Screening: Made in Ethopia
Lecture
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
4:00 pm
This event has passed.
MADE IN ETHIOPIA
A film by Xinyan Yu and Max Duncan
91 min. • Canada, Ethiopia, USA, UK, Denmark • 2024
Followed by Q&A
When a massive Chinese industrial park lands in rural Ethiopia, a dusty farming town finds itself at the new frontier of globalisation. The sprawling factory complex’s formidable Chinese director Motto now needs every bit of mettle and charm she can muster to push through a high-stakes expansion that promises 30,000 new jobs. Ethiopian farmer Workinesh and factory worker Beti have staked their futures on the prosperity the park promises. But as initial hope meets painful realities, they find themselves, like their country, at a pivotal crossroads.
Filmed over four years with singular access, Made in Ethiopia lifts the curtain on China’s historic but misunderstood impact on Africa, and explores contemporary Ethiopia at a moment of profound crisis. The film throws audiences into two colliding worlds: an industrial juggernaut fueled by profit and progress, and a vanishing countryside where life is still measured by the cycle of the seasons. Its nuance, complexity and multi-perspective approach go beyond black-and-white narratives of victims and villains. As the three women’s stories unfold, Made in Ethiopia challenges us to rethink the relationship between tradition and modernity, growth and welfare, the development of a country and the well being of its people.
Xinyan Yu is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker based in Washington, DC. Born and raised in Wuhan, China, Xinyan started her journalism career in 2012 working as a producer for BBC News in Beijing. She has covered major breaking news across Asia and North America for a decade. Now an independent filmmaker, Xinyan has directed and produced content for international broadcasters including BBC, NHK, PBS NOVA, PBS Frontline and Channel News Asia. She is a New America National Fellow, a Firelight Media Doc Lab fellow, a Brown Girls Doc Mafia Sustainable Artist fellow and an alumnus of the Yaddo Residency. Made in Ethiopia is her feature documentary debut.
Max Duncan is an award-winning filmmaker, cinematographer and journalist whose work has appeared on platforms including the BBC, PBS, The Guardian, The New York Times and Al Jazeera and screened at major international festivals. He worked for a decade in China, first for Reuters news agency in Beijing and then independently, and has reported widely across Asia (including multiple trips to North Korea), Africa, Europe and Latin America. Max has received recognition including a World Press Photo Award, been supported by organizations including Pulitzer, and is an alumnus of Yaddo and Logan Nonfiction programs. His first feature documentary, Made in Ethiopia, was awarded the Special Jury Mention at Tribeca Festival 2024.
Image: Film Still from "Made in Ethiopia" directed by Max Duncan and Xinyan Yu, 2024
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Prof Dr Ines Weizman
Professor of History and Theory of Architecture
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School of Architecture
Royal College of Art
Kensington Gore, London
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ines.weizman@rca.ac.uk
School of Architecture, Royal College of Art
Postgraduate Research (PGR) Programme