provider.

No! I'll take him away!

- We've already sacrificed his father!

Please, let him go!

- I'll never let him go!

It's Anberber's homecoming. Be merciful!

In the middle of the festivities in my

honor, a government cadre burst in.

His job was to hunt down young men

and send them to war...

I realized then

that our country was at war.

Where did I lose my leg?

In my dreams they're both still there.

Where is my other leg?

Stop, Tata, please.

- In the name of St. Mary...

You'll worry your son.

In the name of St. Mary!

Please, Tatie!

Mom, Mom!

What's all this?

- St. Mary brought you home safely.

Now I must fulfill my vow.

Nonsense!

- Don't talk like that!

You're hurting yourself!

Stop worrying him.

Why are you being so impossible?

I've been pleading with her all morning!

Please, Tata Tadfe,

what's wrong with you?

Why won't you listen?

Please, in the name of St. Mary.

Anberber!

Take your shoes off!

Take your shoes off!

Don't disgrace your family!

Goodness gracious,

what's come over him?

What's wrong with my brother?

He screams every morning,

as if some evil had possessed him.

Might as well let her be,

she's done now. She'll be okay.

Come along!

Come on! What's wrong with you?

Come on over! Hurry up!

What's keeping you? God!

Mussolini Mountain,

my childhood playground.

Hell's in the Earth's belly...

If you see the sky and lake...

Hell's in the Earth's belly...

- When the sun rises,

it cuts across Lake Tana...

It rises, getting hotter,

exposing all the sinners...

Warming the cold...

- Burning sinners all night,

setting, so it won't burn out.

Then it sets and rises again...

There it is! I saw it first!

My father was one of the thousands

killed by poison gas

in the Battle of Tekazi River.

For my village, the only marker

commemorating the Italian war's victims

is this monument on Mussolini Mountain.

Ethiopia, take the lead

along the socialist path,

bloom and flourish!

Again!

Y ou brave children

have given your solemn word...

Worku!

Get in line!

Worku, come and have your lunch!

Ok! I'm coming.

After the sun's turned.

Come on,

you've got the whole day. Have a bite.

Ok, I'm coming. I'll be there in a bit!

Get him! Don't let him get away!

Worku, they're coming after you!

Cut him off from the front!

Leave him alone!

Knock him down!

Give it to him!

My son! Let go of him!

They're killing my son!

Pathetic!

Let go of my son!

Why plead with her?

My son!

My son!

You never listen, do you?

It's your own fault you got hit.

You're pathetic.

My son! My children!

My son!

They're taking my son!

Make them give me back my son!

Make them give me back my son!

When Worku came out of hiding

to farm for his mother

and government soldiers

snatched him, I couldn't help him.

There was nothing I could do. How

could I have helped him? By what means?

My own life was completely upside down.

Parents hide their children

in the mountains and valleys.

They only send the little ones to me.

But once they're grown,

they too will be taken away.

Why educate them?

What good will it do them?

- What good will it do?

So what if they don't get anywhere?

When I see these kids,

their eyes hungry for education,

satisfying their hunger

is the greatest joy for me.

Whatever becomes of them later,

with the way things are,

it's beyond my jurisdiction to decide.

This afternoon,

Comrade Mengistu Haile Mariam,

Secretary-General

of the Ethiopian Workers' Party,

President of the People's

Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,

and Chief of Staff

of the Revolutionary Armed Forces,

received a message

from Mikhail Gorbachev,

Secretary-General of the CPSU

and President of the USSR.

It was delivered by Viktor Chebrikov

to the Chairman's private office.

I'm alright.

Really, I'm fine.

You shouldn't

bruise yourself at your age.

It's no big deal.

It was wrong to do this, Mom!

It'll take a while to heal.

Give this to the boys.

It'll make them happy.

Year after year give us your blessings.

Let there be blessings

in the house of Anberber.

Bless Anberber's home

for another prosperous year.

Dinner is ready.

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