FOCUS ON ETHIOPIA
Sun, Feb 22 · 7:15 PM · The Main (Screening + In-Person Q&A)
BEFF 2026 special closing event: a celebration of a new generation of Ethiopian and Ethiopian American filmmakers. Screening starts at 7:15pm, join us for the closing reception and award ceremony at 6pm.
ALAZAR (dir. Beza Hailu Lemma, 2024)
Ethiopia / France / Canada | Amharic | Fiction (short) — 35 min
Attendance: Director in attendance
Selected Awards: Cannes (Semaine de la Critique / Critics’ Week — Short Film Competition; world premiere)
Trailer: Watch trailer
In contemporary Ethiopia, a farming community’s exodus is shaken when the patriarch of a prominent family disappears from his grave. His son, Tessema, refuses the church’s divine explanation and launches his own search for answers. As suspicion spreads and certainties collapse, Alazar becomes a tense, atmospheric short that probes belief, authority, and the fragile line between the sacred and the real.
Director: Beza Hailu Lemma is a writer/director based in Addis Ababa whose work moves between documentary and fiction. His films include Ballad of the Spirits (2016), Katanga Nation (2022), and Alazar (2024). Katanga Nation screened internationally, winning the Silver Foal for Best Documentary Short Film. He has participated in Berlinale Talents, L’Atelier (Cannes), and TIFF Filmmakers Lab.
