On Thursday, April 3, the West Newton Cinema held a screening of the documentary Made in Ethiopia, followed by a panel discussion. Part of the Cinema’s “Behind the Screen” series, the event was organized by the West Newton Cinema Foundation, a nonprofit organization raising funds to restore and renovate the Cinema, which first opened in 1937.
Released in 2024, Made in Ethiopia highlights a group of Chinese entrepreneurs and their attempt to industrialize a small Ethiopian farming village. Directed by award-winning filmmakers Xinyan Yu and Max Duncan, the film tells the story of three women who witness the development of the project firsthand: the Chinese director of the industrial park, an Ethiopian farmer who works and lives on nearby land, and a factory worker. The documentary received a Special Jury Mention at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival.
Panel discussion
Following the screening, Paul Solman, Businesses and Economics Correspondent at PBS NewsHour, moderated a panel of academics reflecting on the film:
- Dani Rodrik, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard University;
- Mesay Melese Gebresilasse, Assistant Professor of Economics at Amherst College;
- Margaret McMillan, Neary Family Professor of International Relations at Tufts University; and Tsegay Tekleselassie, Visiting Lecturer in Economics at Wellesley College.
Rodrik said that he thought that the film captured both the hopes and failures of Ethiopia’s industrialization experience.
“Ethiopia was one of the countries that many, about 15 or 20 years ago, were looking at as one of the countries that might be able to replicate the East Asian export-oriented industrialization miracle,” he said. “[The film is] from the vantage point of key actors: the Chinese investors, the managers, the workers, the farmers whose lives are being disrupted, and of course the local officials who are playing a very interesting role in the way that things are working, or not, as the case may be.”
McMillan said that watching the film gave her hope for Ethiopia’s future.
“You read all these bad things about the Chinese in the newspaper, but [the film] reminded me of what I love. I love a lot of the Chinese who go to Africa and work in Africa because I’ve seen a lot of foreign investors coming to Africa, and I’ve lived and worked in a lot of African countries, and Western investors are just not like the Chinese. The Chinese dig in, they live with the people, they go to remote areas,” she said. “They’re profit-driven, but I think they’re not as far from the Ethiopians …I think there’s a lot of potential for collaboration.”
Tekleselassie said that while Ethiopia has a large number of young people capable of joining the workforce and a vast amount of agricultural land with potential for development, industrialization there faces many obstacles, including armed conflict.
“Perhaps some of the countries are [in Ethiopia] to benefit from the African Growth Opportunity Act, where African exporters can export to America, tax free. But now, that’s changing because of the war …and the war has completely destroyed the economy,” he said. “So things are not very positive.”
Gebresilasse said that while the film depicts some of the failures of the industrialization process, he believes that the development of industry in Ethiopia is possible, with time.
“I’m less pessimistic,” he said. “I think we’re going through a period of experimentation, and some failures are likely to happen …but I don’t think we should dismiss this outright. I think with experimentation, they could figure out things that could work.”
What’s next
The West Newton Cinema’s next “Behind the Screen” event, on April 13, will feature the film Secret Mall Apartment followed by a panel discussion.
Theo Younkin is a Fig City News student reporter, a junior at Newton South High School, and Co-Managing Editor of the NSHS Lion’s Roar.
