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