Worth: $14.50
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Cast:
Mohammed Arif, Hashim Abdi, Biniam Yonas, Urji Abrahim Mumade, Destu Ibrahim Mumade
Intro:
… poetic, hypnotic and fascinating …
This documentary focuses on the Oromo and Harari communities in Ethiopia and their use of khat – the leaves of which, when chewed or smoked, act as a stimulant and have a euphoric effect.
The first feature length film from Mexican-Ethiopian filmmaker Jessica Beshir, Faya Dayi is a gorgeous-looking, black and white dreamscape. Beshir directed, filmed and produced this herself, and in many ways her film is a political statement that connects the legal use and abuse of khat with the desperation felt by these communities.
The words all come from the community members themselves. There is no traditional narration. There’s also no small talk – they speak of life, love and leaving Ethiopia. They paint a bleak picture of their existence: “We shouldn’t have to perish in the deserts and the seas to change our lives.” And yet, many do make the perilous journey to become refugees in a foreign culture.
We see the communities harvest the crops and gather to trade. In one scene, a man’s hands are writing figures in a ledger – a calculator, a mobile phone and wad of paper money by his side, the modern world sits uncomfortably next to the traditional one. The use of khat, which is the country’s most lucrative crop and has Sufi and spiritual connections, can be compared to alcohol abuse in Western society: “Dad becomes a crazy man,” says one teenage boy. “He’s losing it with khat. In the morning before he chews, he’s a different person. At night after chewing, he’s another person.”
Yet it’s not all bleak – the children are joyful, running into the water or kicking a ball around like kids anywhere, and there’s plenty of amazing a capella singing.
Premiering at Sundance, the film centres on a number of people, mostly teenage boys and men, as the khat trade is dominated by men. There’s a feeling, though, that while this is an incredible insight into another culture, you don’t quite get to know these people well enough.
Many viewers will find Faya Dayi poetic, hypnotic and fascinating, yet its pace will be too slow for some. It’s beautiful-looking, though, and there are rewards for the patient – especially those who venture to see it on the big screen.
