Ethiopia

Held for the third consecutive time in Ethiopia, the 2023 edition of the Science Film Festival was presented between October 13 and December 20 by the Goethe-Institut Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Academy of Science (EAS), the Children’s Science Center and their network of public, private and international schools.

With past iterations of the festival demonstrating a preference for engaging content that showcases science rather than teaching it, the festival was designed with Ethiopian children and students in mind. Science specialists from the EAS, instructors from Kelem International School, and Ethiopian filmmakers picked twenty-four films and four science experiments that are easily integrated into elementary and secondary school curricula. A further ten films were dubbed in Amharic for early primary and primary level students.

Throughout the festival period, film screenings and experiments were conducted across thirty public, private, and international schools with over 4,000 individuals, mostly primary and secondary school children aged nine to sixteen, attending the film screenings. Films showcasing advancements in plastics and sustainable manufacturing were especially appreciated by teachers and students alike. Parallel to these events, the Goethe-Institut presented the Science Film Festival Ethiopia during the Juba Film Festival 2023 between December 6 and 10, with an additional 250 people attending screenings in South Sudan.

The ten-week festival concluded on December 19 with a celebration at the Goethe-Institut Ethiopia where students and teachers from ten schools across Addis Ababa presented the results of the science experiments and short films they produced during the festival period. The closing ceremony and student’s presentations were aired on Ye Ethiopia Lijoch TV, the leading children’s television station in the country, with other media outlets reporting on the festival.

Overall, Science Film Festival 2023 has the most Ethiopian schools participating in the program to date. The increasing enthusiasm from festival partners, as well as the festival’s visibility across school clusters, provide fertile ground for future Science Film Festival experiences across the country.