ANBESSA

NYC PREMIERE Mo Scarpelli’s creative documentary focuses on a lonely, imaginative Ethiopian boy named Asalif. Displaced by condo developments, Asalif and his mother struggle to make ends meet. With sweeping camera work and light-filled frames, the film gently probes the young boy’s interior world as he processes isolation and displacement. Creating an alternative identity as a ferocious lion—the meaning of the film’s title—Asalif learns to survive. Pushing the boundaries of standard nonfiction form, Anbessa is a testament to resiliency.

Co-presented by Rooftop Films and Human Rights Watch Film Festival