Revolutionary Ethiopia through the Lens of the Contemporary Film Industry

Abstract This article assesses how Ethiopian historical films have engaged with the Ethiopian revolution. It analyzes the way in which contemporary Ethiopian cinema constructs the traumatic events of the past half century and in doing so contributes to a particular ideological understanding of Ethiopia’s past and present. Through utilizing certain techniques and tropes, historical films contribute to and perpetuate the hegemonic ideological interpretation of the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974 and the events associated with it. The article addresses the lacunae in the literature on the Ethiopian film industry, which in contrast to other cinemas in Sub-Saharan Africa has not been the focus of academic analysis.