The simple life in his mother's hut off the grid set against the huge TVs in the apartment blocks where the other children live. Asalif adapts to the changes to his familiar surroundings with growing autonomy. He becomes Anbessa, the lion.
Through a coming-of-age story, ANBESSA captures one boy taking on modernization on his own terms, revealing a unique and magical perspective on the myth of "progress" that entraps us all. Ten-year-old Asalif and his mother have been displaced from their farmland on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the construction of a condominium. As they watch the buildings take shape, they are reminded in small and big ways that their country's dream of "progress" is not for them. To fight back against those casting him out and those threatening his mother's safety, Asalif taps into a fantasy of becoming his hero: the lion ("anbessa" in Amharic). Asalif uses his imagination to battle forces beyond his control. His newfound power and fantasy take him to places he never imagined inside and out of the condo until finally, Asalif must find the strength that resides in him as a boy, and shed the lion persona, in order to deal with the tides of change and violence that are usurping a community, a country, and his own identity.
Ten-year-old Asalif and his mother have been displaced from their Ethiopian farmland by the construction of a condominium. Now living on the divide between a new and ancient world, they are reminded that their country's big dream of "progress" is not for them. Land developers come knocking and Asalif feels his mother's fear of further displacement. On the other side, ferocious hyenas lurk in a dark forest and local farmers speak their lore. To fight back against all that threatens his family, Asalif transforms into a lion ("anbessa" in Amharic). His newfound power takes him to places he never imagined inside and out of the condo until finally, Asalif must shed the lion persona and find the strength that resides in him as a boy, in order to deal with the tides of change and violence that threaten his family, his neighbors, and his generation.
A stunning observational work, ANBESSA vibrantly mirrors its subject's imagination with a creative approach to non-fiction filmmaking. With Anbessa, Scarpelli has crafted an urgent and caring portrait of those cast aside by the processes of modernization.
Director Statement -
There is a quiet violence which modernization is impressing on all of us. I made this film because I myself became enraptured by Asalif's version of reality, I needed to inhabit the realms he does in order to survive . His perspective is not an escape mechanism but rather a unique and essential way of coping with the annals of modernization, with forces beyond our control which each and every day, threaten our existence.
