Zeresenay Berhane Mehari (born 1974) is an Ethiopian

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. He is notable as the director of critically acclaimed films '' Difret'' and ''

Sweetness in the Belly ''Sweetness in the Belly'' is a 2019 drama film directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, based on the novel of the same name by Camilla Gibb. It had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. Plot In the 1960s, Lilly, a Bri ...

''. Apart from cinema, he is the co-founder and Head of Original Content for Kana Television, the number-one rated free-to-air, private satellite entertainment TV channel in Ethiopia.

Personal life

He was born in

Addis Abeba Addis may refer to: Places *Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia **Addis Ababa University **Addis Ketema, a city district *Addis, Louisiana, a town in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, US People *Addis (name) *Raptile (born 1976), stage name Ad ...

, Ethiopia in a family with seven siblings. He later moved to USA whereas his brother and sister moved to

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and another brother is in Sweden.

Career

After moving to USA, Mehari studied film at the

University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of talkies, the school descends from America's first program to confer a college degree in ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While studying, he founded the production company 'Haile–Addis Pictures'. He started to work as a production assistant for two episodes: ''All About Eve'' and ''The Seven Year Itch'' in 2000 television serial ''Backstory''. Then he was the production assistant for episode ''M*A*S*H: Comedy Under Fire'' in 2001 serial ''History vs. Hollywood''. Later in 2006, he was the producer of short''Leila'' directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper. Later in the year, he made his first short film ''Coda''. In 2005 he was introduced to the attorney

Meaza Ashenafi Meaza Ashenafi (Amharic: መዓዛ አሸናፊ; born 25 July 1964) is an Ethiopian lawyer and women's rights activist. In November 2018, she was appointed by the Federal Parliamentary Assembly as President of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiop ...

by her brother. Then along with him, they discovered the case of Hirut Assefa and the tradition of “telefa” while doing research on Meaza and working in her organization. By using the incident, he directed maiden feature film '' Difret'' in 2014, which gained positive critical reviews. The executive producer of the film was popular Hollywood actress

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

. Even though he had the opportunity to shoot the film in 2009, he later wait until 2012 for filming due to casting problems. The film had its premier at

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in January 2013. The film won audience awards at Sundance Film Festival,

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

, Park City Film Music Festival, Amsterdam Film Festival as well as in

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Sweetness in the Belly ''Sweetness in the Belly'' is a 2019 drama film directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, based on the novel of the same name by Camilla Gibb. It had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. Plot In the 1960s, Lilly, a Bri ...

'', a sophomore film starring

Dakota Fanning Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. Fanning is known for her roles in blockbuster films and independent features, both as a child actor and as an adult. Her accolades include nominations for a Golden Globe A ...

and

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (; born July 15, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Black Manta in the superhero films ''Aquaman'' (2018) and '' Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'' (2023), Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal d ...

. It had its premier in the Discovery section of the Toronto Film Festival. The film was an adaptation of the book of the same name written by

Camilla Gibb Camilla Gibb (born February 20, 1968) is an English-born Canadian writer who currently resides in Toronto. Early life and education Born in London, England, she grew up in Toronto, Ontario, and studied at North Toronto Collegiate Institute and ...

Filmography

References

External links

*
Difret by Director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari

Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berhane Mehari, Zeresenay Living people Ethiopian film directors 1974 births Ethiopian film producers