The Israeli Embassy in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute presented the award winning film by an Israeli-Ethiopian writer-director Alamork Davidian titled “Fig Tree” (የሾላ ዛፍ).
The Ethiopian premier of the film was opened with remarks by H.E. Dr. Hirut Kassaw, Minister of Culture and Tourism and H.E. Raphael Morav, Ambassador of Israel to Ethiopia. In his opening remarks Ambassador Morav stressed that “National independence is also the ability to have a national creative and original film production”. In Israel, a country with less than 9 million people there are ten film schools and seven international film festivals. The Israeli Film Industry is a vibrant point of cultural exchange with social and economic contribution to the Israeli society and worldwide.
The screening was attended by high level diplomats, government officials, actors, directors, writers and cinema lovers in Addis.
The film takes place during the Ethiopian Civil War and depicts the story of a Jewish teenager’s scheme to keep her Christian boyfriend from being drafted into the military. At the same time, she and her family were preparing to flee the country and go to Israel. But in times of war, plans tend to go wrong. The film is based on Alamork’s memories in war-torn Ethiopia, which she left at age 11.
Alamork Davidian was born in Awash, Ethiopia and moved to Israel in 1991. She studied at Tel Hai College in Israel and continued to the prestigious Sam Spiegel Film & Television School and graduated in 2012.