From physics to talking movies, Tatek Tadesse, director of the locally acclaimed Ethiopian movie Gudi Fecha, is currently working on yet another movie project after two years of rest since the release of his first feature film.

The Return to Grace, which is the unofficial title of the movie, is based on the story of a young Ethiopian architect who is inspired by the long lost kingdom of Axum and an ancient prophecy that speaks of the resurgence of this kingdom following the appearance of seven signs. The young architect, who notices these signals, tries to get people around him to understand the meaningfulness of what is happening only to be looked upon as a mad man. 
 

According to Tatek, the storyline is like no other seen in Ethiopian film. He says that he wanted to bring originality back and that the film will break a trend that has settled in movie making in Addis. He admitted that The Return to Grace glorifies the Ethiopian past with a promise of a glorious future to come as Ethiopians find themselves one year from the Ethiopian Millennium.
 

Tatek has always been interested in filming. He reminisced at how his father had a camera and that as a child he enjoyed to watch recorded images of himself on a projector. By the time Tatek reached high-school, he had already started experimenting with videos, but not until after university did he try and realize his dream and passion for the camera.
 

When he left school, he started to read and study about the art of filming with determination. He started experimenting more seriously and without much delay began to work on documentaries, of which he’s done over 20, including one on Rastafarians in Ethiopia.
 

“But my first encounter with the public came with the production of Gudi Fecha,” he said.

Gudi Fecha, which translates into ‘adoption’, is a 108-minute love story about keeping secrets in a very conservative society. It involves a secret affair between two people, which results in the birth of an illegitimate child and a secret adoption. All pay the tragic consequences of the lovers’ affair, as all parties involved are thrown into a confusing situation of deception and denials.
 

Tatek told Fortune that the production process for the film was a very challenging one due to all the responsibilities one has to take to actually get things done. He says that he had to juggle many responsibilities in order to get results for Gudi Fecha. 
 

He was involved in casting, make-up, lighting, music and sound effects. Moreover, he was the cameraman and the director of the movie. He said that it is very hard to make a movie in Ethiopia, because too much is dependant on the one person that is leading and because the sector itself is still taking its first steps.
 

As far as Tatek is concerned, although he does agree that a lot of production companies are coming up in the city, he points out that the level of quality has not improved. In fact, he said, what is happening is that a lot of films are being released at an amazing pace, but the storylines, the quality of the picture and the overall production is not well thought out. Tatek explains that he believes the problem with this is that there is a lack of standardization; hence film makers do not have to fulfil technical requirements to release their film.
 

“Everybody has the right to make their own movies,” he said. “But, if the work is to be introduced to the public, then there should be a regulatory body that passes or fails the feature, so that we can uphold standardization.”
 

According to him, this is one of the reasons that we cannot call the filming sector in Ethiopia an “industry”.
 

He said that for it to become one, filmmakers should have laws to protect their rights of ownership, for as long as pirated copies reign the streets, an industry cannot exist. He added that another feature that is missing is proper distribution outlets. According to him, there are not enough cinemas in the city and this makes it hard to call the filming sector in Addis Abeba an industry. 
 

Nevertheless, Tatek believes that 10 years from now, Ethiopia Cinema will become one of the most powerful cinemas in the world. His certainty is based on the fact that Ethiopia has a rich and untouched resource of stories.

“Their technology has preceded their story resources,” he said. “Ethiopia on the contrary, is just the opposite; as we fulfil the technological heights needed, so shall the stories be used efficiently.”