The River
This award-winning film explores Ethiopian culture and women’s experiences, celebrating beauty while revealing systemic barriers that persist across generations. Inspired by Addisu’s childhood home of Kebena, The River centres the daily realities of Ethiopian women, reflecting both the strength of their cultural traditions and the challenges they face in relation to forced marriage, limited educational opportunities, and unequal access to water. The film expands this local perspective into a broader commentary on global water accessibility, revealing how the burden of collecting water disproportionately falls on women and exposes them to gender-based violence at water sites. Through a visually poetic narrative, The River becomes both a tribute and an indictment: a tribute to the resilience and cultural richness of Ethiopian women, and an indictment of the systemic structures that endanger them.
Production Company: Qene Films
Executive Producer: Firehiwot Berhane Germay
Cinematographer: Tedos Teffera Tesfaye
Cast: Mahlet Neges Merese, Abeba Kassa Bezabeh Ameran Zenbaba Worku, Rahewa Taderose Mekonen, Leyuworke Tefera Baheru, Tigist Semma Seume, Memar Getnet Hibistu, Yohanan Getachew Assefaw, Betelhem Tizzy Tadese, Tirufat Tekleab Abera
Herrana Addisu (ET)
Herrana Addisu is a multidisciplinary artist, award-winning filmmaker, and social impact strategist using storytelling to challenge systemic injustice and uplift marginalized communities. Raised in Ethiopia before immigrating to the United States, her lived experiences have fueled a lifelong commitment to human rights, representation, and equity. She is the founder of Chucha Studios, a creative production company dedicated to connecting visual storytelling with systemic change. Through strategic campaigns, short films, photography, and brand collaborations, Herrana’s work centers historically excluded voices—focusing on themes such as gender-based violence, labor exploitation, and migration.
Her debut film, The River (2024), shot entirely in Ethiopia in collaboration with Qene Films with an all-women cast of 40, explores forced marriage, gender violence, and water accessibility. It earned Best Female Director at the Urbanworld Film Festival (Academy Award-qualifying), Black Spectrum Award at ASVOFF in Paris (Led by Michèle Lamy), and Best Experimental Film at Blackstart Film Festival. The film has been showcased at SXSW London, Kurzfilm Hamburg, and Amsterdam Fashion Week, where it was projected across subway platforms and billboards.
Her work has been featured in Forbes, Essence, The Cut, and i-D Magazine. Through art, advocacy, and community-building, Herrana continues to redefine cultural leadership and the role of storytelling in driving social change.
