Following a screening of Made in Ethiopia at Asia Society on October 6, co-directors Xinyan Yu and Max Duncan joined ChinaFile Editor-in-Chief Susan Jakes, who was also an executive producer of the film, to discuss their making of the documentary.
Filmed over four years of intensive interviews and unique access, Made in Ethiopia lifts the curtain on China’s historic but misunderstood impact on Africa, and explores contemporary Ethiopia at a moment of profound crisis. The film throws audiences into two colliding worlds: an industrial juggernaut fueled by profit and progress, and a vanishing countryside where life is still measured by the cycle of the seasons. As the three women’s stories unfold, Made in Ethiopia challenges us to rethink the relationship between tradition and modernity, growth and welfare, and the development of a country and the wellbeing of its people.