Mehal Sefari

A politically apathetic ambulance driver collects bodies from the city streets of Ethiopia's capital during a mass killing. Confronted with his son's body, he's compelled to take a side.

The film is set in 1977, during one of the darkest moments in Ethiopian history: Ethiopia was engulfed in a bloody conflict between the military junta and the main opposition, leading to the infamous "Red Terror"—a period of brutal mass killings.

Jury Statement: 

The Jury was particularly won over by the captivating storytelling by this first-time director and his bold cinematic approach using the thriller film genre to immerse the viewer in the traumatic Red Terror page of Ethiopian past. With great empathy for his well-portrayed main male character, the director transforms a period film about mass killing in his country into a personal struggle for survival driven by a thirst for peace for future generations and an indelible belief in a free society, respectful of everyone's differences. It is an essential film about healing and reconciliation whose relevance resonates strongly and globally with our times.

Mehal Sefari was supported in 2025 with 650 000 NOK.