16th(2014)
Alamork MARSHA
Assegedu, a 40 year old Ethiopian woman, makes a living cleaning the homes of rich people. Her daughter Haile joins her after school. One afternoon Assegedu and Haile find a microphone and play with it, listening to the sound of their voices. Soon enough things go wrong and Assegedu finds herself in a moral and economical dilemma that will decide her future and her relationship with her daughter.
The film is about an Ethiopian migrant woman working as a maid in Israel. Early scenes of the film depict the maid cleaning a house in which the
interior and furniture look much grander than the character. This delicately designed composition reveals the ins and outs of her labor and also
implies that these furnishings don¡¯t belong to her. Soon she runs into trouble. Under the social structure in which class and ethnic inequalities
are prevalent, rather than asking for unconditional forgiveness or rejecting the system in full measure, she takes a somewhat unique approach
to cope with the trouble she caused. This unexpected approach gives a moment to contemplate for audience. [HWANG Miyojo]
Synopsis
Assegedu, a 40 year old Ethiopian woman, makes a living cleaning the homes of rich people. Her daughter Haile joins her after school. One afternoon Assegedu and Haile find a microphone and play with it, listening to the sound of their voices. Soon enough things go wrong and Assegedu finds herself in a moral and economical dilemma that will decide her future and her relationship with her daughter.
Program Note
The film is about an Ethiopian migrant woman working as a maid in Israel. Early scenes of the film depict the maid cleaning a house in which the
interior and furniture look much grander than the character. This delicately designed composition reveals the ins and outs of her labor and also
implies that these furnishings don¡¯t belong to her. Soon she runs into trouble. Under the social structure in which class and ethnic inequalities
are prevalent, rather than asking for unconditional forgiveness or rejecting the system in full measure, she takes a somewhat unique approach
to cope with the trouble she caused. This unexpected approach gives a moment to contemplate for audience. [HWANG Miyojo]
Alamork MARSHAAlamork MARSHA
She was born in the small village of Avash, Ethiopia, and grew up in Addis Abeba, immigrating to Israel with her family in 1991. Her debut film Korki, was screened in Jerusalem and Montreal. In 2008, she began her studies at The Sam Spiegel Film & TV School Jerusalem, and Cleaning Time is her graduation film.