The Israel Film Service Collection

Through Our Eyes - Aviva Mehri, A Folk Tales Teller from Ethiopia

9 Minutes, 2001
Genre:
Documentary

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Directed by: Unknown
Production Company:Israel Film Service
Language: Amharic
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Subtitles: Hebrew

“Through Our Eyes,” aired in 2001, is a TV documentary series of short episodes focusing on Ethiopian born creators in Israel. It was produced by the Israel Film Service and presented by Tibebe Solomon. The current episode presents Aviva Mehri, an Ethiopian folktale storyteller.
In a conversation with the presenter, Aviva Mehri speaks about the Ethiopian story-telling tradition and her decision to dedicate her life to it upon immigrating to Israel in 1984. Storytelling in Ethiopia is a means of passing cultural messages and skills orally from generation to generation. Through the stories, the children acknowledge the artistic tradition and its values. The community elders recall the intimacy of sitting together around a campfire and listening to folktales. Oral storytelling includes fables, parables, songs, and riddles, all aiming to enhance cultural and individual dignity. The stories are not personal, and often, messages are conveyed through animal archetypes. Some believe that the animal folktale tradition goes back to Aesop, an Ethiopian slave who was taken to Greece in the fifth century B.C. and contributed to the spreading of animal fables throughout the world.

Persons in segment: