Teza

The narrative unfolds across multiple eras: flashbacks to 1970s Germany and Ethiopia, the 1974 deposition of Haile Selassie, and the 1980s Ethiopian regime, with a present-day frame around 1990. It weaves these periods into a non-linear structure, showing how past revolutions, wars, and diasporic experiences persist in the present. The film juxtaposes rural life, urban centers, and exile to trace personal and national histories through time.

Most of the story unfolds in a poor Ethiopian village by Lake Tana, with expansive landscapes and a small mud hut community. It also shifts to Germany where Anberber and Cassandra live as part of the diaspora, and to Addis Ababa during the later decades of conflict. The settings contrast rural memory with urban exile and the political climates shaping both realms, highlighting how place molds identity and memory.

🧭 Memory & Identity

Anberber's fragmented memories drive the film's emotional core. Visions of a child, hospital scenes, and landscapes from home reveal how exile reshapes self-perception. Exorcism rituals and dream sequences turn trauma into questions of belonging across borders. Memory is treated as a political act that ties personal identity to historical experience.

🌍 Political History

The film traces Ethiopia's late-20th-century upheavals—from imperial fall to socialist rule and ongoing unrest—through intimate stories. It critiques revolutionary promises that mask power struggles and violence, while showing how diaspora life exposes racism and dislocation. Through conscription, exile, and shifting allegiances, politics directly scrapes the lives of ordinary people. Personal lives become a lens on national change.

👥 Community & Belonging

Villagers, families, and lovers form a fragile network that sustains hope amid poverty and coercion. Rituals, caregiving, and everyday acts of teaching become acts of resistance against trauma. The narrative emphasizes shared memory and responsibility to one another, suggesting that healing depends on collective support. The next generation's resilience is portrayed as rooted in communal bonds.