Date

Nov 19 2021 - Dec 02 2021
Expired!

FAYA DAYI

A spiritual journey into the highlands of Harar, immersed in the rituals of khat, a leaf Sufi Muslims chewed for centuries for religious meditations – and Ethiopia’s most lucrative cash crop today.

SYNOPSIS

In her hypnotic documentary feature, Ethiopian-Mexican filmmaker Jessica Beshir explores the coexistence of everyday life and its mythical undercurrents. Though a deeply personal project—Beshir was forced to leave her hometown of Harar with her family as a teenager due to growing political strife—the film she returned to make about the city, its rural Oromo community of farmers, and the harvesting of the country’s most sought-after export (the euphoria-inducing khat plant) is neither a straightforward work of nostalgia nor an issue-oriented doc about a particular drug culture. Rather, she has constructed something dreamlike: a film that uses light, texture, and sound to illuminate the spiritual lives of people whose experiences often become fodder for ripped-from-the-headlines tales of migration.

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Director

Jessica Beshir

WITH

N/A

Run Time

2 hours

Released

September 3, 2021

Distributed by

Janus Films

Hearing Assistance

TBA

Country

Ethiopia, United States, Qatar

SUBTITLES

Amharic with English Subtitles

NOT RATED

Many of the films shown at The Ross are not rated due to the prohibitive cost of acquiring a rating from the Motion Picture Association of America. Consequently, as many of these films contain graphic content, viewer discretion is advised.

SHOWINGS

NOV 19 | FRI

7:30 p.m.

NOV 20 | SAT

5:00 p.m.

NOV 21 | SUN

2:30, 7:30 p.m.

NOV 22 | MON

5:00 p.m.

NOV 23 | TUE

7:30 p.m.

NOV 24 | WED

7:30 p.m.

NOV 25 | THU

NO SCREENINGS

NOV 26 | FRI

5:00, 7:30 p.m.

NOV 27 | SAT

2:30, 5:00, 7:30 p.m.

NOV 28 | SUN

2:30, 5:00, 7:30 p.m.

NOV 29 | MON

5:00, 7:30 p.m.

NOV 30 | TUE

5:00, 7:30 p.m.

DEC 1 | WED

5:00, 7:30 p.m.

DEC 2 | THU

5:00, 7:30 p.m.
Reviews

“Filmed in luminous black and white, each image more beautiful than the last, Faya Dayi is not your typical documentary. “

Shelia O’Malley

RogerEbert.com

“[FAYA DAYI is] Unlike any other documentary you’re likely to see.”

Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

“The languid rhythms of the filmmaking mirror the woozy impact of the drug, while a storytelling style that flickers casually between observational verité and esoteric myth-building suggests an in-and-out grasp on reality.”

Guy Lodge

Variety

The event is finished.