In “Made in Ethiopia,” directors Xinyan Yu and Max Duncan take the macro issue of China’s influence in Africa and present it provocatively through the micro lens of its effect on a few Chinese and Ethiopian individuals striving for a better life. The film is set at a Chinese industrial complex in Dukem, a small town southeast of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. It follows an ambitious Chinese businesswoman trying to expand the complex with the help of Ethiopian bureaucrats and the consequences this expansion has on a factory worker and a farming family that lives nearby.
The businesswoman is Motto Ma, a delusionally ambitious outsider who says things like, “The industrial complex is a tourist hotspot. We are considering selling tickets.” She makes up the lie, believes and then hypes it. Motto (the film refers to all the subjects with just their first names) is both charming and wily,...
The businesswoman is Motto Ma, a delusionally ambitious outsider who says things like, “The industrial complex is a tourist hotspot. We are considering selling tickets.” She makes up the lie, believes and then hypes it. Motto (the film refers to all the subjects with just their first names) is both charming and wily,...
- 6/9/2024
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV
Opening on the arranged marriage between an Ethiopian woman and a Chinese man, documentarists Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu signal the transactional relationship between the two nations. A partnership of convenience that is slowly showing its cracks. Eager to shine a light on the African nation's promise and China's vast economic ambition on the continent, the snappy camera explores the ins and outs of a massive industrial complex near the capital of Addis Ababa. As it casts a shadow over the lives of workers, farmers, managers and even officials, the structure becomes a monument of imminent progress. Facing unforeseen challenges, both locals and Chinese immigrants struggle to keep up with the relentless pace of industrial development, which takes a toll on their wellbeing and families.
Entering Eastern Industry Park, a vast complex of Chinese factories, the cinematic eye focuses on Motto, the deputy director. Her restlessness dictates the pace, guiding the.
Entering Eastern Industry Park, a vast complex of Chinese factories, the cinematic eye focuses on Motto, the deputy director. Her restlessness dictates the pace, guiding the.
- 6/6/2024
- by Sergiu Inizian
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
While Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu’s Made in Ethiopia takes place in the titular country, it in many ways echoes last year’s Central African Republic-set Eat Bitter, co-directed by Ningyi Sun and Pascale Appora-Gnekindy, which similarly explored China’s capitalist push throughout the continent; and specifically from the Pov of the shared personal toll it’s taking on individuals from very unalike cultures. In this case we’re introduced to an inexhaustibly optimistic woman named Motto, the upbeat Chinese head of a mega industrial park in a rural Ethiopian town. She’s also a true believer that the Chinese dream can be exported to […]
The post “I Don’t Think We Ever Expected To See a Carbon Copy of China’s Industrial Experience [in Ethiopia], and We Certainly Didn’t”: Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu on Their Tribeca-Debuting Made in Ethiopia first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Don’t Think We Ever Expected To See a Carbon Copy of China’s Industrial Experience [in Ethiopia], and We Certainly Didn’t”: Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu on Their Tribeca-Debuting Made in Ethiopia first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/6/2024
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
While Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu’s Made in Ethiopia takes place in the titular country, it in many ways echoes last year’s Central African Republic-set Eat Bitter, co-directed by Ningyi Sun and Pascale Appora-Gnekindy, which similarly explored China’s capitalist push throughout the continent; and specifically from the Pov of the shared personal toll it’s taking on individuals from very unalike cultures. In this case we’re introduced to an inexhaustibly optimistic woman named Motto, the upbeat Chinese head of a mega industrial park in a rural Ethiopian town. She’s also a true believer that the Chinese dream can be exported to […]
The post “I Don’t Think We Ever Expected To See a Carbon Copy of China’s Industrial Experience [in Ethiopia], and We Certainly Didn’t”: Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu on Their Tribeca-Debuting Made in Ethiopia first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Don’t Think We Ever Expected To See a Carbon Copy of China’s Industrial Experience [in Ethiopia], and We Certainly Didn’t”: Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu on Their Tribeca-Debuting Made in Ethiopia first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/6/2024
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Tilda Swinton’s feature directorial debut The Hexagonal Hive And A Mouse In A Maze, co-directed with Bartek Dziadosz, will world premiere in competition at Sheffield DocFest (June 12-17) as the full programme is unveiled.
The 109-strong line-up includes 48 world premieres, 14 international and 17 European.
Swinton and her co-director travel the world in The Hexagonal Hive And A Mouse In A Mouse to explore the concept of learning. The documentary was first introduced at Sheffield’s MeetMarket in 2018.
All the competition titles are world premieres including the latest from Croatian filmmaker Goran Devic, Pavillon 6 which surrounds Croatia’s fight for the Covid-19 vaccination.
The 109-strong line-up includes 48 world premieres, 14 international and 17 European.
Swinton and her co-director travel the world in The Hexagonal Hive And A Mouse In A Mouse to explore the concept of learning. The documentary was first introduced at Sheffield’s MeetMarket in 2018.
All the competition titles are world premieres including the latest from Croatian filmmaker Goran Devic, Pavillon 6 which surrounds Croatia’s fight for the Covid-19 vaccination.
- 5/8/2024
- ScreenDaily
Eleven documentary projects from six countries have been selected for the Intl. Documentary Assn.’s annual Enterprise Documentary Fund Production Grant.
Selected from 248 applicants, the 15 directors behind the 11 docus will receive a total of 600,000 in production grants.
Established in 2017, the IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund supports in-depth explorations of original, contemporary stories that integrate journalistic practice into the filmmaking process. The fund is financially supported by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, with additional support from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. In its six-year history, the fund has given over 4.5 million in grant money to nonfiction filmmakers.
The 11 selected projects are currently in production in six countries: Armenia, Ethiopia, India, Japan, Russia and the United States. Of the 15 directors behind the docs, 70 are filmmakers of color, 70 are women or gender-non-conforming filmmakers, and 40 identify as members of the LGBTQ community.
The docus explore various topics, including the climate crisis, Japan’s antiquated rape laws and institutions,...
Selected from 248 applicants, the 15 directors behind the 11 docus will receive a total of 600,000 in production grants.
Established in 2017, the IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund supports in-depth explorations of original, contemporary stories that integrate journalistic practice into the filmmaking process. The fund is financially supported by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, with additional support from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. In its six-year history, the fund has given over 4.5 million in grant money to nonfiction filmmakers.
The 11 selected projects are currently in production in six countries: Armenia, Ethiopia, India, Japan, Russia and the United States. Of the 15 directors behind the docs, 70 are filmmakers of color, 70 are women or gender-non-conforming filmmakers, and 40 identify as members of the LGBTQ community.
The docus explore various topics, including the climate crisis, Japan’s antiquated rape laws and institutions,...
- 9/23/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Kimmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning Of Empathy among Rogers Audience Award winners.
Hot Docs 2021 top brass on Monday (May 10) announced audience and competition winners as well as prize recipients in Hot Docs Forum, where Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson were among those selected for their UK project Mother Vera.
In the Rogers Audience Award, five Canadian filmmakers each received a cash prize of $10,000 Cad. They are: Fanny: The Right To Rock (dir. Bobbi Jo Hart ); Kimmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning Of Empathy; Someone Like Me: Still Max (dir. Katherine Knight); and Hell Or Clean Water (dir. Cody Westman).
In the first look pitch prizes at Hot Docs Forum,...
Hot Docs 2021 top brass on Monday (May 10) announced audience and competition winners as well as prize recipients in Hot Docs Forum, where Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson were among those selected for their UK project Mother Vera.
In the Rogers Audience Award, five Canadian filmmakers each received a cash prize of $10,000 Cad. They are: Fanny: The Right To Rock (dir. Bobbi Jo Hart ); Kimmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning Of Empathy; Someone Like Me: Still Max (dir. Katherine Knight); and Hell Or Clean Water (dir. Cody Westman).
In the first look pitch prizes at Hot Docs Forum,...
- 5/10/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Hot Docs Forum, the festival’s two-day international co-financing market event, wrapped Wednesday after 20 teams, representing 16 countries, pitched their projects to a virtual roundtable of more than 50 top documentary funders and decision makers from around the globe.
The Canadian Forum Pitch Prize was awarded to director Lisa Jackson’s “Wilfred Buck” (pictured above), which tells the story of a man who is called the Indiana Jones of Indigenous star knowledge while exploring colonization’s impact on Indigenous ways of knowing. The film is produced by Jackson and Alicia Smith for Door Number 3 Productions and by the National Film Board of Canada.
The $10,000 Cad cash prize is awarded to the best Canadian pitch at the Forum as voted on by attending international buyers, and is this year presented in partnership with Directors Guild of Canada National and Dgc Ontario.
The Canadian Forum Pitch Prize jury gave an honourable mention, which...
The Canadian Forum Pitch Prize was awarded to director Lisa Jackson’s “Wilfred Buck” (pictured above), which tells the story of a man who is called the Indiana Jones of Indigenous star knowledge while exploring colonization’s impact on Indigenous ways of knowing. The film is produced by Jackson and Alicia Smith for Door Number 3 Productions and by the National Film Board of Canada.
The $10,000 Cad cash prize is awarded to the best Canadian pitch at the Forum as voted on by attending international buyers, and is this year presented in partnership with Directors Guild of Canada National and Dgc Ontario.
The Canadian Forum Pitch Prize jury gave an honourable mention, which...
- 5/6/2021
- by Jennie Punter
- Variety Film + TV
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