Ethiopia | Encounters Mega Archive/Library
Feature
African & International

2004

2004-encounters-poster Poster
Film Poster

In 1984, a huge collaboration between pop stars and world media mobilised an unprecedented attempt to save innocent Ethiopians from famine. The Geldof-organised Band Aid and ensuing Live Aid and Sports Aid events broke all records and directed the spotlight onto a forgotten part of Africa. Twenty years later, Michael Buerk, the BBC journalist whose passionate urgency broke the news on the famine in Ethiopia, returns to meet the survivors, orphans and aid workers that remain deeply scarred by the human cost. Ironically, with the continent’s largest water reserves, Ethiopia is called the “water tower of Africa”, but has no means to utilise this vital resource. As a result, today the situation has worsened and twice as many people are facing starvation. This honest, well-balanced documentary asks some tough questions of our role in Ethiopia’s deliverance and its ongoing situation.

Courtesy of the director.

Guests

Director: Cliff Bestall