back

Black Lions – Roman Wolves

Forum 2026
© Negod Gwad Productions
In 1896, Ethiopia gained victory over Italy, hitting back at its first attempt to conquer the East African country. When Mussolini and the fascists came to power in 1922, the still abstract risk of a further attack became concrete. In 1935, Italy began an assault on Ethiopia once again, subjecting the country to a brutal war, not shying away from the use of poisonous gas: a crime, paradoxically, at once omnipresent and barely remembered in today’s Italy. Haile Gerima, veteran of the L.A. Rebellion and New Black Cinema, worked for 30 years on his monumental exploration of the history and mythology of Italian colonialism, and also commemoration of the Ethiopian resistance. From archive material, conversations with historical witnesses and his father’s plays, he weaves together a panorama of self-affirmation and colonial murder, of European complicity and Black solidarity. Black Lions – Roman Wolves sets Ethiopian voices against lasting colonialist lies – and the recordings of the resistance against the reproduction of colonial images; against the entrenched visual dominance of the colonisers. A film for the present as well as for the coming decades.
by Haile Gerima (Director, Screenplay) Ethiopia / USA 2026 Amharic, English, Italian 531' Colour & Black/White World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Director Haile Gerima
Screenplay Haile Gerima
Editing Haile Gerima
Music Aschalew Fetene
Sound Design Merawi Gerima
Animation Andres Jaramillo
Co-Producers Haile Gerima, Shirikiana Aina Gerima

Produced by

Negod Gwad Productions

Washington D.C., USA

World Sales

Mypheduh Films

Washington, D.C., USA

Photos

Haile Gerima

© Melketsadek

Haile Gerima, born in 1946 in Gondar, Ethiopia, studied filmmaking at UCLA, where he became associated with the L.A. Rebellion movement, earning international acclaim for films such as Bush Mama (1976), Harvest: 3,000 Years (1976), and Ashes and Embers (1982). With his wife, the filmmaker Shirikiana Aina, he co-founded the distribution company Mypheduh Films and the production company Negodwad Productions, and later opened Sankofa Video, Books & Café in Washington D.C. He is Professor Emeritus at Howard University and continues to lecture and give workshops in the U.S. and internationally.

Filmography

1972 Hour Glass; short film · Child of Resistance 1976 Bush Mama · Harvest: 3,000 Years; Berlinale Forum 1976 1978 Wilmington 10 – U.S.A. 10,000; documentary 1982 Ashes and Embers; Berlinale Forum 1983 1985 After Winter: Sterling Brown; documentary 1993 Sankofa; Berlinale Competition 1993 1994 Imperfect Journey; documentary 1999 Adwa – An African Victory; documentary 2008 Teza 2026 Black Lions – Roman Wolves; documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026