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| Chris Flaherty (Photo: Tadias magazine) |
Ethiomedia: The first screening was a “special invitation” affair? Why so and who was invited?
Chris Flaherty: Last Wednesday’s screening was meant to serve as a “focus group” for me to gauge public perception and reaction to the film. We basically had a very polished rough cut, you could say. I wanted to show it to people so that I could get feedback and reaction before making the final cut of the film. I got various suggestions and ideas to improve the film. I expect to include some of the suggestions and ideas so that we can improve the quality of the film. Of course, the film’s purpose is not entertainment, and I am gratified that people are now talking about it. I invited people from diverse perspective in the hopes of getting different input to strengthen the film.
Ethiomedia: We have learned from our sources who attended the first screening that you received a tongue-lashing of sorts from Meles Zenawi’s ambassador to the U.S. Did the two of you have a conversation about the film?
Chris Flaherty: I am not sure if you can use the phrase “tongue lashing”, but Ambassador Samuel Assefa got up and spoke for 15 minutes or so at the end of the show. He seemed to be quite riled up. He said that the film was a bit too much on the “American theme”. He seemed to trivialize my characters and their experiences in searching for and finding their own version of democracy and freedom in America. It seemed to me that he could not appreciate that people could have an understanding of democracy that is different from his own. The ambassador insinuated that Ethiopians in general might not share the same appreciation of democratic rights and freedoms that Americans do, or might not even value them as much as Americans. This was evident in his comments on a particular scene where Abdul, one of the main characters in the film, visits the Statue of Liberty and reflects on his deep appreciation of the U.S.
Ethiomedia: What was the point, that is, the symbolism in having Abdul visit the Statue of Liberty?
Chris Flaherty: Well, the point is that Abdul, just like any other immigrant who has come to America escaping political persecution, undergoes an intense desire to experience individual freedoms. That is basically the immigrant history of America. The symbolism is that Abdul is just trying to tell his own story as he personalizes the experience of freedom and liberty in America. The Statue of Liberty is just a backdrop, so to speak. If I could speak my mind, and I really do not want to sound accusatory in any way, -- but I was offended by the ambassador’s dismissive attitude about ordinary Ethiopians’ love of freedom and liberty. I got the impression that he has very elitist attitudes. His statements sound like he really does not believe people without education or wealth can truly appreciate freedom or democracy. There is also a clear hint in his comments that most Ethiopians are not ready for democracy, at least his version of it. That’s the clear message I and many others who listened to him at the screening got.
Ethiomedia: Our sources also told us that Meles’ ambassador hammered Ethiopian American cab drivers in their efforts to engage in the democratic process in the U.S. What seems to be his problem with Ethiopian American cab drivers?
Chris Flaherty: I don’t know if he has any problems with Ethiopian American taxi drivers or that he was “hammering” them. I will certainly agree that he trivialized their struggle. The point the ambassador made was that the film makes inappropriate comparisons between Ethiopian American taxi drivers using the American political process to assert their rights in public demonstrations and the 2005 post election killings do not match in degree of importance. I think he missed the point of the sequence. The contrast I was making was not that demonstrations in front of city hall have the same significance as being killed in the streets for demonstrating. The point was that when Abdul and his taxi drivers were publicly demonstrating in front of City Hall peacefully no one bothered them. The government respected their rights. That was not so after the 2005 elections. The prime minister declared a state of emergency and threatened to shoot anyone who demonstrated. And from what the Inquiry Commission said, hundreds of peaceful protesters were shot after the elctions. Anyways, in the film, Ethiopian American demonstrators are seen protesting in front of the White House and the State Department, in front of Congress and everywhere else without anyone bothering them. I leave it to the viewer to decide whether Abdul and his cab driver friends would have been able to stage a peaceful protest in the middle of Meskel Square, the parliament, or the prime minister’s residence in Ethiopia.
Ethiomedia: We are also informed that Meles’ ambassador trashed other Ethiopians who belong to opposition parties?
Chris Flaherty: Well, may be you are referring to his comments about members of the EPRP. It is true that he attempted to discredit some of my characters by saying they were members of the EPRP. I understand that there will always be political and ideological differences among competing political groups. But that is not really the focus of my film. My film simply deals with issues of human rights, freedom and democracy and how Ethiopian Americans are experiencing them in America. I don’t select my interview subjects based on their political ideology or affiliation. The basic message of the film is that people, regardless of their political stripes, ideology, beliefs or whatever, are entitled to basic rights. By that I mean, they have the right to freely express themselves, associate with people they like, demonstrate and protest in the streets peacefully, be free from being thrown in jail because somebody does not like them or has the power to do it, be treated fairly in court and so on. As long as these rights are exercised in a peaceful manner, I don’t see any problems. That is how Americans feel and believe.
The ambassador seemed to believe that because a person belonged to a group that may have had a checkered history that somehow that group should be automatically discredited and kept out of the dialogue on human rights. I mean, someone can make a similar argument if the current regime were to be out of power. I don’t think it would be right to deny human rights protections or keep people from engaging in dialogue just because of one’s membership in a group. To me, it’s all about individual responsibility. There may be some other deep rooted political issues between the current regime and the EPRP. I don’t know, and it is not really my concern or what my film is about.
Ethiomedia:In your earlier interview, you had indicated that you had extended an invitation to Meles Zenawi but that his ambassador had told you Meles was unavailable. We have learned that Meles’ ambassador gave a different explanation for not making Meles available for interview. What was his explanation?
Chris Flaherty: Ambassador Assefa acknowledged that he did receive a request for an interview from me. However, he said he felt there was something wrong about making the interview request toward the end of the production and that the prime minister was too busy. To be honest, it wasn’t very clear to me what point he was making. As I indicated to you in my first interview, the interview process took over a year. It took me that long to get some of the people to agree to do an interview. My point in interviewing people was not to create a circular debate about who said what about whom and how each person should react to what someone else said. My purpose was to give each person and viewpoint a fair and accurate representation of their beliefs, ideas and explanations about the issues. Whether I had interviewed Prime Minster Meles Zenawi at the beginning or the end of the filming would not have made a difference. If I were to interview him, I would not have treated him any differently than any of my other interviewees. I will even go a step further and offer Ambassador Assefa that I am ready, willing and able to go to Addis and interview the prime minister now. The offer remains open until a final cut of the film is made.
Ethiomedia: We are told that Meles’ ambassador took your hide off for doing a “cut and paste job” and for not representing the government’s view adequately?
Chris Flaherty: Oh, my! You have a way of framing questions! It is true that the ambassador described the film as a “cut and paste” job. He did say that there was not enough in the film from the Ethiopian government's point of view. I think that is a very unfair comment. I did everything I could to get Ethiopian officials to speak on camera and on record. But all of my attempts proved unsuccessful. I am not sure why, but people tell me different reasons. I don’t know what the real reasons are for Ethiopian officials not to want to be interviewed. What I have found out is that the problem of getting Ethiopian officials for an interview on the record, particularly in America, is a problem not just for me but also the VOA, other American press, the various local radio stations broadcasting in Amharic and so on. As I have said, I have requested an interview with the prime minister. That has not been possible. So, I have tried to make do with what I can get. In the film you see Ambassador Samuel, Dr. Ephraim Issac and Frank Day (an election observer) supporting the government’s views about the elections and what happened after that. Viewpoints that contrast to the government’s are presented by Ana Gomes, Professor Al Mariam, Berhanu Nega and Hailu Shawel. Let the Ethiopian government designate its officials and I will be glad to interview them. We still have time to do that. One thing I will not do under any circumstances is stop making the film because someone feels they are not adequately represented. I am still open to interview Ethiopian government officials, including the prime minister.
Ethiomedia: We understand that Meles’ ambassador challenged your focus on the D.L.A. Piper lobbying firm as pointless and irrelevant since they were doing their job under American law?
Chris Flaherty: Yes, he did say that talking about D.L.A. Piper was pointless since they are legally registered lobbyists. I think he missed my point on that one too. No one doubts the legality of lobbying. Half of Washington consists of lobbyists. The point that was being made in the film is that here you have one of the largest lobbying law firms in the world representing the Ethiopian government, and you have a ragtag army of Ethiopian grassroots advocates working to pass an Ethiopian human rights bill in Congress. The grassroots people have little or no political or lobbying experience, no money -- at least compared to D.L.A. Piper -- no training in the ways of Washington. But in the end they whipped, I mean, they defeated the enormous power of a huge lobbying firm hired to prevent the bill from ever seeing the floor of congress. After the Ethiopian government spent so many thousands or millions of dollars in lobbying fees, they were not able to get a single vote to oppose H.R. 2003. This shows the power of freedom and democracy, that even newcomers and immigrants, can use democratic tools to be heard in the halls of Congress. That is absolutely fascinating to me and is worthy of telling on film.
Ethiomedia: But how do you think the “ragtag” Ethiopian grassroots groups were able to shellac D.L.A. Piper?
Chris Flaherty: Shellac? Ha ha ha! Lets just say that they made history on the Hill, in Congress, in the House of Representatives, at least. I could write pages as to how they did it. But the important thing is that they accomplished something no one else had. I don’t know of any immigrant group that has been able to get such a human rights bill in the U.S. Congress. And I think the reason has to do with passion. I think what you will see in the film is that the Ethiopian advocates of human rights and H.R. 2003 are very passionate people. They do what they do because they believe in it. They are tireless, resourceful and simply tenacious. I remember when there was talk of H.R. 5680 having problems because the republican speaker of the House would not let it get to the floor for a vote in 2006. Supporters of the bill went after Speaker Hastert in his own district outside of Chicago and mobilized Hastert’s own constituents to get the bill to the floor. They pretty much shut down his Congressional office for a few days with telephone calls and faxes.
To my knowledge something like that has never been done by any group, immigrant or otherwise. Then these grassroots people went into the state legislatures in Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and other states and mobilized state lawmakers to become their allies pushing human rights in Ethiopia. I don’t think anyone has ever done something so creative, I mean, to use the state legislatures as a tool to promote human rights is an amazing feat. All I can tell you is that you have very creative Ethiopians in America who just don’t quit. And I think, that is the basic thread in the story line of “Migration of Beauty”. If you never give up, if you stay focused on what you want, you will eventually get it. I think they figured out the same key of success that Barak Obama figured out, and is now headed to become the first African American president.
Ethiomedia: Did you raise any other issues directly with Meles’ ambassador?
Chris Flaherty: Well, we did not have much time between the two screenings to discuss other things. The ambassador pretty much spoke the whole time, for 15 minutes or so. But I did bring up the issue of free press in Ethiopia to the Ambassador. He basically said that the press must be controlled to protect Ethiopians from possible genocide. He further accentuated Ethiopia’s tribal differences and said that government is only trying to prevent a Rwandan-type incident which could break out if the press was free to publish what they wanted. I thought that was a strange explanation to suppress the free press. But that was the one thing I called to his attention.
Ethiomedia: So, what’s next for Migration of Beauty?
Chris Flaherty: Well, a representative of the UN Refugee Experience Series has requested my film to be included in their latest presentation. I am very happy about that. It is a great honor. It is my hope that my movie will raise awareness about Ethiopia. That is really all I am hoping for.
Ethiomedia: When is the next screening of Migration of beauty?
Chris Flaherty: There will be a second screening on June 29th in Washington, D.C. We will announce the place of showing soon.
Ethiomedia: Thanks, Chris for doing this interview. We appreciate it.
Chris Flaherty: Thank you for keeping up with “Migration of Beauty”. I really appreciate it.
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