Abraham and Sarah

Synopsis

In the highlands of Tigray, northern Ethiopia, on the edge of the escarpment that descends steeply to the Danakil dessert, Hagos Mashisho and Desta Gidey have toiled and struggled for years to turn the rugged slopes of the East African Rift Valley into fertile ground. They have grown crops here not only to feed themselves and their family, but also to share with others, in particular the pilgrims who regularly pass by on their way to the monastery of Gundagundo. Touched by the kindness of their hosts, the pilgrims have given them the biblical names "Abraham" and "Sarah". The film explores the work ethos and grace of these Tigrean farmers: the cheerful mood with which they do what needs to be done; the devotedness to the tasks at hand; the coordinated movements of humans and animals as they work when ploughing, sowing, harvesting, threshing; and finally those moments of invocation when the dependence on nature and the transcendent are acknowledged.
ABRAHAM AND SARAH is the first film in a series entitled "Guardians of productive landscapes" currently produced under the auspices of the Department of Integration and Conflict at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany. It can be seen as a contribution to an applied anthropology that tunes in with the rising awareness that rapidly increasing environmental degradation threatens the earth.
In English and Tigrinya.

Series

Creators of a Productive Landscape

Language

English

Country

Germany

Year of production

2017

Subjects

Anthropology

Keywords

agricultural workers; Ethiopia; farming; rural areas; environmental changes

Credits

Director

Ivo Strecker

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 0 PAL

Price

£50.00

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

53 minutes

Year

2019

Distributor

Name

Royal Anthropological Institute

Contact

Susanne Hammacher (Film Officer)

Email

film@therai.org.uk

Web

https://www.therai.org.uk/film/film-sales External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7387 0455

Fax

020 7388 8817

Address

50 Fitzroy Street
London
W1T 5BT

Notes

The Institute sells more than 250 anthropology and ethnology titles on video and DVD, including some produced by students and staff of the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology. There is also a large library of internationally produced film and video productions from which items may be borrowed within the UK.