Faya Dayi Loses - Again

The Black Reel Awards didn't name Beshir's Faya Dayi as the winner of the "Outstanding Foreign-Language Film" (for which it was nominated).

The irony of course is that Beshir does not speak that foreign language, it being Oromigna, but rather conducted her film through various forms of interpretations and translations as she went along with her filming.

The Black Reel Awards is a major Black American film event. Wikipedia describes the organization thus:

The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the African diaspora, in the global film industry, as assessed by the foundation’s voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially called the Black Reel Award. The awards, first presented in 2000 in Washington, DC, are overseen by FAAAF.

Here is the website for The Black Reel Awards, and the associated FAAAF (The Foundation for the Augmentation of African America Film)

Of course, Beshir can put her name as "nominated," but that doesn't quite have the same ring as "winner."

Here is the email I sent to the Black Reel Awards:

Dear Black Reel Awards:

I believe you made a good judgment call in not awarding your "Outstanding Foreign Language Film" to Jessica Beshir's Faya Dayi, The irony is that Beshir doesn't even speak the "foreign language" of these Ethiopian Oromo people, but used various interpreters/translators to complete her film. So, the question stands, what exactly did she understand these Ethiopian Oromo youth to say to her as she was filming her documentary (and whose words she had translated after the event?).

Sincerely,

Kidist Paulos Asrat

The End  

I got an email reply:

"Thank you!"

So, even Beshir's "cinematic achievements [in] the African diaspora" went unrecognized. And this, despite Beshir's furtive attempts to link herself with this community (here, scrolling down, is how Beshir tried to connect her position with the BLM movements in the US).

I think most organizations don't want to go too far into something they don't fully understand - distant ethnic communities, regional ethnic conflicts, etc.

And, PM Abiy has a name-recognition, through is Nobel Prize win, amongst other things. And so does Ethiopia, whose legacy is far older, more ancient, and readily on the lips of many Americans, including Black Americans.