Costantinos
Berhutesfa Costantinos
Sheraton Addis, Addis Abeba, May 16, 2016
I was
invited to see the premier of TISM, the brainchild of
Kalkidan Getahun (Kal), a romantic story film by Bekal Productions, focused on
a poorly understood human condition – autism. TISM, directed by Sophonyas Taddese has brought up the
spirited love story of a couple against a backdrop of human trafficking, violence
against young girls, even, humorously, the diasporic flamboyant café demeanor
of Daniel Gebeyehu and the dedication
of a few heroines that face autism with candor.
Autism is a complex brain condition,
encompassing a broad range of symptoms. These can include discomfort around
other people, hypersensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells and light and
obsessive interests. Autism affects different people in different ways. Some autistics
score above average on intelligence tests but struggle to communicate verbally
and make compulsively repetitive movements. Others have a healthy vocabulary
but pitiable motor control, which can make writing by hand or using a fork
difficult. The autism of a particularly high-functioning person might be almost
imperceptible, manifesting itself only subtly in an obsessive interest with subjects
(Israel’s army uses autistic volunteers
to interpret complicated satellite images). The causes of autism are not
well understood. Researchers believe that autism begins developing early in
life. Although parents sometimes notice their babies behaving oddly before the
age of one, symptoms do not always appear until later.
The up-&-coming-star-studded
TISM has brought forth an intellectual prowess to a human condition with a
cherished inkling that the arenas of human narratives do not have to be simply
witty, heartrending, amorous or polemical. In her seminal work, Kal decorously
envisioned it to be all at once witty, excruciating, emotional and quixotic in
context and content, bringing numerous façades of import, sequentially and concurrently
to the dramaturgical scene. Plain absurdity of the Casanova style diaspora, Daniel Gebeyehu, comes with the
passionate but hidden love story of a quintessentially beautiful Netsanet Aytenfisu (Lishan) and the grand autistic impersonator and great actor, Elias Wosenyeleh (Surafel), with (Misrak) Kalkidan Getaneh’s mix of heightened
nobleness, grief and sensation, climaxing in the interminably tender flash of amour
and courtship.
Kal’s anecdotes depict a line of shadowy realism
of an autistic condition in a heightened emotion of Surafel’s aptitude to fall in love with Lishan. In this literary immaculateness of a cerebral state, Kal’s
script emerges as a lead narrative in recounting the condition of children in
need of succor. TISM proves once again that such parables are futile unless
they illuminate hominid Samaritan-ness. This film shows us that compassion
rings in the ear of the deaf and glows the eyes of the blind and the limits to
great deeds are only defined by the trajectory of how far our imagination can
fly to. This is a-must-see film for all families.
Costantinos, May 16, 2016
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