215. Running Against The Wind; movie review

 

 

RUNNING AGAINST THE WIND

Cert 15

116 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong violence, drug misuse

I hardly ever have the chance to watch movies made from an African perspective and yet I have seen two in the past 24 hours.

Before I stepped back in time with Mandabi, Mrs W and I encountered Jan Philipp Weyl's against-the-odds story of two young men who grew up in remote Ethiopia.

Running Against The Wind stars Ashenafi Nigusu as Abdi whose athletic abilities are apparent even across the poor farmland where he grew up.

His best friend Soloman (Mikias Wolde) has chosen a different path, running away to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to seek his fortune with a stolen camera.

Soloman teams up with a group of runaways and orphans who eke out an existence in a shack at the side of a busy road.

They are among the many have-nots in Africa and every day is a matter of survival.

Sadly, there are temptations and Solomon is taken down many a wrong path before his conscience prevails.

Meanwhile, Abdi has huge potential as a runner but he finds difficulty in wiping away his past in order to create a prosperous future.

Inevitably, things take a turn for both men when their paths cross once again.

Their fight against adversity is at the heart of Weyl's film and it also gives foreign audiences an opportunity to look inside Ethiopia which has never previously put forward a movie for an Academy award.

I suspect that one of the reasons it didn't make the shortlist is because it jolts around too much - with too many very short scenes.

If Ethiopia's movie-makers can understand that less is often more, they may be successful next time.

Reasons to watch: A rare Ethiopian film release in the UK

Reasons to avoid: The speed of scenes is too fast at times

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? A 2018 report by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs places the number of homeless people in Addis Ababa at around 24,000; approximately 10,500 street children and 13,500 homeless adults. 

The final word. Jan Philipp Weyl: “I am really proud to say that we made the road for every future Ethiopian filmmaker to apply for his or her film to the ministry of culture and there is now an infrastructure to submit films to the Academy.” Cinestaan

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