Canada: Selam Festival to Feature Guzo and Wayna

Tadias Magazine

By Tadias Staff

Published: Monday, July 13, 2009

New York (TADIAS) – The award-winning Ethiopian film Guzo and Grammy-nominated singer Wayna will be featured at the 5th Annual Selam Youth Festival from July 17th – 19th, 2009 in Toronto, Canada.

The annual festival, organized by a group of artists including the artistic director Weyni Mengesha, aims to empower Ethiopian and Eritrean youth in Canada through education in the arts to raise awareness about the growing number of HIV cases in both communities. Per the event’s flier, the festival showcases spoken word, dance, film, theater, hip-hop and more.

The film Guzo, which won best picture at the 2009 Addis International Film Festival, chronicles the interaction between two young residents of Addis Ababa and their peers in the Ethiopian countryside. Over the course of 20-days both the urbanites and country folks were forced to confront stereotypes about each other and grapple with issues of gender and privilege. The film made its U.S. premiere in Washington D.C. on May 9th at GMU’s Lisner Theater.


If you go:
5th Annual Selam Youth Festival
From July 17th – 19th, 2009
104 Cedarvale Avenue
Toronto, ON, M4C 4J8
Phone: 416 690 8005

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5 thoughts on “Canada: Selam Festival to Feature Guzo and Wayna”

  1. Way to go Canada (my old home)! It looks like a lot of fun. Guzo is the bomb…it is a wonderful documentary/Reality show. It is also very funny. I laughed until my stomach hurt. Enjoy the film and the lovely and talented Wayna!

    Miss you Toronto!

  2. 5th ANNUAL SELAM YOUTH FESTIVAL (Weekend Edition) ::..

    FRIDAY JULY 17, 9:00PM-11:00PM (MUSIC) “WAYNA Live from DC”
    at TRANE STUDIO (964 Bathurst Street)

    SATURDAY JULY 18, 7:00PM (SHOWCASE) “5th ANNUAL SELAM YOUTH FESTIVAL”

    7:00PM – Doors Open & Food Served
    8:00PM (SHARP) – SHOW STARTS

    *VENUE: ESTONIAN HOUSE (958 Broadview Ave)
    *LIMITED SEATING. ARRIVE ON TIME TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT*

    SUNDAY JULY 19, 4:00PM-9:00PM (FILM) “GUZO” by Aida Ashenafi
    The Canadian Premiere Screening of the Winner of the 2009 Addis International Film Festival.

    VENUE: OISE (U of T), 252 Bloor West (Upstairs of St. George Subway Station)

    >FEATURING a short-film by Sound The Horn Leaders

    Brought to You by: PEOPLE to PEOPLE CANADA (http://www.p2pcanada.org)
    &
    SOUND THE HORN PRODUCTIONS (http://www.soundthehorn.com)

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