Vinyl Grooves in Ethiopian Cinema: A Hidden Soundtrack of Culture

While Hollywood has its iconic vinyl moments, Ethiopian cinema—though less globally recognized—has its own rich relationship with records, music, and analog sound. From vintage Ethiopian jazz to the rebellious spirit of vinyl in political narratives, here’s how records have played a role in Ethiopian films, both on-screen and behind the scenes.

1. Teza (2008) — Vinyl as Memory and Resistance

Haile Gerima’s masterpiece Teza (which won awards at Venice and Sundance) follows an Ethiopian intellectual returning home during the turbulent Derg regime. While not explicitly about records, the film’s soundtrack—featuring golden-era Ethiopian jazz by legends like Mulatu Astatke—evokes the vinyl culture of 1970s Addis.

Behind the Scenes: Many of the film’s musical cues mirror the sounds found on rare Ethiopian vinyl pressings from the Amha Records era. Collectors today hunt for these original LPs, which were nearly lost during the Derg’s cultural suppression

 

Mualtu of Ethiopia

Symbolism: The crackle of old records in the film mirrors the fragmented memories of the protagonist, Anberber, as he grapples with exile and return.

 

2. Lamb (2015) — A Shepherd’s Unexpected Vinyl Connection

 

Yared Zeleke’s Lamb (Ethiopia’s first Oscar submission) tells the story of a rural boy, Ephraim, and his beloved sheep. While not centered on records, the film subtly nods to Ethiopia’s urban-rural divide—where vinyl culture thrived in cities while traditional music dominated the countryside.

·        Musical Contrast: The film’s soundtrack blends rural folk melodies with modern compositions, much like how vinyl collectors in Addis juxtapose traditional tizita with funk and soul.

 

vintage addis ababa

 

·        Fun Fact: The film’s composer, David Schommer, incorporated samples from vintage Ethiopian records to create a hybrid sound—a technique used by contemporary Ethiopian producers like Mikael Seifu.

3. Crumbs (2015) — Post-Apocalyptic Vinyl Nostalgia

Miguel Llansó’s surreal sci-fi film Crumbs is set in a dystopian Ethiopia where a hobbit-like character, Gagano, scavenges for artifacts—including a prized Michael Jackson record.

Vinyl as Relic: In this bizarre future, records are remnants of a lost world. Gagano’s obsession with a warped Thriller LP symbolizes how music outlives civilizations.

Real-Life Parallel: Ethiopia’s vinyl collectors today are like Gagano—digging through forgotten archives to preserve sounds nearly erased by time and political upheaval.

4. Sew the Winter to My Skin (2018) — Folk Music and the Absence of Vinyl

 

This South African-Ethiopian co-production (starring Ethiopian actors) is a Western-style epic based on a true story. While not about records, its use of traditional music highlights how Ethiopia’s sound was preserved orally—unlike the vinyl-centric West.

 

Contrast with Hollywood: In American films, vinyl is a tangible artifact of rebellion (Empire Records), but here, resistance is carried through voice and rhythm.

 

Modern Revival: Today, Ethiopian labels like Awesome Tapes From Africa are digitizing and reissuing old tapes and records, bridging the gap between past and present.

 

Ethiopian Cassettes

 

5. The Athlete (2009) — Marathon Legend and Vinyl’s Cultural Run

This biopic of Abebe Bikila, Ethiopia’s Olympic hero, doesn’t feature records, but its soundtrack pulls from the same era when Ethiopian jazz LPs were pressed.

Music as Time Machine: The film’s score, inspired by 1960s Ethio-jazz, could easily be the B-side to Mulatu Astatke’s Ethiopiques series—a vinyl collector’s holy grail.

 

 

Mulatu Astatke with Fekede Amde meskel

Collector’s Note: Original pressings of Ethio-jazz from the ’60s–’70s now sell for hundreds of dollars in global markets, a testament to their cinematic resonance.

 

Why This Matters

Ethiopian cinema rarely focuses on vinyl explicitly, but the country’s music—once pressed on scarce, precious records—is a character in itself. From the jazz age to modern reissues, these films remind us that:

Vinyl in Ethiopia wasn’t just music—it was resistance. The Derg regime banned Western influences, making old records acts of defiance.

Today’s filmmakers are the new archivists. Movies like Teza and Crumbs preserve sounds that vinyl once carried.

Ethiopian cinema may not have a High Fidelity-style record store scene (yet), but its stories and sounds are just as powerful—no turntable required