Ethiopian Cinema: The Socio-economic and Political Impacts of Imperial Era on the Development of Screen Media

Abstract

Ethiopia that had been at the high-up as one of the few world powers in the 1st and early centuries of the 2nd millennium, and later to descend to poverty line to the extent of being synonym for famine and degradation in an English dictionary, is currently on the verge of socio-economic renaissance. Likewise, the country that experienced film viewing in the very early years of the development of world cinema for more than hundred years had eventually lagged behind those African countries exposed to cinematic arts a few decades ago; but now relatively ascending to its historical status. These days, over hundred films are produced on annual bases in Ethiopia.Nevertheless, articles, books, and encyclopedias written on African and world cinema do not as such include the Ethiopian account, hence adversely affecting the wholeness of universal knowledge. This research thus attempts to investigate the socio-economic and political impacts that governed the development of the Ethiopian screen media during imperial era . The inconsistency in the development of Ethiopian cinema will be analyzed and demonstrated in conjunction with the socio-economic and political features in the era of Emperor Menelik II, Lij Iyasu, Empress Zewditu, and Emperor Haile Sellassie. The study will portray the strong link between Cinema and mode of productions that would be of a scholastic benefit to the Ethiopian and the international academia. The article hopefully, will contribute to the historiography and completeness of African screen median in particular, and world cinema in general.