The producer from the programme's guest country states he witnessed how images can flatten a country into a single story

Ethiopian producer Nahusenay Dereje began his career as a best boy before rising through East Africa’s film scene. A MultiChoice Talent Factory alumnus and Kalasha winner for Cheza, he founded 1960 Multimedia to champion bold, independent stories. He is a participant in the Durban FilmMart Business Lab and EFM Toolbox. In 2025, he screened his proof-of-concept short at the European Film Market and joined Locarno Open Doors while developing his second feature. An interview with him, now selected for the 2026 Emerging Producers programme (read his EP profile here).

Cineuropa: Why do you produce documentaries? Do you see documentary cinema as an instrument of social and political change?
Nahusenay Dereje: As a filmmaker from Ethiopia, I have witnessed how images can flatten a country into a single story. For years, the global image of my home has been shaped by repetition – crisis, poverty, struggle – until complexity disappears. I produce documentaries because I want to interrupt that narrative.

If images have helped distort how my country is seen, then images can also help restore it. My storytelling is rooted in the culture and community I grew up in. Life here is not easy, and hardship is real, but it is not the sum of our existence. There is joy, humour, dignity, and contradiction, and I feel a responsibility to uncover the chapters that have been left out.

I do believe documentary cinema can contribute to social and political change, not by instructing audiences, but by expanding perception. When a film allows people to see beyond stereotypes and encounter complexity, it creates space for empathy – and that, for me, is where change begins.

How do you achieve and maintain work-life balance and foster overall well-being?
Working as a filmmaker in my context means building not only films, but the industry around them. That reality demands a great deal – financially, emotionally, and in terms of time. Independent filmmaking here often extends far beyond creative work and into survival, infrastructure, and responsibility.

To be honest, I don’t always manage this balance well. The work takes more than it gives at times, but the sense of purpose and fulfilment it offers is unmatched. That belief is what keeps me going.

I am still learning how to build a more sustainable rhythm – one that allows space for rest, reflection, and life beyond work. For me, well-being is not something I have fully mastered, but something I am consciously working toward, alongside the films themselves.

Where do you find audiences for your films?
One of our greatest strengths is our audience potential. Ethiopia has a population of over 135 million people, alongside a large and active diaspora of more than 10 million worldwide. The challenge is not numbers, but access – finding sustainable and favourable ways to reach these audiences.

Before COVID, there was a strong cinema-going culture at home. Since then, distribution has shifted heavily toward digital platforms, particularly YouTube, which offers reach but places filmmakers at a financial disadvantage. This has forced us to rethink how and where our films live.

Today, I focus on building audiences across borders. By collaborating with international producers and developing stories that resonate beyond a single context, I aim to connect local narratives with global markets – while remaining rooted in where the stories come from.

What projects do you have underway (including fiction films and other projects)?
I am currently working on my debut feature film, The Fortunate, a dark comedy that explores morality, contradiction, and survival through a contemporary Ethiopian lens. The project is in development and continues to evolve through international collaborations.

Alongside this, I am developing two documentary projects, I Wanna Be a Magician and Selome, both centred on contemporary Ethiopian artists and their creative practices. These films explore identity, imagination, and artistic resistance within today’s cultural landscape.

In January, I completed shooting my latest documentary, I Know This Guy, which follows a German photographer, Stefan Seffrin, during his time in Ethiopia as he works on his photography series The Psychonaut. The film examines artistic exchange, perception, and the encounter between different ways of seeing.

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EMERGING PRODUCERS is a leading promotional and educational project, which brings together talented European documentary film producers. The programme is organised and curated by the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival.

Deadline for applications to the EMERGING PRODUCERS 2027 edition is 31st March 2026.