–The Athlete: an Ethiopian voice, a universal appeal

Contesting visions of Ethiopia in two Amharic sports films

“…Unlike the earlier marathon runner docudrama/biopic about Haile Gebreselasie, Endurance (1998), released before cinema-going underwent a renaissance in Ethiopia in 2002, The Athlete was screened for a limited duration in Matti Multiplex in Addis Ababa to positive reviews soon after its completion in 2009. In fact the film was favourably reviewed both in Ethiopia and during its tour of international film festivals and limited release in cinemas in Europe and America prior to the 2012 London Olympics (see Thomas, 2013;Ashagrie 2013). This in itself is a notable feat as later 'festival films' such as Difret (2014) and Lamb (2015) were unable to build on the limited success The Athlete achieved in Addis Ababa.…”