Mar 13, 2008
Ezra--The best African film I saw this year...
Ezra
Directed by: Newton I. Aduake
This is a gripping story of Ezra, a young boy who is abducted by a rebel militia group on his way to school and becomes a revolutionary soldier fighting against a corrupt government. Under the control of a brutal commander of the rebel (who operates under the name of “the brotherhood”), Ezra is joined by other young compatriots most of whom are boys as young as himself and are forced to commit war crimes against anyone who supports the government. This would include creating fear in the minds of villagers by terrorizing them. Even though not shown, there is even discussion of cutting the arms and legs of villagers so that they would not vote for the government.
From the time of Ezra’s abduction (at the age of 8 in 1992) until he decides to flee the rebel in 2000, Ezra is haunted by horrific memories of the war he has been involved in. At the age of sixteen, Ezra is accused of murdering his own parents and others on the night of January 6th, 1999--a crime Ezra strongly denies due to amnesia. Challenging him before the courts, however, is Ezra’s own sister, Onicha, who at the trial confesses that Ezra is responsible for the murder of their parents. She herself was a victim of this horrible crime Ezra and his rebel groups incited on the fateful night. Her tongue was cut off by an assailant as she screamed at the sight of her parents’ house being lit to fire while they were still inside.
Ezra is surrounded by a plethora of conflicts. Not only is he tormented by the emotional scar the war has left him with, but also by the fact that he can not remember how he could possibly have murdered his own parents. Here is a young man who has lost his innocence and was subjected into killing others at an early age. He has seen people being killed before his eyes. He has become one of those who commits the killing to survive. For Ezra, emotion and compassion have little space as he is busy fighting his own deamons.
Equally tormenting him is the ephemeral relationship he has had with his wife, Miriam, whom he meets while serving in the brotherhood. Also a young soldier, Miriam is a child of two former Maoists who she believes were killed by the government--a compelling reason for her to join the rebel group. In most occasions of the film, Miriam is the only sense of security and solace to Ezra. Miriam is the one person who challenges him to think rationally when everyone else (except Ezra) is on the verge of giving up and doubting the leadership of their brutal commander. In one particular argument about the faults of the commander and her fear that one day he (Ezra) too would end up dead, Miriam reminds Ezra, "maybe you will realize it when there is a bullet in the back of your head..."
Miriam’s role as a wife and confidante is important in helping us see the human side of this tormented boy. She is the only person with whom we see Ezra loosening up his usual stern, serious and angry attitude towards life. Miriam's unexpected pregnancy and future plans to lead a normal life with Ezra when this nightmare is all over is a pivotal moment in the movie. Unfortunately however, all this would end when Miriam is killed by a stray bullet during an ambush between government forces and another rebel group who attempts to take a bus full of people hostage—a hapless moment when Ezra, his sister Onicha, and Miriam happen to be in the bus trying to abscond the country side for a better life in Lagos, Nigeria.
Ezra’s successive hearings at the court is led by an American sponsored judge and two other councils from the country who claim that this is not a judicial body but rather one that aims to bring closure to the past and bring reconciliation. If Ezra confesses his wrong doing and admits that he is responsible for the murder of his parents and others he will not be punished by law, but will make resolution with the spirits of the dead.
There are various elements I loved about this movie even though the acting was questionable. I loved how Ezra evolves as a character. A meek eight year old boy before his abduction turns into a determined soldier who is regarded highly by his comrades even at the ripe age of 15. He pays attention to his surrounding and bears the responsibility of his friends’ safety, especially his sister and wife. Ezra is also a determined soldier who weathers tough times and questions the leadership of their commander head on at times when morale is low and the leadership in question. Ezra’s care to the safety and justice for the mass is also unquestionably strong. His struggle for peace and riddance of the corrupt government is not tainted by the greed for power, but stems from his genuine nature. We see Ezra’s stronger moment when he confronts the American judicial body sitting at the hearing “…I did not start the war…if war is a crime then every soldier must stand for trial….your government supports our corrupt government for diamond.”
I can say more about the movie but I would be spoiling it for you. I highly recommend this movie that has rightfully won the FESPACO Grand Prize at the 2007 Festival Panafrican du Cinema a Ouagadougou and selected for international Critics Week at Cannes.
By the way, if you happen to have seen the movie, you could probably answer my question. What the heck was dangling on the neck of the rebel group's leader? I hope it's not what I think it was....
Directed by: Newton I. Aduake
This is a gripping story of Ezra, a young boy who is abducted by a rebel militia group on his way to school and becomes a revolutionary soldier fighting against a corrupt government. Under the control of a brutal commander of the rebel (who operates under the name of “the brotherhood”), Ezra is joined by other young compatriots most of whom are boys as young as himself and are forced to commit war crimes against anyone who supports the government. This would include creating fear in the minds of villagers by terrorizing them. Even though not shown, there is even discussion of cutting the arms and legs of villagers so that they would not vote for the government.
From the time of Ezra’s abduction (at the age of 8 in 1992) until he decides to flee the rebel in 2000, Ezra is haunted by horrific memories of the war he has been involved in. At the age of sixteen, Ezra is accused of murdering his own parents and others on the night of January 6th, 1999--a crime Ezra strongly denies due to amnesia. Challenging him before the courts, however, is Ezra’s own sister, Onicha, who at the trial confesses that Ezra is responsible for the murder of their parents. She herself was a victim of this horrible crime Ezra and his rebel groups incited on the fateful night. Her tongue was cut off by an assailant as she screamed at the sight of her parents’ house being lit to fire while they were still inside.
Ezra is surrounded by a plethora of conflicts. Not only is he tormented by the emotional scar the war has left him with, but also by the fact that he can not remember how he could possibly have murdered his own parents. Here is a young man who has lost his innocence and was subjected into killing others at an early age. He has seen people being killed before his eyes. He has become one of those who commits the killing to survive. For Ezra, emotion and compassion have little space as he is busy fighting his own deamons.
Equally tormenting him is the ephemeral relationship he has had with his wife, Miriam, whom he meets while serving in the brotherhood. Also a young soldier, Miriam is a child of two former Maoists who she believes were killed by the government--a compelling reason for her to join the rebel group. In most occasions of the film, Miriam is the only sense of security and solace to Ezra. Miriam is the one person who challenges him to think rationally when everyone else (except Ezra) is on the verge of giving up and doubting the leadership of their brutal commander. In one particular argument about the faults of the commander and her fear that one day he (Ezra) too would end up dead, Miriam reminds Ezra, "maybe you will realize it when there is a bullet in the back of your head..."
Miriam’s role as a wife and confidante is important in helping us see the human side of this tormented boy. She is the only person with whom we see Ezra loosening up his usual stern, serious and angry attitude towards life. Miriam's unexpected pregnancy and future plans to lead a normal life with Ezra when this nightmare is all over is a pivotal moment in the movie. Unfortunately however, all this would end when Miriam is killed by a stray bullet during an ambush between government forces and another rebel group who attempts to take a bus full of people hostage—a hapless moment when Ezra, his sister Onicha, and Miriam happen to be in the bus trying to abscond the country side for a better life in Lagos, Nigeria.
Ezra’s successive hearings at the court is led by an American sponsored judge and two other councils from the country who claim that this is not a judicial body but rather one that aims to bring closure to the past and bring reconciliation. If Ezra confesses his wrong doing and admits that he is responsible for the murder of his parents and others he will not be punished by law, but will make resolution with the spirits of the dead.
There are various elements I loved about this movie even though the acting was questionable. I loved how Ezra evolves as a character. A meek eight year old boy before his abduction turns into a determined soldier who is regarded highly by his comrades even at the ripe age of 15. He pays attention to his surrounding and bears the responsibility of his friends’ safety, especially his sister and wife. Ezra is also a determined soldier who weathers tough times and questions the leadership of their commander head on at times when morale is low and the leadership in question. Ezra’s care to the safety and justice for the mass is also unquestionably strong. His struggle for peace and riddance of the corrupt government is not tainted by the greed for power, but stems from his genuine nature. We see Ezra’s stronger moment when he confronts the American judicial body sitting at the hearing “…I did not start the war…if war is a crime then every soldier must stand for trial….your government supports our corrupt government for diamond.”
I can say more about the movie but I would be spoiling it for you. I highly recommend this movie that has rightfully won the FESPACO Grand Prize at the 2007 Festival Panafrican du Cinema a Ouagadougou and selected for international Critics Week at Cannes.
By the way, if you happen to have seen the movie, you could probably answer my question. What the heck was dangling on the neck of the rebel group's leader? I hope it's not what I think it was....
Mar 7, 2008
A few words about the Site...
Hi, there:
As you may know, I built http://www.filmsofafrica.com as part of a class project. The assignement also required students to write a paper about their experience as well as what the project entailed. I feel that it may be of interest to some people to read about it in this blog. Hope I won't bore you--that is not the intention other than to sepll out as to why I think the site is important and share with you about the processes I had to go through while building it.
The premise for creating www.filmsofarica.com has a lot to do with my own frustration of not being able to easily identify and access online information on African films. Searching for such information has always been a major undertaking. For long, the only sources I found somewhat helpful were either websites that announced local African Film festivals such as, (http://www.africanfilmny.org/) or the California Newsreel (http://www.newsreel.org/) which boasts an extensive catalogue of archaic films that deal with social change along with a collection of few African films. Hence, the website I have created (www.filmsofafrica.com) aims to address this problem of information scarcity by aggregating every African film into a single database.
My website aims to strike a balance between creating usable, meaningful information and brevity. It provides users the opportunity to access accurate information such as the director of a film, year and country of production, film synopsis and on some occasions, the ability to watch movie trailers. Other aspects include a film review section featuring recently released African films, customer suggestion and feedback submission method, and regularly updated blog entries that focus on the subject of African cinema. This is a well organized website that is optimized to be searchable, usable and most importantly manifests a professional appeal to its users.
Identifying Users
When creating www.filmsofafrica.com my initial step involved identifying the intended audience for the site and then figuring out what these potential users might expect to get out of the database. The next crucial step was to plan ways in which I would be able to reach these users with whom I’d hoped to maintain a long lasting relationship. In this case, my niche market would be African filmmakers, foreign film enthusiasts, and film students. These are users who would certainly appreciate a database that is simple and user friendly. By this I mean, a web page that is not over crowded with heavy text, flash animation or color schemes that could potentially distract users. I therefore decided to complement the overall design with thumbnail pictures of film posters and trailers on the main page of the site. The rest of the database would be accessed through a drop down selection on the left column of the page, where users could select and access the information on films produced in the country of their choice. This particular section would open in a different page.
Here is one problem I identified and plan to resolve soon: As a novice website designer, I have neglected the cardinal rule of website design; and that is, consistency. The film database that would open after a user makes a selection on a country of choice is actually different in design and layout from that of the main page. I have now learned that this design flaw would be rather distracting for some users who may at first think that they are re-directed to a different website. For the time being, however, I have attempted to address this issue by making certain that the overall design is consistent throughout the site (in contrast to the main page). I will also make certain that the logo, the heading and the subsequent pages are similar in design and look in relation to the main page.
The Process
Without a doubt, creating a database is not an easy task, not to mention one that is comprehensive and error free. Because www.filmsofafrica.com is a site where people would look for information on African films, it is imperative that the information I am providing is concrete, up to date and most importantly trust worthy. To achieve this, prior to constructing the site, I conducted extensive research on each and every information offered on the site. For me, next to content, credibility is a very important element when it comes to earning the trust of users. In the process I also learned that the continued existence of this website may partly depend on the type of relationship I maintain with users from the very beginning. To achieve this, what I found most helpful was providing sections where users could submit their feedback and suggestions. This is an attempt to encourage users to take an active role in helping out with this grand scheme of building a mega database for all African films.
The notion of idea sharing and responsiveness to users’ needs and feedback has a bearing on building a strong customer base. In this regard, I am sharing information with my users who in turn are doing the same by responding to my proposition. I can attest to this as there were quite a number of people who visited the website and made commendable efforts in suggesting a few films that should be included in my database. Once I received these suggestions, I further researched on the topics and posted them on the site in due time and made a point of acknowledging their support. Equally important to this venture was the fact that the website has a regularly updated blog section that pertains to the topic of African films. These aspects alone have allowed me to interact and develop a pleasant relationship with users. Some users have posted their comments and reactions to a selection of my daily blogs while others submitted their input relevant to the site itself. Although this may not be the conventional method of determining and evaluating user interface issues, the responses are indicative of users’ expectations and experiences with this site.
Methods Implemented
Throughout the process of building this website and class discussions, I’ve learned valuable lessons in which I could position my website to rank at the top of the search engine results. It was surprising to know that certain html elements (such as title tags, meta tags, alt attributes, heading tags as well as the total number of other websites that link to one’s site) make a world of difference when it comes to scoring high on search engines. For instance, when it comes to Meta keywords, popular keywords that are not repetitive have a better acceptance and search capacity than those that are superfluous or lack specificity. Interestingly enough, when it comes to ranking criteria, the type of information search engines look for vary from one search engine to the other. These may include the frequency of the keywords, the “weight” of the keywords in relation to all other words as well as keyword placement. In my case, for example, if I had not used the free meta-tag analyzer service on http://www.scrubtheweb.com, I would not have detected early enough that the way I had initially structured my meta-tag had violated the above mentioned rules and hence was not considered search engine friendly. The keywords I had used were very repetitive and had too many characters to describe what my site was about.
As a provider of viable information, I have come to realize the importance of implementing techniques that would help increase traffic to my new site. For instance, I found signing up with Google ad words to be an effective way of letting the world recognize that my site is the newest cool addition to the virtual world. When I signed up for Google ad words, I allocated $50 per month with a $0.15 per click payment plan. I soon learned that it was necessary for me to select much targeted keywords that could trigger my ad so that only specific visitors will get to see my ad and my conversion ration will be relatively high. I determined that key terms such as African films, African Cinema, e.t.c. would be relevant in this case. A few minutes later I tested this by signing on Google and conducting a search by using some of the terms I had indicated. To my surprise the ad for my site was displayed on the first page of Google.
A day later I checked in my account for Google ad words and found out that because there were clicks on my ad Google had charged me $1.60. Fearing that I would soon run out of my $50 allowance, I decided to experiment and reduce the initial $0.15 per click down to $0.08 per click. Surprisingly, my ads were no longer showing up on Google under any of the search terms I had assigned. I waited for five days and continued to regularly monitor my account. To my dismay, however, there were no clicks to my ads. It wasn’t until I raised a question during a class period that I realized what had possibly gone wrong. The fact that I downgraded the number of times my ad would show up in relation to the allocated money had a lot to do with this phenomenon. In fact, as soon as I upgraded the ad words allocation to $.25 my ad began to show up under almost all of the search terms I had assigned.
On a similar note, the Google ad sense program proved to be a great business model that worked to my advantage. I signed up with Google in order to display random ads on a few of the pages on my website. Apparently there were some customers who clicked on these ads generating some revenue. I also signed up for Google analytics in order to monitor which pages on my site were being visited and when. To do this, I had to cut and paste the html code from the Google site and imbed it in each page of my site’s html document. This was a rather difficult undertaking for my particular site as I would have to embed this code into each page of the database, which happens to be numerous. Therefore, I selected a few pages I assumed would be mostly visited, the index, about us, and suggestion pages.
Getting the word out
The importance of advertising either through the traditional word of mouth or paid advertising cannot be underestimated. A few days after I had built the site, I realized that I would need to improve the ways in which I could communicate with people about the existence of my new website. I sent mass emails to several of my friends who in turn forwarded my message to others. Another method was the old fashion networking scheme where by I listed relevant and useful links on my site and the other sites returned the favor by listing mine on their website. As I mentioned previously, the number of outside links to other sites also plays a role in how search engines determine a site’s ranking. I also found other social networking sites such as www.myspace.com, www.facebook.com, www.fanbox.com, to be useful places to advertise and invite users to my site for free. Getting multiple listings and trying to make a website’s pages appear as high in search results as possible is desirable. In addition to google.com, www.dmoz.org offers free URL submission protocol to get listed on several search engines. Once the submission is made, the process to get indexed may take about 3 weeks, then a couple of months for the listing to start showing up on the search engines that use DMOZ.
Through the course of working on this website, one interesting aspect that soon became a hobby of mine was perhaps analyzing the web statistics information. Everyday I would sign in and monitor the changes and analyze the number of unique visitors that came to my site, the cities, countries and the frequently visited pages on my site. (See sample 4) This was rather fascinating because I was amazed by how fast information gets disseminated over the internet. People in the Philippines, Korea and even Japan have visited my site.
Although every day I would notice an increase in the number of unique visitors to the site, I knew there were days in which the activity was rather low. I knew I had to drive more traffic to my site in order to rank a better score with the Google search engine. One day in particular by 9:00 am in the morning, I realized I only had 32 visitors. I quickly signed on the famous community website, www.craigslist.org and placed an announcement stating that I needed the input of website designers as to the aesthetics of my site. A few hours later I was amazed to notice a spike in the number of unique visitors. The number had risen to 149 unique visitors most of whom actually sent me email messages in response to my call.
What the future holds
This project has been a rewarding experience from the beginning despite the challenges it had presented. My apprehension of not being able to successfully build an effective website had soon dissipated upon receiving congratulatory remarks from some users. Therefore, as part of an effort to keep this site operational over a long term, I have decided to keep expanding not only the database itself, but also the daily blog entries on http://filmsofafrica.blogspot.com. I would make certain that the blogs have clearly defined goals and themes that are of quality and relevance. It is also my hope that this website will continue to serve as the best source of information for African films.
As you may know, I built http://www.filmsofafrica.com as part of a class project. The assignement also required students to write a paper about their experience as well as what the project entailed. I feel that it may be of interest to some people to read about it in this blog. Hope I won't bore you--that is not the intention other than to sepll out as to why I think the site is important and share with you about the processes I had to go through while building it.
The premise for creating www.filmsofarica.com has a lot to do with my own frustration of not being able to easily identify and access online information on African films. Searching for such information has always been a major undertaking. For long, the only sources I found somewhat helpful were either websites that announced local African Film festivals such as, (http://www.africanfilmny.org/) or the California Newsreel (http://www.newsreel.org/) which boasts an extensive catalogue of archaic films that deal with social change along with a collection of few African films. Hence, the website I have created (www.filmsofafrica.com) aims to address this problem of information scarcity by aggregating every African film into a single database.
My website aims to strike a balance between creating usable, meaningful information and brevity. It provides users the opportunity to access accurate information such as the director of a film, year and country of production, film synopsis and on some occasions, the ability to watch movie trailers. Other aspects include a film review section featuring recently released African films, customer suggestion and feedback submission method, and regularly updated blog entries that focus on the subject of African cinema. This is a well organized website that is optimized to be searchable, usable and most importantly manifests a professional appeal to its users.
Identifying Users
When creating www.filmsofafrica.com my initial step involved identifying the intended audience for the site and then figuring out what these potential users might expect to get out of the database. The next crucial step was to plan ways in which I would be able to reach these users with whom I’d hoped to maintain a long lasting relationship. In this case, my niche market would be African filmmakers, foreign film enthusiasts, and film students. These are users who would certainly appreciate a database that is simple and user friendly. By this I mean, a web page that is not over crowded with heavy text, flash animation or color schemes that could potentially distract users. I therefore decided to complement the overall design with thumbnail pictures of film posters and trailers on the main page of the site. The rest of the database would be accessed through a drop down selection on the left column of the page, where users could select and access the information on films produced in the country of their choice. This particular section would open in a different page.
Here is one problem I identified and plan to resolve soon: As a novice website designer, I have neglected the cardinal rule of website design; and that is, consistency. The film database that would open after a user makes a selection on a country of choice is actually different in design and layout from that of the main page. I have now learned that this design flaw would be rather distracting for some users who may at first think that they are re-directed to a different website. For the time being, however, I have attempted to address this issue by making certain that the overall design is consistent throughout the site (in contrast to the main page). I will also make certain that the logo, the heading and the subsequent pages are similar in design and look in relation to the main page.
The Process
Without a doubt, creating a database is not an easy task, not to mention one that is comprehensive and error free. Because www.filmsofafrica.com is a site where people would look for information on African films, it is imperative that the information I am providing is concrete, up to date and most importantly trust worthy. To achieve this, prior to constructing the site, I conducted extensive research on each and every information offered on the site. For me, next to content, credibility is a very important element when it comes to earning the trust of users. In the process I also learned that the continued existence of this website may partly depend on the type of relationship I maintain with users from the very beginning. To achieve this, what I found most helpful was providing sections where users could submit their feedback and suggestions. This is an attempt to encourage users to take an active role in helping out with this grand scheme of building a mega database for all African films.
The notion of idea sharing and responsiveness to users’ needs and feedback has a bearing on building a strong customer base. In this regard, I am sharing information with my users who in turn are doing the same by responding to my proposition. I can attest to this as there were quite a number of people who visited the website and made commendable efforts in suggesting a few films that should be included in my database. Once I received these suggestions, I further researched on the topics and posted them on the site in due time and made a point of acknowledging their support. Equally important to this venture was the fact that the website has a regularly updated blog section that pertains to the topic of African films. These aspects alone have allowed me to interact and develop a pleasant relationship with users. Some users have posted their comments and reactions to a selection of my daily blogs while others submitted their input relevant to the site itself. Although this may not be the conventional method of determining and evaluating user interface issues, the responses are indicative of users’ expectations and experiences with this site.
Methods Implemented
Throughout the process of building this website and class discussions, I’ve learned valuable lessons in which I could position my website to rank at the top of the search engine results. It was surprising to know that certain html elements (such as title tags, meta tags, alt attributes, heading tags as well as the total number of other websites that link to one’s site) make a world of difference when it comes to scoring high on search engines. For instance, when it comes to Meta keywords, popular keywords that are not repetitive have a better acceptance and search capacity than those that are superfluous or lack specificity. Interestingly enough, when it comes to ranking criteria, the type of information search engines look for vary from one search engine to the other. These may include the frequency of the keywords, the “weight” of the keywords in relation to all other words as well as keyword placement. In my case, for example, if I had not used the free meta-tag analyzer service on http://www.scrubtheweb.com, I would not have detected early enough that the way I had initially structured my meta-tag had violated the above mentioned rules and hence was not considered search engine friendly. The keywords I had used were very repetitive and had too many characters to describe what my site was about.
As a provider of viable information, I have come to realize the importance of implementing techniques that would help increase traffic to my new site. For instance, I found signing up with Google ad words to be an effective way of letting the world recognize that my site is the newest cool addition to the virtual world. When I signed up for Google ad words, I allocated $50 per month with a $0.15 per click payment plan. I soon learned that it was necessary for me to select much targeted keywords that could trigger my ad so that only specific visitors will get to see my ad and my conversion ration will be relatively high. I determined that key terms such as African films, African Cinema, e.t.c. would be relevant in this case. A few minutes later I tested this by signing on Google and conducting a search by using some of the terms I had indicated. To my surprise the ad for my site was displayed on the first page of Google.
A day later I checked in my account for Google ad words and found out that because there were clicks on my ad Google had charged me $1.60. Fearing that I would soon run out of my $50 allowance, I decided to experiment and reduce the initial $0.15 per click down to $0.08 per click. Surprisingly, my ads were no longer showing up on Google under any of the search terms I had assigned. I waited for five days and continued to regularly monitor my account. To my dismay, however, there were no clicks to my ads. It wasn’t until I raised a question during a class period that I realized what had possibly gone wrong. The fact that I downgraded the number of times my ad would show up in relation to the allocated money had a lot to do with this phenomenon. In fact, as soon as I upgraded the ad words allocation to $.25 my ad began to show up under almost all of the search terms I had assigned.
On a similar note, the Google ad sense program proved to be a great business model that worked to my advantage. I signed up with Google in order to display random ads on a few of the pages on my website. Apparently there were some customers who clicked on these ads generating some revenue. I also signed up for Google analytics in order to monitor which pages on my site were being visited and when. To do this, I had to cut and paste the html code from the Google site and imbed it in each page of my site’s html document. This was a rather difficult undertaking for my particular site as I would have to embed this code into each page of the database, which happens to be numerous. Therefore, I selected a few pages I assumed would be mostly visited, the index, about us, and suggestion pages.
Getting the word out
The importance of advertising either through the traditional word of mouth or paid advertising cannot be underestimated. A few days after I had built the site, I realized that I would need to improve the ways in which I could communicate with people about the existence of my new website. I sent mass emails to several of my friends who in turn forwarded my message to others. Another method was the old fashion networking scheme where by I listed relevant and useful links on my site and the other sites returned the favor by listing mine on their website. As I mentioned previously, the number of outside links to other sites also plays a role in how search engines determine a site’s ranking. I also found other social networking sites such as www.myspace.com, www.facebook.com, www.fanbox.com, to be useful places to advertise and invite users to my site for free. Getting multiple listings and trying to make a website’s pages appear as high in search results as possible is desirable. In addition to google.com, www.dmoz.org offers free URL submission protocol to get listed on several search engines. Once the submission is made, the process to get indexed may take about 3 weeks, then a couple of months for the listing to start showing up on the search engines that use DMOZ.
Through the course of working on this website, one interesting aspect that soon became a hobby of mine was perhaps analyzing the web statistics information. Everyday I would sign in and monitor the changes and analyze the number of unique visitors that came to my site, the cities, countries and the frequently visited pages on my site. (See sample 4) This was rather fascinating because I was amazed by how fast information gets disseminated over the internet. People in the Philippines, Korea and even Japan have visited my site.
Although every day I would notice an increase in the number of unique visitors to the site, I knew there were days in which the activity was rather low. I knew I had to drive more traffic to my site in order to rank a better score with the Google search engine. One day in particular by 9:00 am in the morning, I realized I only had 32 visitors. I quickly signed on the famous community website, www.craigslist.org and placed an announcement stating that I needed the input of website designers as to the aesthetics of my site. A few hours later I was amazed to notice a spike in the number of unique visitors. The number had risen to 149 unique visitors most of whom actually sent me email messages in response to my call.
What the future holds
This project has been a rewarding experience from the beginning despite the challenges it had presented. My apprehension of not being able to successfully build an effective website had soon dissipated upon receiving congratulatory remarks from some users. Therefore, as part of an effort to keep this site operational over a long term, I have decided to keep expanding not only the database itself, but also the daily blog entries on http://filmsofafrica.blogspot.com. I would make certain that the blogs have clearly defined goals and themes that are of quality and relevance. It is also my hope that this website will continue to serve as the best source of information for African films.
Mar 4, 2008
Interview with Ben Mandel on his upcoming Movie
Here is the interview I conducted with filmmaker, Ben Mandell about his upcoming film, Abyssinia Rising. For further information, you may also visit his website www.ethiopianmillenniumfilm.com.
1. Ben, thanks for giving me the opportunity to do this interview with you. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Benjamin Vishnu Mandell. I was born in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania and I attended The Pennsylvania State University as an undergraduate and Columbia University as a graduate student. I have spent a good deal of time traveling and working abroad which has developed into a real love of other cultures.
2. What is your background in the film industry?
This is my debut as both producer and director. In the past, I worked as an associate producer for Entheos Productions and as a marketing manager for New Video, a film distributor in New York City. My very first experience in film was as a lowly production assistant in charge of casting on a Japanese television show called The World’s Most Astonishing News.
3. What is your film project about?
My film is about Ethiopia celebrating the new millennium. I am telling the story of a country with a promising future through the eyes of individuals doing their part to create a better tomorrow.
4. What prompted this project?
I spent most of 2006 working in southern Africa and since then I have really wanted to make a film with a positive African theme. I tend to see magic and inspiration where others see problems. I wanted to share the deeper side of an African culture, the strength behind the tears. When I learned about the Ethiopian Millennium I knew it would be a great opportunity to tell a fun and uplifting African story.
5. Do you have a title for your film already?
No title yet, but my favorite so far is “Abyssinia Rising.”
6. What has been the most challenging aspect of this project thus far?
Film making is a lot of work, and doing it in Ethiopia means extra ambiguity and plans often falling through or taking much longer than you expect.
In addition, I have personally funded the entire film, and it has proved to be more expensive than expected. I ended up spending my entire savings, used two credit cards and borrowed money from my brother, mother and grandfather. Moreover, the production phase was expected to last four months. But at the end of this period the film was not complete. I needed more time in Ethiopia but our entire budget had been spent. So, I started looking for creative ways to extend my visit and finance the rest of the shooting. I cut my living expenses back to 50 Birr a day and moved out of my apartment and into a friend’s house. I sold my equipment on the condition that I could continue using it until I was done shooting, and I asked my friends for an outrageous number of favors. In fact, I am so grateful for everyone’s help including my mom who sent me money three times so I would have enough for food.
7. What are some of the memorable events surrounding this project?
There are so many, the millennium night, trips to Gonder, Bahir Dar and Lalibela, events like the Great Ethiopian Run, the Mary of Zion festival in Aksum, Haile Selassie’s Coronation weekend in Shashemene with the Rastafarians and so many others. But really the greatest moments came through individuals, seeing how people care for their brothers and sisters is truly inspiring and is at the heart of my film.
8. I know you’ve stated that you’ve been in Addis for the past five months working on this project. What was your initial time projection to complete this project? Have you gone beyond what you anticipated or are you meeting your objectives as planned?
I spent six months in Ethiopia researching and shooting the film. I initially planned on spending four months and ended up extending my trip. The main reason is that the scope and content of the film had expanded. The more I do, the better I want the film to be, and then the more work I need to do. I also underestimated the amount of time it would take to complete the shooting in Ethiopia. Everything moves slower there.
9. Who else is collaborating on this project?
Melissa Donovan
Co-Director, Cinematographer
Bethlehem Dejene
Line Producer
Zelalem Mariam
Associate Producer
Tewodros Yifru
Associate Producer
Meron Dagnew
Casting Director
Ras Mweya Masimba
Animator
Emily Taylor
Still Photographer
David DesRoches
Research
10. When will you start editing and where?
I will start the post-production including the editing after the New Year in New York City. I use to live in NYC and have a network of film professionals who can help create the work of art I so want for this film.
11. How long do you think that will take? Who will do that?
I am planning for a 3-4 month post-production. I will recruit a talented editor and sound producer to help finish the film.
12. Recently, a Japanese Film maker and anthropology student by the name of Itsushi Kawase screened a couple of his films in Washington DC (Lalibeloch and Room 11, Ethiopia Hotel). I particularly loved Room 11, Ethiopia Hotel for many reasons—especially because of the style of story telling he did—he basically let the story tell without any narration what so ever. Instead he documented his days following the lives of two street boys from Gondar. It was quite a touching and memorable film. However, Kawase was faced with many criticisms on a panel he held for his first film, Lalibeloch. Apparently many felt that he had misrepresented the historical aspect of Lalibeloch and painted their characters in a negative light. He was even asked if he had paid some of the characters in his documentary film. My question to you is (again assuming I have very little knowledge of what your overall project entails) what sort of approach are you using to be objective and fair in your film?
If anything, I would say I am taking a positive slant. I heard about Room 11 and I would love to see it. With any film, you will get criticism regardless of what you do. I have tried to understand Ethiopia as well as possible which is one of the reasons I spent six months living in the country. Compare that with the other film crews doing documentaries on the millennium who spent a month. I have also involved several Ethiopians in all phases of the film so that I can give the film as much authenticity as possible.
13. Will your film be in English with Amharic subtitle or vise versa? Do you have anyone in mind to do the narration?
The first version of the film will be in English. Some of the interviews were done in Amharic and Hebrew (we filmed in Israel as well) and those pieces will be subtitled in English. I would like to release an Amharic version of the film in Ethiopia as well but it will have to be secondary because I need the funds from the US distribution to pay for the Ethiopian release.
14. Are you aware of other documentary film makers working under the same topic? In your opinion, what do you suppose makes yours different? I am aware that two friends I know (Henok Assefa and Yehedego Abesolom) are perhaps in Addis Ababa currently working on the same topic as yours.
Overall, there are two big differences between my film and the other 3-4 films being made about the millennium. First, each film actually has a different focus. My focus is on individuals making for a brighter Ethiopian future. Other people are focusing on the Diaspora and others are focusing on the big events. Second, I am spending more time, more money, brining more experience and better equipment and doing more work then any other crew.
15. Have you been to Ethiopia before?
This is my first time to Ethiopia but my fifth trip to Africa. I spent most of 2006 working in southern Africa and have visited a dozen or so African countries.
16. What has been your experience so far with the people in particular? Have you found people helpful? Friendly? Resentful? Suspicious? E.t.c…
Most people have been incredibly friendly and supportive. A few are suspicious, but after spending some time with me they open up and become supporters of the film. I expect some resentful folks but so far nothing.
17. Do you speak Amharic?
Tinish, tinish
18. What do you expect to come out of this project? Film festival? Screening in Ethiopia and all over the world? PBS?
The film will speak for itself, good or bad. I will submit it to film festivals and the response will determine much of its future. My goal is to get it viewed as widely as possible including a limited theatrical release, TV, DVD and the Internet.
19. Do you have another project lined up?
Not yet. I have had a few offers but given the timely nature of the millennium I really want to get this film done ASAP.
20. Have you been to any of the cinemas in Addis? If so, what are your thoughts on the films being produced there?
I have several friends that are filmmakers in Ethiopia. Everyone would agree that the film industry is very young and has a long way to go. Very few films make money so everyone needs a “day job” to pay for their creations. There is a general lack of infrastructure, equipment, skilled crew and trained actors. It will take time for the industry to develop but even today there are many creative and passionate filmmakers working hard to create the next generation of Ethiopian films.
1. Ben, thanks for giving me the opportunity to do this interview with you. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Benjamin Vishnu Mandell. I was born in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania and I attended The Pennsylvania State University as an undergraduate and Columbia University as a graduate student. I have spent a good deal of time traveling and working abroad which has developed into a real love of other cultures.
2. What is your background in the film industry?
This is my debut as both producer and director. In the past, I worked as an associate producer for Entheos Productions and as a marketing manager for New Video, a film distributor in New York City. My very first experience in film was as a lowly production assistant in charge of casting on a Japanese television show called The World’s Most Astonishing News.
3. What is your film project about?
My film is about Ethiopia celebrating the new millennium. I am telling the story of a country with a promising future through the eyes of individuals doing their part to create a better tomorrow.
4. What prompted this project?
I spent most of 2006 working in southern Africa and since then I have really wanted to make a film with a positive African theme. I tend to see magic and inspiration where others see problems. I wanted to share the deeper side of an African culture, the strength behind the tears. When I learned about the Ethiopian Millennium I knew it would be a great opportunity to tell a fun and uplifting African story.
5. Do you have a title for your film already?
No title yet, but my favorite so far is “Abyssinia Rising.”
6. What has been the most challenging aspect of this project thus far?
Film making is a lot of work, and doing it in Ethiopia means extra ambiguity and plans often falling through or taking much longer than you expect.
In addition, I have personally funded the entire film, and it has proved to be more expensive than expected. I ended up spending my entire savings, used two credit cards and borrowed money from my brother, mother and grandfather. Moreover, the production phase was expected to last four months. But at the end of this period the film was not complete. I needed more time in Ethiopia but our entire budget had been spent. So, I started looking for creative ways to extend my visit and finance the rest of the shooting. I cut my living expenses back to 50 Birr a day and moved out of my apartment and into a friend’s house. I sold my equipment on the condition that I could continue using it until I was done shooting, and I asked my friends for an outrageous number of favors. In fact, I am so grateful for everyone’s help including my mom who sent me money three times so I would have enough for food.
7. What are some of the memorable events surrounding this project?
There are so many, the millennium night, trips to Gonder, Bahir Dar and Lalibela, events like the Great Ethiopian Run, the Mary of Zion festival in Aksum, Haile Selassie’s Coronation weekend in Shashemene with the Rastafarians and so many others. But really the greatest moments came through individuals, seeing how people care for their brothers and sisters is truly inspiring and is at the heart of my film.
8. I know you’ve stated that you’ve been in Addis for the past five months working on this project. What was your initial time projection to complete this project? Have you gone beyond what you anticipated or are you meeting your objectives as planned?
I spent six months in Ethiopia researching and shooting the film. I initially planned on spending four months and ended up extending my trip. The main reason is that the scope and content of the film had expanded. The more I do, the better I want the film to be, and then the more work I need to do. I also underestimated the amount of time it would take to complete the shooting in Ethiopia. Everything moves slower there.
9. Who else is collaborating on this project?
Melissa Donovan
Co-Director, Cinematographer
Bethlehem Dejene
Line Producer
Zelalem Mariam
Associate Producer
Tewodros Yifru
Associate Producer
Meron Dagnew
Casting Director
Ras Mweya Masimba
Animator
Emily Taylor
Still Photographer
David DesRoches
Research
10. When will you start editing and where?
I will start the post-production including the editing after the New Year in New York City. I use to live in NYC and have a network of film professionals who can help create the work of art I so want for this film.
11. How long do you think that will take? Who will do that?
I am planning for a 3-4 month post-production. I will recruit a talented editor and sound producer to help finish the film.
12. Recently, a Japanese Film maker and anthropology student by the name of Itsushi Kawase screened a couple of his films in Washington DC (Lalibeloch and Room 11, Ethiopia Hotel). I particularly loved Room 11, Ethiopia Hotel for many reasons—especially because of the style of story telling he did—he basically let the story tell without any narration what so ever. Instead he documented his days following the lives of two street boys from Gondar. It was quite a touching and memorable film. However, Kawase was faced with many criticisms on a panel he held for his first film, Lalibeloch. Apparently many felt that he had misrepresented the historical aspect of Lalibeloch and painted their characters in a negative light. He was even asked if he had paid some of the characters in his documentary film. My question to you is (again assuming I have very little knowledge of what your overall project entails) what sort of approach are you using to be objective and fair in your film?
If anything, I would say I am taking a positive slant. I heard about Room 11 and I would love to see it. With any film, you will get criticism regardless of what you do. I have tried to understand Ethiopia as well as possible which is one of the reasons I spent six months living in the country. Compare that with the other film crews doing documentaries on the millennium who spent a month. I have also involved several Ethiopians in all phases of the film so that I can give the film as much authenticity as possible.
13. Will your film be in English with Amharic subtitle or vise versa? Do you have anyone in mind to do the narration?
The first version of the film will be in English. Some of the interviews were done in Amharic and Hebrew (we filmed in Israel as well) and those pieces will be subtitled in English. I would like to release an Amharic version of the film in Ethiopia as well but it will have to be secondary because I need the funds from the US distribution to pay for the Ethiopian release.
14. Are you aware of other documentary film makers working under the same topic? In your opinion, what do you suppose makes yours different? I am aware that two friends I know (Henok Assefa and Yehedego Abesolom) are perhaps in Addis Ababa currently working on the same topic as yours.
Overall, there are two big differences between my film and the other 3-4 films being made about the millennium. First, each film actually has a different focus. My focus is on individuals making for a brighter Ethiopian future. Other people are focusing on the Diaspora and others are focusing on the big events. Second, I am spending more time, more money, brining more experience and better equipment and doing more work then any other crew.
15. Have you been to Ethiopia before?
This is my first time to Ethiopia but my fifth trip to Africa. I spent most of 2006 working in southern Africa and have visited a dozen or so African countries.
16. What has been your experience so far with the people in particular? Have you found people helpful? Friendly? Resentful? Suspicious? E.t.c…
Most people have been incredibly friendly and supportive. A few are suspicious, but after spending some time with me they open up and become supporters of the film. I expect some resentful folks but so far nothing.
17. Do you speak Amharic?
Tinish, tinish
18. What do you expect to come out of this project? Film festival? Screening in Ethiopia and all over the world? PBS?
The film will speak for itself, good or bad. I will submit it to film festivals and the response will determine much of its future. My goal is to get it viewed as widely as possible including a limited theatrical release, TV, DVD and the Internet.
19. Do you have another project lined up?
Not yet. I have had a few offers but given the timely nature of the millennium I really want to get this film done ASAP.
20. Have you been to any of the cinemas in Addis? If so, what are your thoughts on the films being produced there?
I have several friends that are filmmakers in Ethiopia. Everyone would agree that the film industry is very young and has a long way to go. Very few films make money so everyone needs a “day job” to pay for their creations. There is a general lack of infrastructure, equipment, skilled crew and trained actors. It will take time for the industry to develop but even today there are many creative and passionate filmmakers working hard to create the next generation of Ethiopian films.
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