Faya dayi / a film by Jesica Beshir ; directed, filmed, written and produced by Jessica Beshir ; a Merkhana Films production ; in association with XTR ; in association with Neon Heart Productions ; in association with Flies Collective.

Format:

Video

Contributor:

Beshir, Jessica, film director, screenwriter, film producer, director of photography.

Price, Yasmin, writer of supplementary textual content.

Applegate, Jeanne, 1981- editor of moving image work.

Waldman, Dustin, editor of moving image work.

Geleto, Mehandis, composer (expression, performer.

Basinski, William, composer (expression).

Aniol, Adrian, composer (expression).

Hostetter, Kaethe, composer (expression).

Merkhana Films, production company.

XTR (Firm), production company.

Neon Heart Productions, production company.

Flies Collective (Firm), production company.

Criterion Collection (Firm), publisher.

Series:

Criterion collection ; 1141.

The Criterion collection ; 1141

Language:

Amharic

English

Oromo

Semitic (Other)

Subjects (All):

Khat--Religious aspects.

Khat.

Oromo (African people)--Ethiopia.

Oromo (African people).

Hārer (Ethiopia)--Social conditions.

Hārer (Ethiopia).

Harari (African people).

Ethiopia--Social life and customs.

Ethiopia.

Social conditions.

Ethiopia--Hārer.

Genre:

Documentary films.

Nonfiction films.

Feature films.

Physical Description:

1 videodisc (119 min.) : sound, black and white with color sequences ; 4 3/4 in. + insert (1 folded sheet of 12 pages : black and white illustrations ; 19 cm)

4 3/4 in.

monochrome polychrome

color

stamping

Edition:

Director-approved DVD special edition, Widescreen.

Place of Publication:

[New York, New York] : The Criterion Collection, [2022]

Language Note:

Amharic, Harari and Oromo dialogue; optional English subtitles.

System Details:

DVD, NTSC, Region 1; widescreen (1.78:1) presentation; Dolby Digital 5.1 surround.

digital

optical

surround

5.1 Dolby Digital

sound

NTSC

video file

DVD video

region 1

Summary:

A sublime work of personal vision, the debut feature by the Mexican Ethiopian filmmaker Jessica Beshir is a hypnotic documentary immersion in the world of Ethiopia's Oromo and Harari communities, places where one commodity khat, a euphoria-inducing plant once prized for its supposedly mystical properties holds sway over the rituals and rhythms of everyday life. As if under the influence of the drug itself, Faya Dayi unfurls as intoxicating, trance state cinema, capturing intimate moments in the existence of everyone from the harvesters of the crop to people lost in its narcotic haze to a desperate but determined younger generation searching for an escape from the region's political strife. The director's exquisite monochrome cinematography each frame a masterpiece sculpted from light and shadow and the film's time-bending, elliptical editing create a ravishing sensory experience that hovers between consciousness and dreaming.

Participant:

Mohammed Arif, Hashim Abdi, Biniam Yonas, Urji Abrahim Mumade, Bekala Ismail, Wedadi Ederis, Foad Aman, Nuradin Yusuf and others.

Credits:

Edited by Jeanne Applegate, Dustin Waldman ; original song "Kenna uumaa" written and performed by Mehandis Geleto ; music by William Basinski, Adrian Aniol, Kaethe Hostetter.

Notes:

Originally released as a motion picture in 2021.

Program content: ©2021.

Wide screen (1.78:1).

Accompanying insert contains an essay by film scholar Yasmin Price.

Special features: New selected-scene commentary featuring Beshir and poet Ladan Osman; Three short films by Beshir: He who dances on wood (2016), Heroin (2017), and Hairat (2017), featuring an introduction by Beshir; trailer; plus: an essay by film scholar Yasmin Price.

ISBN:

9781681439709

1681439700

OCLC:

1334496337

Publisher Number:

715515275613

CC3391DDVD The Criterion Collection