13 Months of Sunshine is a witty moral fable with great performances from its first time stars. The film is a delight, especially when Solomon and Hanna are together on the screen. It’s sexy, it’s funny, and even moving all at the same time without really forcing itself onto the audience. Sammy Amare plays Solomon with the earnestness of a man who wants to find greatness and happiness in a business that promotes his country’s beloved gift to the world: coffee…an occupation that has become dominated by huge corporations such as Starbucks, Coffee Bean and others alike.
Yet Solomon continues to believe in his dream of opening a coffee shop that will enrich, educate and promote Ethiopian Coffee and the culture behind it all despite all obstacles. And through out the film, it seems that even though coffee is his actual passion and the subject of his devotion, the film intricately and effectively also uses coffee as a metaphor to comment on social values within the Ethiopian community around the world.
Tsion plays Hanna as a woman who believes in Solomon, and reminds us that true love is about idealism not always about happily ever after. 13 Months of Sunshine is definitely a must see for the entire family. It enlightens and educates fellow Ethiopians living in Ethiopia about the US and Europe; the hardships and tribulations one could encounter abroad, it also gives hope to a generation of Ethiopian Americans and others living abroad, it shows that every Ethiopian community can still collectively come together and create a community as seen in the film, “Little Ethiopia” and remain close and hold on to a culture that runs deep in their blood just like the ancient traditions of coffee.” – Sindeck Magazine