Petros Dejene, poet, writer and independent filmmaker Credit: Petros Dejene
Today, I’m in conversation with Toronto based poet, writer and independent filmmaker, Petros Dejene.
His past work includes the 2019 feature film, Two Worlds: Blood Bound that explored the criminal underside of international adoption. The film centered around Philipos discovering that he was not in fact orphaned before being adopted by a Canadian couple. When Philipos sets out to find his birth parents he uncovers the illegal adoption ring that is still bringing Ethiopian babies to Canada.
Petros has produced several short documentaries including, The Quest for Survival, about the importance of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that doubled Ethiopia’s hydro electric capacity.
Issues with the filling of the dam lie in treaty rights, specifically the 1959 treaty that divided rights to the Nile’s water between Egypt (66 per cent) and Sudan (22 per cent) while allotting 12 per cent to evaporation leaving Ethiopia rightless despite contributing more than 85 per cent of the water that flows in the Nile.
Petros also writes short stories, poetry and has co-authored two books in Amharic entitled Abol (2007) and Hilm Ena Ewnet (2014). Abol, whose root word means to destroy or get rid of, is a collection of Amharic short stories and poems co-authored by Bayu Kidane, Dr. Yohannes Taddesse, Fanaye Mamecha, and Fentaw Abate published by Graphicland in Scarborough, ON.
Hilm Ena Ewnet, a collection of Amharic poems and short stories published by Saba Printing Press in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was co-authored by Asres Assefa and Mesfin Kebede.
Petros has served on various boards including Haddis Nigat Arts Forum and Ethio-Canadian Network for Advocacy and Support (ECNAS), a Canada wide non-profit organization composed of members of the Ethiopian diaspora who are passionate about bringing sustainable peace, security and stability to Ethiopia.
Petros is currently working on a serial drama about the impacts of environmental pollution on vulnerable communities in developing nations called, Judgment Bound.
Judgment Bound, set in Ethiopia and Ontario, Canada, is a bilingual Amharic and English drama series highlighting the essential role industrialization plays in economic development and poverty alleviation.
However, profit-driven and corrupt industrialization working without adequate environmental oversight and regulations, leads to globally interconnected environmental crimes that require collective awareness and action.
Judgement Bound Credit: Petros Dejene
Each 40-minute episode of Judgement Bound is told through romantic, familial and business relationships. Two episodes of Judgement Bound will be screened on Sunday, November 24 at The Royal Theatre in Toronto.
The event is not only the world premier of the Judgement Bound series, it’s also a fundraiser to help cover ongoing production costs.
Find out what motivates this magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technician to create poetry, short stories and films; why this is the right time to launch the series Judgement Bound; and what actions viewers can take to counter the international environmental impacts of capitalism.
Judgement Bound premiers Sunday, November 24, 2024 at 3:45 pm at The Royal Theatre at 608 College St, Toronto. Doors open at 3:00 pm. There will be a brief question and answer period following the premier.
Folks interested in helping Petros complete production and distribution of Judgement Bound can reach Petros at 647-965-7105 or email: petrosdw@gmail.com
At the time of publishing, online tickets were sold out! However, a lucky few will be able to get last minute tickets at the venue on the day of the event. Please phone or email Petros ahead of time to avoid disappointment.
Thanks to everyone who read today’s article and listened to my podcast. With your continued support, a little Nicoll can make a lot of change.
Music: Real Estate by UNIVERSFIELD is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License. freemusicarchive.org.
*Be sure to download the Substack app to get the most from your podcast experience.
Share this post