“I Don’t Think We Ever Expected To See a Carbon Copy of China’s Industrial Experience [in Ethiopia], and We Certainly Didn’t”: Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu on Their Tribeca-Debuting Made in Ethiopia

While Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu’s Made in Ethiopia takes place in the titular country, it in many ways echoes last year’s Central African Republic-set Eat Bitter, co-directed by Ningyi Sun and Pascale Appora-Gnekindy, which similarly explored China’s capitalist push throughout the continent; and specifically from the POV of the shared personal toll it’s taking on individuals from very unalike cultures. In this case we’re introduced to an inexhaustibly optimistic woman named Motto, the upbeat Chinese head of a mega industrial park in a rural Ethiopian town. She’s also a true believer that the Chinese dream can be exported to provide a “win-win-win” situation for all. Unfortunately for Motto, a long-distance mom often unable to make it home even for the holidays, everyday Ethiopians — women like the underpaid/overworked factory employee Beti and soon-to-be displaced farmer Workinesh — are finding the promise of globalization to be closer to a curse. Which inevitably brings up the question of whether today’s rising tide of industrialization is only lifting yachts not boats. Just prior to the doc’s Tribeca premiere today, June 6, Filmmaker caught up with the co-directors to learn all about Made in Ethiopia (and of course, making a film in Ethiopia).

To read my interview visit Filmmaker magazine.