ETHIOPIAN COFFEE DRAMA ‘13 MONTHS OF SUNSHINE’ WRAPS POST, PERKS UP FOR NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
ETHIOPIAN COFFEE DRAMA ‘13 MONTHS OF SUNSHINE’ WRAPS POST, PERKS UP FOR NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Multicultural Concoction Stirs in Large Doses of Romance, High Fashion & Gov’t Red Tape in African Take on the American Dream
LOS ANGELES -- Ethiopian director and writer Yehdego Abeselom and award-winning producers Jeremiah Lewis (Progeny Festival 2005 Best Director “Zero Sum,” Progeny Festival 2004 Third Best In Show “Mosquito Man”) and Jeff Bartsch (168 Film Festival 2008 best film “Stained”) have completed post-production work on the highly anticipated immigration-themed film “13 Months of Sunshine,” named after the official tourism motto of Abeselom’s homeland, it was announced today by Resolve Entertainment.
Set in Los Angeles with a cast of dozens of Ethiopian players including newcomers Sammy Amare and Tsion Fikreselassie, Abeselom’s feature debut “skillfully teases out the subtle differences between the new and the old immigrant community and socially untouchable taboos in the Ethiopian community,” says The Ethiopian American.
“13 Months of Sunshine” explores the tensions of new arrivals in a land of opportunity. Story revolves around $20,000 in exchange for an arranged temporary marriage lasting a year and a month between Amare’s and Fikreselassie’s characters, during which their relationship travels from casual to serious as they learn to live with each other, but find that outside influences threaten to tear them apart.
The 102-min. film is in Amharic, subtitled in English, with original music composed by Jason Solowsky and a relevant mix of hit Ethiopian recording artists such as Rehaset, Burntface, Bole2Harlem, and Besu providing cultural tapestry of sound.
Post-production work on the film included sound engineering at industry recording facility Vitello Productions by veteran re-recording engineer R.D. Floyd, and color-timing consultation by PlasterCity Post.
Picture is slated for submission to the Zimbabwe International Film Festival, African Diaspora Film Festival, bfm International Film Festival, and the Pan-African Film Festival. “13 Months,” which premiered to critical praise in Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa earlier this year, is on a fast track to open in the United States, including Los Angeles where it was, as The Ethiopian American called it, “brilliantly shot.”
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