Difret

Amplify | Release Date: October 23, 2015

8.0	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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DevilmathSep 27, 2015

While Difret might not be one of the frontrunners in the First Feature Competition at the London Film Festival, it still deserves a good deal of attention. The film premiered at Sundance in January, where it won the Audience Award, and hasWhile Difret might not be one of the frontrunners in the First Feature Competition at the London Film Festival, it still deserves a good deal of attention. The film premiered at Sundance in January, where it won the Audience Award, and has featured in many important festivals since (Berlin, San Francisco, Seattle, Sydeny, Jerusalem, Locarno, Rio de Janeiro, Vancouver, Mumbai). Its principal theme is “telefa”, the practice of abduction into marriage. One of the oldest Ethiopian traditions, “telefa” is believed to affect over 40% of the country’s adolescent girls, and although illegal since 1957, it was pardoned if the abductor agreed to marry the victim. “Telefa” was made completely illegal only after the case in 1996 of Hirut Assefa, a teenager charged with murder when she killed in self-defense her abductor and rapist. Director Zeresenay Mehari had the idea to make a film on the issue when he met women rights advocate and Hirut’s lawyer Meaza Ashenafi. The economic crisis and several funding issues delayed production for many years, but eventually the film gained the credit it deserved, receiving a boost in popularity when Angelina Jolie signed on as excecutive producer at the beginning of 2014.

Difret has a very naturalistic style when portraying characters, landscapes and everyday life. Ethiopia’s traditions are as old as the beautiful land in the countyside, where self sufficient farmers live in huts, have no household appliances whatsoever, and have to decide between their kids’ education or an extra help in the fields. On her way back from school, Hirut is kidnapped and then raped; when she eventually manages to escape and kill her assailant, she is arrested and charged with murder. The political, social and judicial consequences of the case are explained effectively by Mehari, who tells the story from Ashenafi’s point of view. The lawyer perfectly embodies the strong, self-sufficient woman figure that Ethiopia needs to face and defeat its bigotry. That is not to say that Difret is free from flaws, mostly ascribable to poor writing and editing: subplots are vague, the action is anticlimactic, too many supporting characters appear as nothing but empty shells. Although there’s plenty of room of improvement, Difret stands as a success in the social and cinematic history of Ethiopia.… Expand

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