Director
Beza Hailu Lemma
Beza Hailu Lemma is a director and screenwriter based in Addis Ababa. Passionate about documentary and fiction, he has already made several short films, including Ballad of the Spirits (2016), Katanga Nation (2022) and Alazar (2024). Katanga Nation was screened at over 20 festivals worldwide, including Visions du Réel, the Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival and FESPACO, where it won the Silver Poulain for Best Documentary Short. Beza also takes part in the Berlinale Talents, the Atelier du Festival de Cannes and the Filmmaker Lab at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Alazar (Ethiopia) - International Competition CM
In contemporary Ethiopia, the exodus of a peasant community is
interrupted when the patriarch of an important family disappears from his grave.
Tessema, his son, begins to question the Church's divine explanation, forcing him to launch his own investigation.
