Adwa: An African Victory (1999)
The
story of the 1896 battle of Adwa is being told by Ethiopian-born
director Haile Gerima. He explores European colonialism from an African
perspective and the significance of the legendary battle that defeated
the Italian expansionist movement and kept Ethiopia the one and only
African country that was not occupied by a European colonial power in
the last 200 years. His argument is quite ambitious and perhaps not
entirely justified throughout the movie: the battle of Adwa is a symbol
of African liberation for Africans of all nations. It is a source of
motivation that has inspired other African liberators in their quest of
freeing Africa from colonialism. On one hand, it is true that the fact
that Ethiopia has been the only internationally recognized sovereign
African could have been a reason for admiration and hope on behalf of
various African elites. But actually making the argument that the
victory from Adwa was an African victory, profoundly embedded in the
political culture of the African people can be fairly misleading: most
African liberation fighters were driven by the local specificities and
the local hardships. If they found hope and faith in a successful
independence story, that might have been Ghana, the first Sub-Saharan
country that became independent in 1957, and not Ethiopia. That being
said, the documentary is worth watching because it presents how a
historical event has been filtrated through the public consciousness of
the Ethiopian people. Haile Gerima brings together Ethiopians from very
different backgrounds and allows them to tell the story of the battle
from their own perspective.
It
is obvious that the astounding victory of Emperor Menelik and Empress
Taitu to defend their nation against the far better-equipped invading
Italian army has served as a source of inspiration for millions of
Ethiopians along the years. Grandfathers, fathers, teachers, brothers
have instilled in the new generations the passion and the national pride
that was sourced in this amazing victory. In fact, the director
confesses early on that he came back to Ethiopia to understand, discover
and see with his own eyes whether the Battle from Adwa was indeed an
amazing victory or simply a myth. He achieves his goal by talking to
Ethiopian historians, teachers, professors, singers, artists, old
people, children, and random people he meets along the way. He also
looks at documents, paintings, engravings, and testimonies that are also
shown and explored in this documentary.The battle of Adwa occurred in 1896, at a time when European powers were advancing in all directions on the African continent, taking over the land and the people either peacefully or by force. As one historian mentions in the documentary, Italians saw Ethiopia as their birthright and consequently desired to take over it. Emperor Menelik II was able to unify all the local factions and bring together an impressive army of about 150,000 soldiers outnumbering the Italians 10 to 1 or even 15 to one. He did that while astutely deceiving European powers by convincing them that he was simply following their directions. After the Italians lost the fights, they left thousands of riffles and means of transportation behind and fled the country.
