Katanga Nation

World premiere: Visions du Réel 2022 / International Medium Length & Short Film Competition

Amele is the colourful host of a small hostel in the bustling neighbourhood of Katanga in Addis Ababa, one of the last few undeveloped places in the heart of the city, surrounded by the looming shadows of construction. When the merchandise of guest and street vendor Enkehone, a young man from the northern city of Gondar, gets confiscated, he lands a job as a day labourer in one of the city’s many construction sites. Building apartments, he dreams of one day scraping together enough money to start his business again. As the monstrous construction of Addis Ababa gets closer and closer to Katanga, Enkehone settles into his life in the neighbourhood and starts appreciating the precious little time left with Amele and his other co-habitants.

South Africa / Ethiopia, 2022, 27'