Ethiopian director Haile Gerima, a guiding figure in the L.A. Rebellion movement with such films as Bush Mama and Ashes and Embers, is returning with his first work in nearly two decades, one that was three decades in the making. Black Lions – Roman Wolves, spanning around nine hours, is described as a treatise on Ethiopian resistance to the second Italian invasion in 1935 that finally lets the men and women barefoot soldiers speak and correct the historic record long dominated by false characterizations by Italian and western narratives.
Ahead of a Berlinale premiere beginning this Monday, we’re pleased to exclusively debut the first trailer. A historic reunion will also take place at the festival as Gerima and take part in a conversation with fellow L.A. Rebellion director Charles Burnett, who returns to the festival to present the new 4K restoration of his second feature My Brother’s Wedding.
Here’s the synopsis of Gerima’s film: “In 1896, Ethiopia gained victory over Italy, hitting back at its first attempt to conquer the East African country. When Mussolini and the fascists came to power in 1922, the still abstract risk of a further attack became concrete. In 1935, Italy began an assault on Ethiopia once again, subjecting the country to a brutal war, not shying away from the use of poisonous gas: a crime, paradoxically, at once omnipresent and barely remembered in today’s Italy. Haile Gerima, veteran of the L.A. Rebellion and New Black Cinema, worked for 30 years on his monumental exploration of the history and mythology of Italian colonialism, and also commemoration of the Ethiopian resistance. From archive material, conversations with historical witnesses and his father’s plays, he weaves together a panorama of self-affirmation and colonial murder, of European complicity and Black solidarity. Black Lions – Roman Wolves sets Ethiopian voices against lasting colonialist lies – and the recordings of the resistance against the reproduction of colonial images; against the entrenched visual dominance of the colonisers. A film for the present as well as for the coming decades.”
“Black Lions – Roman Wolves is a 30-year obsession that has transformed my own idea of storytelling,” said the director. “It is a story of remembrance or my right to remember a history that is completely dominated by European narratives, a power that has not only the resources but the right of absolute ownership of the archives of this specific history, which deals with Italian second or third attempts to colonize my country, Ethiopia. It is a struggle to bring to fruition my right to tell that story.”
See the exclusive trailer below.
The post Legendary Director Haile Gerima Returns in Exclusive Trailer for Black Lions – Roman Wolves, Premiering at Berlinale first appeared on The Film Stage.
from The Film Stage