Ethiopia, South Africa and USA / 2009 / 58mins / Documentary, History / English

Twilight Revelations: Episodes in the Life & Times of Emperor Haile Selassie explores and analyzes watershed events during the reign of the Ethiopian emperor. Using a wealth of archival footage and photographs, the film reexamines the imperial administration through the eyes of numerous individuals who played important roles in the monarchy. The featured witnesses include attorneys, ministers of education, information and planning, a general, a Supreme Court justice, members of the royal family, the Emperor’s favorite pilot, parliamentarians, high-ranking civil servants, and members of the imperial household. The observations and narratives of these individuals shed new light on the personality, leadership style and humanity of the last and final Ethiopian emperor.

Yemane I. Demissie

Yemane I. Demissie is an award winning independent filmmaker who has received numerous awards for his work including the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the Walter Mosley award for Best Documentary, the Locarno Film Festival Production Grant, the American Film Institute’s Filmmaker's Grant, the Paulin Vieyra Merit Award for Outstanding Work in the Cinema, the California Arts Council Artists Fellowship, and the Fonds Sud Writing Grant. His films include two narrative features, Gir-gir (Tumult) and Dead Weight and a documentary, Twilight Revelations: Episodes in the Life and Times of Emperor Haile Selassie. Yemane teaches directing, writing, production, film history and criticism in the Undergraduate Department of Film & Television at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Learn More