#jessica beshir

[dyingenigma]

Faya Dayi (2021) dir. Jessica Beshir

[scenesandscreens]

Faya Dayi (2023)

Director & DoP - Jessica Beshir

"There is nothing like your own country, it's true. The love you get from your mother, can you get the same love from your stepmother? It's the same with a country that is not your own. To leave your country is a very, very serious thing."

[just--another--wallflower]

Cinematic Parallels

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988), dir. Giuseppe Tornatore

Faya Dayi (2021), dir. Jessica Beshir

[oldfilmsflicker]

films directed by women coming to the Criterion Collection over the next few months

[animalsisawinmovies]

cow 🐮

from faya dayi (2021)

dir. jessica beshir

Instagram Letterboxd

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Watching

SHORT FILMS from THE CRITERION CHANNEL

FANTASMAS André Novais Oliveira Brazil, 2010

HE WHO DANCES ON WOOD Jessica Beshir USA, 2016

THE CRIMINALS Serhat Karaaslan Turkey, 2021

SIERRA Sander Joon Estonia, 2022

[randomrichards]

HEROIN (2017):

An artist’s routine

Work inspired by his ex

Free Will: illusion?

[thepeoplesmovies]

MUBI Release UK Trailer For Jessica Beshir's Faya Dayi

MUBI Release UK Trailer For Jessica Beshir's Faya Dayi @mubiuk #FayaDayi #JessicaBeshir #WorldCinema

After releasing a short clip last month, MUBI have finally released the official UK Trailer for Jessica Beshir’s striking Docu-Drama Faya Dayi which will be released this week in UK cinemas. The film is a spiritual journey into the highlands of Harar, Ethiopia. We become immersed in the rituals of khat, a leaf Sufi Muslims  have chewed for centuries for religious meditations and Ethiopia’s most…

[tepitome]

Tepitome’s Favourite Films of 2022 (so far...)

1. Nope (Dir. Jordan Peel) 2. Faya Dayi (Dir. Jessica Beshir) 3. Decision to Leave (Dir. Park Chan-wook) 4. The Outfit (Dir. Graham Moore) 5. The Batman (Dir. Matt Reeves) 6. Official Competition (Dir. Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn) 7. Vortex (Dir. Gaspar Noé) 8. Alcarràs (Dir. Carla Simón) 9. The House (Dir. Emma De Swaef, Paloma Baeza & Marc James Roels) 10. Paris, 13th District (Dir. Jacques Audiard)

[5000spacealiens]

Top ten new-to-me films of 2022:

1. Faya Dayi (Jessica Beshir, 2021) 2. Joan of Arc of Mongolia (Ulrike Ottinger, 1989) 3. August at Akiko's (C.M. Yogi, 2018) 4. Erie (Kevin Jerome Everson, 2010) 5. My Favorite Software Is Being Here (Alison Nguyen, 2021) 6. MS Slavic 7 (Sofia Bohdanowicz, 2019) 7. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2021) 8. India Song (Marguerite Duras, 1975) 9. Thing From The Factory By The Field (Joel Potrykus, 2022) 10. Just Don't Think I'll Scream (Frank Beauvais, 2019)

[dyingenigma]

[forget-foal]

One Movie From Every Country pt. 3

Today's film I watched was an unconventional documentary, focused on the poetry of political strife in Ethipoia, Jessica Beshir's Faya dayi.

Faya dayi is a hard film to describe. It's a documentary, but not in the traditional way of having people sit in front of a camera and talk. People do that, but it's not the focus of the film. The focus is on the dream-like imagery and the feelings you get from them. There are sort of stories in the film, such as the multiple young people who seem desperate to escape the country, but the movie (if you ask me) is much more interested in painting an image of Ethiopia and the effect of khat (a native stimulant and Ethiopia's cash crop) on the country and its peoples.

I did, admittedly, have a touch time watching the film though. Since it was a bit unconventional and much more imagery based, there was a lot of time where there were no dialogue or speech. The music and the pictures were really captivating, but I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't get a little bored.

This is definitely a film I'd recommend for just the imagery alone, but if you're interested in hearing some stories from native Ethiopians, I'd recommend it for that as well!

7/10

[oatmilkenjoyer69]

April 2023 Media Breakdown

Movies:

By the Sad Sea Waves (1917) - Alfred J. Goulding

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021) - Ian Samuels

This Beautiful Fantastic (2016) - Simon Aboud

Un certain matin (A Certain Morning) (1991) - Fanta Régina Nacro

Hairat (2017) - Jessica Beshir

Isole di fuoco (Islands of Fire) (1955) - Vittorio De Seta

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - Joe Johnston

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) - Anthony & Joe Russo

Dune (1984) - David Lynch

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) - John Francis Daley & Jonathan M. Goldstein

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) - Hayao Miyazaki

The Big Lebowski (1998) - Joel & Ethan Coen

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) - Ang Lee

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) - David Lynch

TV Shows:

N/A

Books: Completed

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion (2019) - Jai Tolentino

The Dragon Republic (2019) - R.F. Kuang

Hamnet (2020) - Maggie O’Farrell

Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America (2020) - Marcia Chatelain

Legends & Lattes (2022) - Travis Baldree

Books: In Progress

The Strange (2023) - Nathan Ballingurd | 38%

The Burning God (2020) - R.F. Kuang | 16%

Top 3 Albums:

the record - boygenius (2023) | indie rock

labour (single) - Paris Paloma (2023) | folk/indie rock

Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings of Lionel Hampton - Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra (1996) | jazz

Crafts:

Still working on the scrap yarn blanket

[orangerosebush]

"It is a Soul: A Portrait of Hailu Mergia" Directed by Lorena Alvarado and Adam Golfer

In Amharic, the word “tezeta,” has 3 meanings. It describes the concept of, “...memory, or the memory of loss and longing.” The term is also the name of a musical scale in traditional Ethiopian music, and, simultaneously, the name of an Amharic folk standard or ballad, which evokes a feeling of loss.

The legendary Ethiopian jazz keyboardist Hailu Mergia’s story is intertwined with “tezeta.” The atmospheric tone poem, It is a Soul, tracks aspects of Hailu’s journey from an iconic bandleader in the club scene of Addis Ababa in the 1970s, his immigration to the US during a decade of political repression and brutality in Ethiopia, and his public re-emergence as a performer in 2014 after a music publisher in New York began re-releasing his music. It is a Soul is a collaboration with Hailu which expresses both the longing so evident in his performances, as well as the celebration of the now.

At the height of the second wave of the vibrant Ethiopian jazz music scene, Hailu Mergia was a famous and beloved multi-instrumentalist and bandleader in Addis Ababa, performing with the Walias Band, the Dahlak Band and others. The Walias had a residency at the famed Hilton Hotel in Addis, where all of the biggest acts of the time performed until dawn, sometimes playing 8-10 hour sets for ecstatic crowds of dancers.

In 1977, Mengistu Haile Mariam and the Derg seized power in Ethiopia, overseeing a murderous and oppressive regime that snuffed out all political opposition and dissent in a period that became known as the Red Terror. However, in 198, Hailu and the Walias had established such notoriety as performers that they were granted permission to tour the United States. After the tour, Hailu and a few of his bandmates declared asylum in the US and began new lives.

Hailu left Addis Ababa at the height of his popularity, fleeing the Red Terror to start a new life in Washington, DC, where no one outside of the small Ethiopian diaspora community was familiar with his music.

Settling in Washington, Hailu continued to make music for himself for over 30 years while driving a taxi, working at a gas station, managing a club and doing whatever he had to in order to make a living. In 2014, Brian Shimkovitz– a young music publisher from Brooklyn – discovered Hailu’s music in a cassette shop in Addis Ababa. He tracked Hailu down and began re-releasing his music (never heard outside of Ethiopia) on his label, Awesome Tapes from Africa, to great acclaim. The past 7 years have been a rebirth for Hailu, and at 73 years old, he is finally receiving international recognition for his contributions as a musician.

CREDITS Directed by Lorena Alvarado & Adam Golfer Producer: Jessica Beshir Editor: Lorena Alvarado Director of Photography: Adam Golfer Additional Footage: Abdullah Akçay & Leo Plunkett Sound Design: Luciana Foglio Colorist: Cédric von Niederhäusern Translations: Menbere Awoke, Jessica Beshir Title Design: Ghazaal Vojdani Music by Hailu Mergia, Courtesy of Awesome Tapes from Africa 2021

[eventinews24]

FAYA DAYI di JESSICA BESHIR | In esclusiva su MUBI dal 29 luglio

FAYA DAYI di JESSICA BESHIR | In esclusiva su MUBI dal 29 luglio

FAYA DAYI STILL “Un film ipnotico ed ellittico di una bellezza fuori dal comune”Vogue “Sontuoso…un successo avvolgente”Variety “Coinvolge la mente e l’anima con la sua grandiosità visiva, e con tensione e mistero cattura lo spettatore”IndieWire MUBI, il distributore globale e il servizio di streaming cinematografico, annuncia che Faya Dayi, il suggestivo film di Jessica Beshir, sarà in…

[oldfilmsflicker]

Faya Dayi, 2021 (dir. Jessica Beshir)