IEFTA Alumni selected to participate in TFL NEXT

IEFTA Alumni Filmmakers Tamara Dawit and Abraham Gezahegne are participating in Torino Film Lab’s online film development workshop, TFL Next.

The Ethiopian project was selected among 10 other feature film projects from around the world to take part in group sessions and 1:1 mentorship meetings.

For the 3rd consecutive year IEFTA has partnered with Torino Film Lab to support emerging filmmakers in developing their film projects. IEFTA Alumni Tamara Dawit and GFE Ethiopia Conference 2019 participant Abraham Gezahegne are currently preparing for the 3rd and final part of the program scheduled for the end of the June with their project Median (Mehal Sefari).

Tamara Dawit, Producer for the project, is an Ethiopian Producer/Director based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where she runs Gobez Media, a production company focused on Ethiopian film, TV, digital and music content. Tamara’s most recent documentary feature Finding Sally was released last month through the Hot Docs at Home series and was well received.

“It’s a beautifully intimate look at how a place can affect your identity and actions so wholly and how history is never just something you read.”

– Jared Mobarak, The Film Stage

Abraham Gezahegne is a seasoned Ethiopian Producer/Director who has directed award winning feature films and more than 52 episodes of popular television drama GEBENA (The Secret) for the Ethiopian audience. Abraham was a top candidate identified during IEFTA’s 3rd GFE Conference in Addis Ababa in December 2019.

“My participation in the TFL NEXT program this spring has given me the opportunity to focus on the development plans, themes and treatment for my new film Mehal Sefari (Median), a project aimed for an international audience.”

– Abraham Gezahegne

TFL NEXT is the online, extended format of TFL Extended, adapted to address the travel restrictions related to COVID-19. TFL Next involves a mix of group meetings and 1:1 mentorship scheduled over a 2-month period. This arrangement allows the filmmakers and participating teams to pause, take the recommendations received during the workshops and implement them before resubmitting the project for another round of feedback by their mentors.

TFL Next has more workshops scheduled throughout the summer starting in late June and September.

Past IEFTA participants in TFL’s Film Development Programs:

• Angineh Isanians & Emily Mkrtichian (Armenia, 2019)
• Kesmat El Sayed (Egypt, 2018)