The third annual Tsehai Film Festival is selected to be part of the United Nations Week celebrations. Every year, UNA-NCA (United Nations Association of the National Capital Area) commemorates the day the Charter of the United Nations went into effect (October 24th, 1945) by organizing a week of conferences and events with several partners in the capitol area. Tsehai Film Festival is proud to collaborate with UNA-NCA and host this year’s Film festival in the Washington, DC metro area as part of these events.

      Tsehai Film Festival started in 2007 as part of the Tsehai conferences, which commenced in 2006. The conferences have occurred annually in several U.S. locations and have invited a multitude of persons to engage in the discussion of Ethiopian affairs and the exchange of ideas that promote solutions to world problems.

      The film festival screens a variety of features, shorts and documentaries, and has sought to increase public access to world film, to build bridges among generations and other communities, to support new filmmakers, and to encourage fruitful and dynamic discussion on issues that affect us all.

      In the past, Film Festivals have featured a range of diverse and impactful films. Included in the 2007 Tsehai film festival were Mary Olive Smith’s A Walk to Beautiful, Salem Mekuria’s Deluge, Marc and Nick Francis’ Black Gold (the official selection of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival), Haile Gerima’s Adwa: An African Victory, Wondwossen D. Dikran’s Journey to Lasta, and Dorothy Fadiman’s Seeds of Hope.

      The 2008 Tsehai film festival featured Itsushi Kawase’s Room 11, Ethiopia Hotel, Samson Giorgis’ The Return of the Obelisk, Yehdego Abeselom’s 13 Months of Sunshine, as well as Samson Giogis and Antoine Chuche’s The Djibouto-Ethiopian: Stories of a Return.

      These films have continually contributed to the intensive, life-changing experience of attendees and have evoked a dialogue of concern for world matters.

      This year, we are pleased to present Lisa Russell’s Not Yet Rain (Oct. 19th), David Springbett’s Hijacked Future (Oct. 21st), and Gini Reticker’s Pray the Devil Back to Hell (Oct 23rd). These screenings will take place at the Howard University, University of Maryland and George Mason University respectively.