An Interview with Salem Mekuria
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Your earliest documentaries, Our Place in the Sun (1988) and As I Remember It (1991), focus on the African American experience. As an Ethiopian filmmaker, what was it that captivated you about African Americans?
When I arrived in the United States I had little sense of the history of African Americans beyond slavery, Ebony magazine, and rhythm and blues as represented by Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, and Sam Cooke. I came to school in Minnesota during the height of the Civil Rights movement, and even though I was immediately drawn into activism and got involved in some aspects of the struggle, my knowledge of the history was very limited. I was intrigued by how black people's presence as early as the late nineteenth century was possible on Martha's Vineyard Island, an exclusive resort in Massachusetts; how under the brutal history of slavery and its aftermath such a vibrant history and culture thrived. The children and grandchildren of slaves summered on the island alongside prominent members of white society that were probably responsible for the transport of their ancestors to these shores. What was more surprising was that this story had not been told. Our Place represents an exploration of this curiosity. It gave me a chance to educate myself about this history by excavating bits and pieces from the archives and collecting oral histories from the residents. It was my first independent film. Though commissioned by WGBH, it also marked my departure from public television.
As I Remember It grew out of this film both in terms of the subject matter, Dorothy West, and my continuing desire to learn more about African American history. Dorothy West appears in Our Place as the primary raconteur since her family was one of the first to summer on Martha's Vineyard. In the process I discovered that she was a writer and one of the youngest as well as one of the last living members of the Harlem Renaissance. Her story bridged Martha's Vineyard, Boston, and New York and presented me with an opportunity to delve into one of the most vibrant artistic movements in American history. By profiling her, I was able to present an evocation of Boston black cultural history, the black literary movement, and, most importantly, the women of the Harlem Renaissance about which little had been known. In addition to my deep curiosity about African American history, I am also interested in interrogating the erasure and/or deliberate neglect of women's participation in historic events such as the Harlem Renaissance. As I Remember It provided me with the opportunity to accomplish both of these projects. [End Page 314]
In Sidet: Forced Exile (1991), you consider the lives of Ethiopians and Eritreans forced into exile in the Sudan because of famine and civil war in the 1980s. What led you to make this film?
I was battered by years of news reports that kept repeating the same narratives with the same cast of characters—the faceless masses, the never-ending food line, and the dusty processions to exile. Also, for the first time in the history of Ethiopia, women were fleeing from the country in large numbers. In Sidet I wanted to personalize the stories, name the individuals, and explore women's narratives. The largest numbers of Ethiopian refugees were in the Sudan. I was interested in observing the conditions under which these exiles fared, having exchanged one chaotic situation for another since the Sudan was also undergoing fundamental political and cultural changes at the time. These are the stories that ended up in Sidet.
Ye Wonz Maibel: Deluge (1997) marks a new turn for you. Not only does it portray the decisive changes in Ethiopia in the 1970s—including the fall of the Emperor, the student movement, the rise of the Derg, ensuing political factions, and the Red Terror—it also offers a self-portrait. Furthermore, you depart from conventional documentary forms by incorporating a range of self-reflexive gestures. I wonder, what promoted these changes in your work? Was it the subject matter?
I started the project immediately after...
