Adwa (film)
Encyclopedia
Adwa - An African Victory is a 1999 Ethiopia
n documentary film
directed by Haile Gerima
. It concerns the Battle of Adowa
(Adwa) (1896).
military bent on colonization.
On March 2, 1896, the Italians embarked on the final European conquest of an African nation, Ethiopia. With brilliant military intelligence and gallant generals at the helm, united and willed, the Ethiopian people rose their way to triumph over the Italians at the Battle of Adwa. The event ignited a lasting flame of hope, of freedom and independence in the hearts of African throughout the world.
Haile Gerima, the director and producer of this important historic landmark, joins the voices of Ethiopian historians, elders, priests, poets and singers, capturing on film the powerful education and experience that shaped his consciousness. In a collage of Ethiopian landscapes, paintings, photographs and faces, the film illuminates one of the hidden sources of African empowerment.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Haile Gerima
Haile Gerima
Haile Gerima is an Ethiopian filmmaker, who resides in the United States. He is a leading member of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. His films have received wide international acclaim. Gerima has also been an influential film professor at...
. It concerns the Battle of Adowa
Battle of Adowa
The Battle of Adwa was fought on 1 March 1896 between Ethiopia and Italy near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia, in Tigray...
(Adwa) (1896).
Plot summary
In 1896, Ethiopia, largely armed with spears and knives, defeats a well-equipped and organized ItalianKingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
military bent on colonization.
On March 2, 1896, the Italians embarked on the final European conquest of an African nation, Ethiopia. With brilliant military intelligence and gallant generals at the helm, united and willed, the Ethiopian people rose their way to triumph over the Italians at the Battle of Adwa. The event ignited a lasting flame of hope, of freedom and independence in the hearts of African throughout the world.
Haile Gerima, the director and producer of this important historic landmark, joins the voices of Ethiopian historians, elders, priests, poets and singers, capturing on film the powerful education and experience that shaped his consciousness. In a collage of Ethiopian landscapes, paintings, photographs and faces, the film illuminates one of the hidden sources of African empowerment.