Screening + Q&A: Made in Ethiopia
Three women - a farmer, a worker, and a manager - tell their stories amid the Chinese-led industrialisation of Ethiopia.
When a massive Chinese industrial park lands in rural Ethiopia, a dusty farming town finds itself at the new frontier of globalization. The sprawling factory complex’s formidable Chinese director Motto now needs every bit of mettle and charm she can muster to push through a high-stakes expansion that promises 30,000 new jobs. Ethiopian farmer Workinesh and factory worker Beti have staked their futures on the prosperity the park promises. But as initial hope meets painful realities, they find themselves, like their country, at a pivotal crossroads.
Filmed over four years with singular access, Made in Ethiopia lifts the curtain on China’s historic but misunderstood impact on Africa, and explores contemporary Ethiopia at a moment of profound crisis. The film throws audiences into two colliding worlds: an industrial juggernaut fueled by profit and progress, and a vanishing countryside where life is still measured by the cycle of the seasons. And its nuance, complexity and multi-perspective approach go beyond black and white narratives of victims and villains. As the three women’s stories unfold, Made in Ethiopia challenges us to rethink the relationship between tradition and modernity, growth and welfare, the development of a country and the well-being of its people.
Three women - a farmer, a worker, and a manager - tell their stories amid the Chinese-led industrialisation of Ethiopia.
When a massive Chinese industrial park lands in rural Ethiopia, a dusty farming town finds itself at the new frontier of globalization. The sprawling factory complex’s formidable Chinese director Motto now needs every bit of mettle and charm she can muster to push through a high-stakes expansion that promises 30,000 new jobs. Ethiopian farmer Workinesh and factory worker Beti have staked their futures on the prosperity the park promises. But as initial hope meets painful realities, they find themselves, like their country, at a pivotal crossroads.
Filmed over four years with singular access, Made in Ethiopia lifts the curtain on China’s historic but misunderstood impact on Africa, and explores contemporary Ethiopia at a moment of profound crisis. The film throws audiences into two colliding worlds: an industrial juggernaut fueled by profit and progress, and a vanishing countryside where life is still measured by the cycle of the seasons. And its nuance, complexity and multi-perspective approach go beyond black and white narratives of victims and villains. As the three women’s stories unfold, Made in Ethiopia challenges us to rethink the relationship between tradition and modernity, growth and welfare, the development of a country and the well-being of its people.
Max Duncan is an award-winning filmmaker, cinematographer and journalist whose work
has appeared on platforms including the BBC, PBS, The Guardian, The New York Times
and Al Jazeera. He worked for a decade in China, first as a video journalist for Reuters
news agency in Beijing and then independently, exploring the country’s meteoric rise from
many angles. He has since reported widely across Asia (including several times in North
Korea), Africa, Europe and Latin America. Max has won a World Press Photo Award, been
supported by organizations including Pulitzer, and is an alumnus of Yaddo and Logan
Nonfiction programs. Made in Ethiopia is his feature documentary debut.
Hewete Haileselassie is Editor-in-Chief at bird Story Agency and a former BBC World Service reporter and producer. Over 15 years at the BBC, Hewete worked across the African continent, as a regular producer on BBC Africa radio news programs, including Network Africa, Focus on Africa, and BBC Africa Debate. A passionate advocate for media development, she played an active role in advancing newsroom diversity and gender equality, serving on the steering committee for BBC’s Global Women in News group and leading the World Service’s 50:50 Equality Project expansion. She has led talent schemes such as the Future Voices traineeship in the UK and trained hundreds of African journalists as the BBC’s Africa region training and talent manager. Founded in 2021 as a project of Africa No Filter, bird story agency aims to change the narrative on Africa by producing and syndicating rich, diverse content from across the continent.