![\"October](\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/pri1.jpg\")
<\/a>October 22, 2015<\/p><\/div>\n
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The story of one girl<\/span><\/h1>\n who fought abduction,<\/span><\/h1>\n and the lawyers <\/span><\/h1>\nwho saved her life<\/span><\/h1>\n![\"Tizita](\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/difret-01.jpg\")
<\/a>Tizita Hagere (right) plays the role of 14-year-old Hirut Assefa in ‘Difret.’ Credit: Truth Aid Media<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<\/h3>\nListen to the Story.<\/span><\/h3>\nListen to the Story. > play<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe word “Difret” has many shades of meaning in Ethiopia’s language Amharic: it can mean both “to dare” and “to have courage,” but also “to be violated.”<\/span><\/p>\nLike its title,\u00a0the film “Difret<\/a>” represents\u00a0many things: it’s a work of fiction based on a true story of courage and change; it’s one of the only films from Ethiopia shot on 35mm film; and it’s got big\u00a0name recognition in the form of executive producer Angelina Jolie Pitt.\u00a0But above all, the film tells the story about a traditional practice through the experience of\u00a0one frightened\u00a0girl caught in a whirlwind beyond her control.<\/span><\/p>\n“Difret” is based on the story\u00a0of\u00a0Aberash Bekele \u2014 called Hirut in the film \u2014\u00a0a girl who was\u00a0abducted by men on horseback outside her\u00a0rural Ethiopian village.\u00a0It’s the day she’s promoted to 5th grade in school. Her captor \u2014 who failed to get her father’s permission to marry her \u2014 insists he now has the right to marry her according to a tradition\u00a0known as\u00a0telefa<\/em>.\u00a0But she\u00a0fights back, accidentally killing him. She faces a death sentence\u00a0until\u00a0attorney\u00a0Meaza Ashenafi\u00a0steps in to\u00a0fight for her. The resulting courtroom drama riveted the nation in 1996, when it took place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n“People started to talk\u00a0about abduction all over again,”\u00a0Meaza Ashenafi\u00a0recalls now. “It was a given, especially in the south of the country, women have been abducted for years. There was no question about it. But this case opened up a discussion and dialogue around this traditional practice.”<\/span><\/p>\nAshenafi had just established the\u00a0Women Lawyer’s Association two years earlier to fight for the rights of women according to Ethiopia’s then-new constitution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n“Difret” played to sold-out audiences in Addis\u00a0Ababa for six weeks. When the filmmakers looked to take it abroad, they sent it to Jolie, a well-known\u00a0advocate<\/a>\u00a0for women’s rights in Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n“A foreign-language film from Africa has a tough road ahead for it in terms getting to an audience,” filmmaker Mehret Mandefro\u00a0admits. “So having her support really helped us … reach people I don’t think we could ever reach.”<\/span><\/p>\n
and the lawyers <\/span><\/h1>\nwho saved her life<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/a>Tizita Hagere (right) plays the role of 14-year-old Hirut Assefa in ‘Difret.’ Credit: Truth Aid Media<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<\/h3>\nListen to the Story.<\/span><\/h3>\nListen to the Story. > play<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe word “Difret” has many shades of meaning in Ethiopia’s language Amharic: it can mean both “to dare” and “to have courage,” but also “to be violated.”<\/span><\/p>\nLike its title,\u00a0the film “Difret<\/a>” represents\u00a0many things: it’s a work of fiction based on a true story of courage and change; it’s one of the only films from Ethiopia shot on 35mm film; and it’s got big\u00a0name recognition in the form of executive producer Angelina Jolie Pitt.\u00a0But above all, the film tells the story about a traditional practice through the experience of\u00a0one frightened\u00a0girl caught in a whirlwind beyond her control.<\/span><\/p>\n“Difret” is based on the story\u00a0of\u00a0Aberash Bekele \u2014 called Hirut in the film \u2014\u00a0a girl who was\u00a0abducted by men on horseback outside her\u00a0rural Ethiopian village.\u00a0It’s the day she’s promoted to 5th grade in school. Her captor \u2014 who failed to get her father’s permission to marry her \u2014 insists he now has the right to marry her according to a tradition\u00a0known as\u00a0telefa<\/em>.\u00a0But she\u00a0fights back, accidentally killing him. She faces a death sentence\u00a0until\u00a0attorney\u00a0Meaza Ashenafi\u00a0steps in to\u00a0fight for her. The resulting courtroom drama riveted the nation in 1996, when it took place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n“People started to talk\u00a0about abduction all over again,”\u00a0Meaza Ashenafi\u00a0recalls now. “It was a given, especially in the south of the country, women have been abducted for years. There was no question about it. But this case opened up a discussion and dialogue around this traditional practice.”<\/span><\/p>\nAshenafi had just established the\u00a0Women Lawyer’s Association two years earlier to fight for the rights of women according to Ethiopia’s then-new constitution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n“Difret” played to sold-out audiences in Addis\u00a0Ababa for six weeks. When the filmmakers looked to take it abroad, they sent it to Jolie, a well-known\u00a0advocate<\/a>\u00a0for women’s rights in Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n“A foreign-language film from Africa has a tough road ahead for it in terms getting to an audience,” filmmaker Mehret Mandefro\u00a0admits. “So having her support really helped us … reach people I don’t think we could ever reach.”<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/a>Tizita Hagere (right) plays the role of 14-year-old Hirut Assefa in ‘Difret.’ Credit: Truth Aid Media<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n The word “Difret” has many shades of meaning in Ethiopia’s language Amharic: it can mean both “to dare” and “to have courage,” but also “to be violated.”<\/span><\/p>\n Like its title,\u00a0the film “Difret<\/a>” represents\u00a0many things: it’s a work of fiction based on a true story of courage and change; it’s one of the only films from Ethiopia shot on 35mm film; and it’s got big\u00a0name recognition in the form of executive producer Angelina Jolie Pitt.\u00a0But above all, the film tells the story about a traditional practice through the experience of\u00a0one frightened\u00a0girl caught in a whirlwind beyond her control.<\/span><\/p>\n “Difret” is based on the story\u00a0of\u00a0Aberash Bekele \u2014 called Hirut in the film \u2014\u00a0a girl who was\u00a0abducted by men on horseback outside her\u00a0rural Ethiopian village.\u00a0It’s the day she’s promoted to 5th grade in school. Her captor \u2014 who failed to get her father’s permission to marry her \u2014 insists he now has the right to marry her according to a tradition\u00a0known as\u00a0telefa<\/em>.\u00a0But she\u00a0fights back, accidentally killing him. She faces a death sentence\u00a0until\u00a0attorney\u00a0Meaza Ashenafi\u00a0steps in to\u00a0fight for her. The resulting courtroom drama riveted the nation in 1996, when it took place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “People started to talk\u00a0about abduction all over again,”\u00a0Meaza Ashenafi\u00a0recalls now. “It was a given, especially in the south of the country, women have been abducted for years. There was no question about it. But this case opened up a discussion and dialogue around this traditional practice.”<\/span><\/p>\n Ashenafi had just established the\u00a0Women Lawyer’s Association two years earlier to fight for the rights of women according to Ethiopia’s then-new constitution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Difret” played to sold-out audiences in Addis\u00a0Ababa for six weeks. When the filmmakers looked to take it abroad, they sent it to Jolie, a well-known\u00a0advocate<\/a>\u00a0for women’s rights in Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n “A foreign-language film from Africa has a tough road ahead for it in terms getting to an audience,” filmmaker Mehret Mandefro\u00a0admits. “So having her support really helped us … reach people I don’t think we could ever reach.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
Listen to the Story.<\/span><\/h3>\n
Listen to the Story. > play<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n