LAMB

Ephraim is nine. Somewhere in the middle of Ethiopia’s volcanic lands, he spends time with his ewe, Chuni, who has become Ephraim’s inseparable companion since the death of his mother during the great famine the previous year. The drought is still a threat, so his father decides to go to the city to look for work and send Ephraim to live with an uncle in a greener part of the country. While the uncle wants to follow tradition and turn the boy into a man, the boy prefers the company of women with whom he can indulge his passion: cooking. Things get worse when his uncle asks him to sacrifice his ewe for a coming feast. The first Ethiopian feature ever presented at Cannes (Un Certain Regard), this film by young director Yared Zeleke is a highly engaging coming-of-age story in which Ethiopia is seen in all its harshness and beauty, in its traditions and its embrace of new realities. With excellent cinematography by Josée Deshaies, the director of photography for Bertrand Bonello, Lamb is a portrait of a determined and brave little boy, played convincingly by newcomer Rediat Amare.