Finding Sally

by Tamara Dawit
Finding Sally official film poster.
Product Availability
Institutional, Home-Use, Community Screenings, Broadcast, Theatrical, Educational, Festivals, VOD
About the Film

FINDING SALLY is a riveting portrait of a family history cast against the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution, uncovering the incredible story of a 23-year-old woman from an upper-class family who became a communist rebel with the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party. Idealistic and in love, Sally got caught up in her country’s revolutionary fervour, landing on the military government’s most-wanted list. Thereafter, she went underground, and her family never saw her again.

Four decades after Sally’s disappearance, filmmaker Tamara Dawit pieces together the mysterious life of her aunt Sally. She revisits the Ethiopian Revolution and the terrible massacre that followed, which resulted in nearly every Ethiopian family losing a loved one. Her quest leads her to question notions of belonging, personal convictions and political ideals at a time when Ethiopia is going through dramatic political changes once again.

Distribution Availability: Canada

2020  ·  1h18m  ·  Canada
Amharic, English
English subs
Festivals and Awards
2023
Hamilton Black Film Festival , Official Selection
2021
Canadian Screen Awards, Best Documentary Program Nominee
2020
Africa Movie Academy, Nominated for Best Documentary Award
2020
Vues d'Afrique, Official Selection
2020
African Diaspora International Film Festival, Official Selection (U.S. Premiere)
2020
Film Africa, Official Selection (U.K. Premiere)
2020
CinemAfrica, Official Selection
2020
Durban International Film Festival, Official Selection
2020
Encounters: South African International Documentary Festival, Official Selection
2020
DOXA Documentary Film Festival , Official Selection
2020
Hot Docs at Home CBC, World Broadcast Premiere
2020
Göteborg Film Festival, Official Selection
Screenings
August 19, 2023
Toronto Pan Afrikan Film Festival (Toronto, ON)
July 23, 2023
Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema (Toronto, Canada)
July 9, 2023
Ethiopian Society of Winnipeg (Winnipeg, Canada)
May 27, 2023
The Westdale Theatre, Hamilton Black Film Festival (Hamilton, Canada)
October 1 -14, 2020
CinemAfrica, Online (Durban, South Africa)
September 10 - 20, 2020
Durban International Film Festival, Online (Durban, South Africa)
August 22, 2020
Encounters: South African International Documentary Festival, Online (South Africa)
June 18 - 26, 2020
DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Online (Vancouver, Canada)
April 30, 2020
DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Online (North American Festival Premiere)
April 30, 2020
Hot Docs at Home CBC, Online (World Broadcast Premiere)
January 26 - February 2, 2020
Göteborg Film Festival (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Credits
Writer
Tamara Dawit
Producer
Isabelle Couture
Director of Photography
Alex Margineanu
Editor
Mahi Rahgozar
Original Music
Zaki Ibrahim
Sound
Catherine Van Der Donckt
Producer
Katarina Soukup
About the Director

Tamara Dawit

Tamara Dawit is a producer and director based between Canada and Ethiopia. She runs the production company Gobez Media which produces Ethiopian film, TV, digital and music content. After the short film, Grandma Knows Best (2014) she directed the feature documentary Finding Sally which had its North American premiere at the Hot Docs documentary festival in 2020. She is currently directing the feature documentary The Plot and producing the feature drama Last Tears of the Deceased, and the feature documentary Made in Ethiopia. Tamara has produced documentary and digital content for CBC News, MTV, Radio-Canada, Discovery, NHK, and others. She was a resident in Docs in Progress, the Logan Non-Fiction Residency and is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents, Durban Talents, Rotterdam Lab, Apost, and EAVE.

(Still from Finding Sally.)

 

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