“Nile, I am the first Earth Mother of all fertility.
I am the Source, I am the Nile, I am the African, I am the beginning!
While your breath still hangs upon the threads of my springs?
O – Egypt, you prodigal daughter born from my first love,
I am your Queen of the endless fresh waters.”
The above stanza is extracted from the poem titled Nile written by Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin.
Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin’s Nile poem and Ejigayehu Shibabaw’s “Abbay” songs are few among the transcendent, historic and timeless art pieces on Abbay (the Blue Nile) river by Ethiopian artists. For any Ethiopian citizen listening the song and the poem gives something special emotion and patriotism with remorse for not developing the river so far.
Though, I take these two famous artists’ classic works on Abbay, a lot of poems, songs, paints and other fairy tales have been done on the longest river by different artists to indicate the power, beauty and its significance for Ethiopian development.
But compared to Egyptian’s artistic products of film, music, storytelling and textbooks to make their citizens see Abbay as the source of their life, Ethiopians’ pieces of art on the river are insignificant. Egyptians have several songs rhymed for the Nile. A lot of films and documentaries also made by Egyptians to the river, said Script Writer Yemisrach Tadesse.
When we compared with Egyptian arts, Ethiopia stays back in promoting Abbay though the country originates about 86 percent of water amount of the river. Due to Egypt’s high investment on media preaching Nile as “life saver”, the rest of the world community looks Nile as the only resource of Egypt, though its origin is from Ethiopian highlands. A lot of films have been produced on Abbay by Egyptians and these Egyptian efforts sensitize their goal of mobilizing the people and teaching their generation about the advantage and necessity of Nile even beyond the need.
On Ethiopian side, though different songs, poems and paints have been made to promote Abbay, only a few number of films were produced to the same purpose.
Currently, the production of a film titled “Hid Na” is on the way to join the Cinema. The multilingual film which is being made in Amharic, English and Arabic languages, according to film Author and Producer. The opening scene of the film sets the story up from Sekela, source of Abbay River, in the mountains of Ethiopia’s Amhara regional state. The film narrates and covers up to the Guba, a place where the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is being constructed. The film is a feature and romance film but the theme and the messages of the film is discovering springs, tributaries and to aware the public and the international community about Ethiopia’s Abbay (Blue Nile) River.
Written by Artist Yemisrach Tadesse and produced by Biniam Shefa, Hid Na film literally translated as “go and come’ general focus is all about Abbay River, according to the artists.
Speaking to local media, Yemisrach said that the film’s setting begins from Sekela, the source of Abbay and covers the main tributaries of the river and the mountains that the springs are originated from. The objective to tell the story this way aims at creating awareness about the source of the river.
“The film’s content is Abbay. It covers promoting the real source of the river, to publicize its geographic locations, the way the river enlarge in volume fed by tributaries, Ethiopia’s efforts to develop Abay and Egypt’s conspiracies on Ethiopia’s internal social, political and economic affairs,” Yemisrach said.
The leading actor is a traditional herbalist living in the origins of Blue Nile. However, the society rejects his wisdom and makes him isolated. Starting from Sekela, the film story flows with Abbay waters. It is a must watch film by Ethiopians and the world community, according to Yemisrach.
The purpose of the film is to promote green initiative campaign to protect the ecology of the sources of Abbay and to keep the regular water flow of the river through basin development efforts so as to save GERD from sediment. It is essential to convey message on the way of modernizing country’s agriculture since many people living in the basin are still dependent on traditional farming, Yemisrach added.
The film also covers the potential advantages of GERD in improving the lives of Ethiopians. Producer of the film, Biniam Shefa on his part argued that “if we see the film in film genres, it is a feature film plotted with conspiracies in a way that entertains the audience. But, the theme of the film is a serious national issue.”
The film has a strong theme that and the flow of the story is fascinating and smooth, Biniam said. “Making movie on such serious issue is rare in our country since most of the big national issues are covered by documentary films. However ‘Hid Na Film’ covers this serious national issue accentuating by appealing story, plot and scene to entertain the audience,” Biniam said.
Over 90 small streams and 20 big tributaries feed the Abbay River that flows from Ethiopian highlands. The film includes these tributaries with corresponding subplot stories. In this way, the film touches a lot of issues, he noted.
“Most of the arguments raised on Abbay are deductive in which Ethiopians might lose the debate since they do not have deep and specific knowledge about the river. In this regard Hid Na may play an important role in improving the public perception,” Biniam stated.
According to the producer the pre-production work took over 18 months and well-known historians like Assistance Professor Abebaw Ayalew and Professor Bahru Zewdie contribute an input to the film through elaborating historic and cultural perspectives of the river.
“The pre-production idea comes while I start my former film production, Bale Hagerua, in Gojam, Amhara State. The area is so beautiful and awesome. Then I decided to produce another film in the area. I improve my idea of the film discussing with shepherds and residents of the area about the river. And then, I started writing the script. After that, I met and discussed with the producer. Then the script developed to a full story by adding the idea of the historians,” Yemisrach reiterated.
According to the producer, the pre-production stage including selection of setting including places like tributaries, springs, mountains and other historic and relevant areas related to the river takes over 18 months. “The production work has taken over more than a month and half through keeping our nose to the grindstone.”
Currently, the film is already completed and ready for commencement. The release ceremony will be held this August in Sekela and Bahir Dar cities of Amhara state, the artist said. Following the release ceremony in these cities, the film will be publicized across the country and the world.
“Though the film is made only in three languages, we are thinking about reaching the audience with more local languages including Afaan Oromo, Tigrigna, and Somaligna,” Yemisrach stated. The target is to aware the local and international community about the reality of Abbay (Blue Nile) River and Ethiopia’s right to exploit its natural resource.
The Ethiopian Herald August 8/2021
