Faya Dayi

In the hypnotic and hazily dreamlike documentary Faya Dayi, shot in gorgeous, silvery black and white tones, filmmaker Jessica Beshir plunges the viewer into a spiritual journey and an anthropological exploration of the rituals of ‘khat’. Khat is a leaf chewed by Sufi Muslims for religious meditations that creates a mild euphoria in its users and has become the single most lucrative cash crop in Ethiopia today. The film follows teenaged protagonist Mohammed and his friends as they witness the seductive and destructive effects on the adults around them.

‘I want someone to see this film and feel what it is like to be there. I want to invite people to feel the way we experience time, and the mood with which people navigate life in Harar. The poetry and beauty of the languages heard in this film are not necessarily very well known, so for me, for those languages to be heard […] is amazing. I also wanted to bring other voices to the forefront than the viewer may have encountered in other Ethiopian films that they may have seen.’

Director Jessica Beshir, from an interview with Filmmaker Magazine.