From first frame to last, it has a shimmering beauty, shifting easily between rich colour and

luminous Barka river landscape that makes you feel proud, but its power goes deeper than that.

Bet Mienarish leaps over all that in a single bound, with unlimited optimism.  Mohamed Asenai,

probably the first Tigre adventurous filmmaker, he got further inside, especially when the story

concerns traditional culture.

To get closer to traditional culture, and make a film that's a real collaboration, based on respect.

I don't know what it took to achieve, but there's never been an Eritrean film like it. It's as if the

people of Barka decided to give us all a gift, by letting us inside. We get a vantage point and the

impact is extraordinary