User Reviews

Set in 1996 near Addis Abeba, Ethiopia at the age of fourteen, Hirut gets abducted after school by a gang of horseman. She is taken away as is the custom to be married to her abductor. They beat and abuse her and she decides to escape, but in doing so she manages to kill the would be husband.

The 'customs courts' dictates that a life for a life should be the case but from the start this is not an ordinary case but the law seems to be blind to the mitigating circumstances. Measza is a pro bono lawyer working for an organisation that helps the vulnerable of society and she decides to take on the case; this is their story.

Now this is based on real events and was produced by Angelina Jolie. It is all very well acted, filmed, directed and has a pacing that means you will not get bored. The story as a resonance that comes with all stories of injustice and as such – some have found it to be 'unoriginal'. However, I found this to be compelling and rewarding. It is in Amharic and sub titled in English with a run time of 99 minutes. I saw this described as 'arthouse' but I would place this firmly under the genre of drama and think this will appeal to lovers of World cinema and those who like a story told plain with all ambiguity forgotten – recommended.

Greetings again from the darkness. Maybe the best part of "based on a true story" movies is that they allow for a quick spotlight on both unheralded heroes and under-the-radar injustices around the globe. The first feature from writer/director Zeresenay Mehari brings warranted attention to the barbaric tradition of telefa in parts of rural Ethiopia. This so-called cultural rite involves a posse of men abducting a young girl whom one of them has chosen to be his wife.

Tizita Hagere plays Hirut, a 14 year old girl who is excelling in school and dreaming of attending university. While skipping home from school one day, Hirut is abducted by a group of men on horseback, who lock her away in a nearby house. Later she is visited by the man who wants to make her his wife. He beats and rapes her, leaving her to sleep injured on the dirt floor. The next day, Hirut tries to escape and ends up shooting her would-be husband. She is charged with murder, and it's here that we come to understand the lack of civil rights or equality when it comes to measuring the worth of a man versus a woman in this community.

Hirut's case comes to the attention of Meaza Ashenafi (Meron Getnet), a partner in the Andinet Women Lawyers Association. She fights for the rights of women and girls in a society where few rights exist. It's clear to any reasonable person that Hirut's actions were in self-defense, but reasonableness is not the determining factor … in fact, the village elders hold a community meeting and hear from Hirut's father and the father of the dead would-be husband. We are able to compare this form of village justice to the equally unbalanced scales of the courts.

The actual 1996 case of Aberash Bekale (on which this story is based) was a turning point in the legal system for Ethiopian women. This horrific process of abduction for marriage does still go on, but not in the mass numbers of the past. Of course, even once is too many. The film does a nice job of contrasting cultural versus civil laws, and how not all "traditions" should be continued simply because they are labeled as such.

Mr. Mehari's film has done well on the festival circuit, and certainly is boosted by the presence of Executive Producer Angelina Jolie. It's a real world example of just how important education and equality is, and how many of us take this for granted, while others live in areas where defiance could cost them their liberty and life.

I saw this film for my acting class and we're going to meet the filmmakers next week, so I thought I'd share my views on it. As far as the story goes, it's extremely predictable. I'm not going spoil anything, but let's just say that if you watch a lot of movies, you can see the ending from a mile away.

With that being said, I did enjoy this movie and I can see how some may be turned off by it. There are unsettling images along with a controversial plot that shows how much our culture in America is different in Africa. The characters were fresh and not clichéd. As for those scumbag abductors, I'd love to see the tables turned on them because I guarantee that they wouldn't like it one bit.

Overall, it's a decent movie. I'm not going to lie to you, the reader, and say it's a terrible film but at the same time, it's no masterpiece. It's good enough to recommend it and I hope that it gets a theatrical release. Not to mention getting rated by the MPAA, no doubt it'll get an R or PG-13 rating. If you can handle the material for what it is and adapt to the pacing, you'll be glad you saw it!

It means a lot For Ethiopian Cinema that this Film wins at sundace film festival Cause more directors can tackle this kinds of big issues in the country & i wanna say Congrats to mr.Zeresenay for his achievement & Being an inspiration for other Ethiopian and African directors .........next i want to see him to work on projects like ....emperor Minilik(The Ethiopian King Who defeat the Italian army Without Gun) & more ....Hope you don't take long time to come back.....also i want to say thanks To ANJELINA JOLIE for being one the producers in this foreign film

The Acting in this film is Excellent specially Meron Getnet did a nice job.The flow & Vibe of this movie is very good

This is a brave film that tells the true story about how Ethiopians can bring about change for themselves. It is based on the true story of Meaza Ashenafi, the founder of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association and Aberash Bekele - two courageous woman that changed history together. The story is beautifully told and the cinematography is breathtaking. The acting is also unbelievable with powerful performances from both leads. I highly recommend watching it for anyone interested in women's rights, legal reform, and changing cultural practices. It is also a breath of fresh air to see African women positioned in a powerful stance in their own stories as opposed to the usual victim narratives that are too often told. Kudos to the entire film team. I can't wait to see what you make next.

A bright 14-year-old girl is on her way home from school when men on horses swoop in and kidnap her. But brave Hirut (Tizita Hagere) grabs a rifle and tries to escape, but ends up shooting her captor. Meaza Ashenafi (Meron Getnet), a woman lawyer, arrives from the city to represent Hirut and argue that she acted in self-defense. Meaza embarks on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding customary law, risking the work of her women's legal-aid practice to save Hirut's life. Based on a true story, the film brings to the forefront the immoral patriarchal culture of Ethiopia where the tradition is to kidnap girls to marry them. It also informs of the efforts of the gradual change brought on through progressive court laws. There are from time to time slow and dramatic overstatements, scenes that make the film 'filmy' like cranking up the score during the initial abduction of Hirut or diffusing the tension of a car chase by exiting the scene with a fade to black not long after it begins. To make the film look real everything in it is spelled out through dialogues and nothing is nuanced reducing the hangover from the movie.

However, "Difret" is an undeniably powerful unpacking one of the ugliest stories imaginable making it worth your time and thought.

I just caught a screening at the Jeonju International Film Festival in Korea, and I was very impressed. It was a riveting, well-edited and well-acted film about a primitive misogynistic mindset that is responsible for the abuse and deaths of women around the world.

Based on a true story (probably one of the few with a relatively positive outcome) and filmed on location with an Ethiopian director and cast, Difret is educational and thought-provoking. I wish the director the best of luck bringing more material like this to the attention of the world. WELL DONE!

And I recommend this film to anyone who has the opportunity to see it and support it!

The name Angelina Jolie on the poster draw my interest on this one. She was executive producer of this excellent Amharic movie. I appreciate her side of contribution to lift the world cinema. Some of the stories go unheard, because they are happening in the remote places of the earth, far from the modern cities and countries. Newspapers, media might fail to report them in a long-range, because it is less interested in the other side of the world, but movies like this ensures the outreach.

I think this is my first Ethiopian movie. All the cast and story take place in this landlocked East-African country. The narration often switches between a small village and the capital city. Based on the real and historical even about one of the oldest blind belief over marrying a girl when she and her family denied the permission. It's set in the year 1996, the story of a 14-year-old girl Hirut who'd successfully escaped from her abductor, but not without a blow en-route. Now she's facing a charge which she had done in self- defence and the rest is her fight in the court of law.

As usual, everything is fine in our society, so things won't change and it does not have to, until something terrible happens. As to what this film talks, the law was not written in a single day and some of them are overlaps with traditional culture which definitely need a serious reconsideration. It keeps changing until finding a correct solution. Take our society as an example, now the homosexual and marijuana laws were getting friendlier than ever. This story is another example of patching the loopholes in the law. It might come after a horrible incident, but makes sure that it won't repeat.

"I can't even protect my little sister. They will get her one day."

The entire film was not a courtroom drama, but people's bonding and cultural exposure. Actings were wonderful, especially the main two characters, Meaza and Hirut. The pace and focus was largely on the topic, but a few glimpses of landscapes of the countryside made me wonder how beautiful the Ethiopia is. I think the cinematography was at its best. This film has been officially submitted for the last concluded Oscars (2015), and in my view it should have been nominated for the main event instead of 'Timbuktu'.

I thought it was a tale about some westerners who comes to help the little girl, or maybe adopt her, kind of stuffs. But it was purely a uni-national, uni-racial, its society and flawed judicial system which might give you a shock. After opening 30 minutes, I was pleased to have picked it to watch and ended highly satisfied when it ended. The conclusion was very emotional, especially the lines Hirut said was reflected what she went through and might going repeat for other girls.

This is highly recommended by me. This film needs viewers, to learn what's really happening out there. Especially in a male dominated society, how the children and women are coping to stand on their own feet. Because of the brave attempt by the brave women, the changes have come and building a better future for the next generation. So hats off to the director-cum-writer, producers and all the above those two ladies who are still carrying out their works to help the struggling women as the final report from film says. I think you won't regret watching it, so why don't give it a try.

8½/10

This movie appeared on You Tube December 26 2020 and I started to watch. Not a moment did I turn my eyes or attention away from the screen. The depth of storytelling, the beauty of the landscape, the intensity of action, the cultural exploration and the outcome of this story all make it a solid 10. Very good editing, producing and cinematography. Viewers (especially women or men with daughters) will be immersed in this story and a movie that should be a discussion point for womens' rights all over the world.

An Ethiopian episode of Law & Order, heavy on the Order, follows an abduction, rape & murder & the lawyer who undertakes the case to defend the woman accused. A very important aspect of African culture is presented & argued but some of the crispness & immediacy of the subject matter, that we come to expect in the West, is lost to parenthetical side plots & murky tribal procedures.

As a Muslim Bangladeshi woman once told me in reference to a recent "National Geographic Magazine" story "The Changing Face of Saudi Women", "Our problem is that men should learn to keep it in their pants!" The solution according to male tradition has been in "placing the onus on the victim" which is just another element in support of female enslavement, and as shown in the film, "Difret", the story of a kidnapped girl, Hirut. The male history of what it means to be a female is one of: maintain the household; provide sex on demand; provide male heirs (w/female infanticide not uncommon). Let's remind ourselves of the list of almost warfare style tactics for male dominion over females: Asset control, role guilt, child marriages, domestic violence, FGM, acid attacks, kidnapping as shown in this film, foot binding once common in China, isolation/exclusion, and stoning. One would think that the moral compass of religion would provide a safety net for women, but all the major religions were created for an illiterate populace where strength governed the ethos. In Muslim cultures Sharia law is overseen by males. In Judaism the patriarchs write the rules which saw women as jealous, vain, lazy and gluttonous; likely to gossip and receptive to the occult/witchcraft. Christianity with special emphasis given to Catholic, Orthodox, LDS religions simply exorcised the word "égalité".

So what is to be done? Hirut had the answer. Education! Educating girls would have a singular impact toward maintaining the health of the family, and by extension the community. A few critical locals promoting female education will have far ranging regional influence, for example, Afghanistan.

This film is surprisingly well done. We see the steps and it is quite well played by everyone. Totally believable. There are events like this that make everyone root for the good one and for the good changes. Sometimes, it is the abusive killing by the police. Sometimes it is the victimisation of another subgroup of the population. Abducting girls to marry was a tradition that was getting outdated. This might explain why Boko Haram abduct whole groups of school girls to make them their wives. Modernity is simply not good for some people's reproduction strategy. They must resort to old techniques. With populations so high now, these things can be relegated to the past.

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