The heartwarming Ethiopian movie of a boy and his lamb
Living in a foster home after his mother’s death, a 9-year-old Ethiopian boy risks all to save his only friend — his mother’s pet lamb — in this touching semi-autobiographical drama from writer-director Yared Zeleke.
UK Guardian – Lamb review – Sheer brilliance knits together first Ethiopian film at Cannes
The first image in Lamb is a closeup of a small boy’s hand laying gently on the thick, auburn wool of of a sheep. It may be a one-sided relationship – it’s hard to get inside the head of livestock – but Ephraim (Rediat Amare) clearly loves this animal. He lives in a small village in Ethiopia with his father, an area troubled by drought. His mother has recently passed away and his father has decided that he will take the boy to live with cousins in a farmland area with rolling green hills while he goes to Addis Ababa looking for work.
Toronto International Film Festival – Lamb
Living in a foster home after his mother’s death, a 9-year-old Ethiopian boy risks all to save his only friend — his mother’s pet lamb — in this touching semi-autobiographical drama from writer-director Yared Zeleke.
The first feature by Ethiopian writer-director Yared Zeleke gracefully straddles the line between neorealist coming-of-age story (inspired by the director’s own childhood) and folk tale, in its chronicle of a young boy struggling to adjust to a new life away from home.
CNN – Lamb – Breakout film at 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Lamb is a 2015 Ethiopian drama film directed by Yared Zeleke. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.[1] It was the first Ethiopian film to be included in the Official Selection.[1][2] It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[3] The film was selected as the Ethiopian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.[4][5]