The Mursi tribe resides in the basin of the Omo River, in the east African state of Ethiopia. Mursi women are known for placing large plates in their lower lips and wearing enormous, richly decorated earrings.
Each year, hundreds of Western tourists come to see the unusually adorned Mursi; posing for camera-toting visitors has become the main source of income for them. To make more money, they embellish their “costumes” and finery to appear more exotic to those outsiders. However, by exaggerating their habits and lifestyle in such a manner their traditional culture has begun to disintegrate.
Framing the Other portrays the complex relationship between tourism and Indigenous Peoples by revealing the intimate and intriguing thoughts of a Mursi woman from Southern Ethiopia and a Dutch tourist as they prepare to meet each other. This humorous, yet simultaneously uncomfortable, film shows the destructive impact tourism can have on traditional communities.
Written, Produced and Directed by – Ilja Kok, Willem Timmers
Executive Producer – Keith Bowers
Camera – Yidnekachew Shumete
Editor – Tracy Pallant, Willem Timmers
Sound Design – Robin Fuller
Artwork – Bas van Druten
FRAMING THE OTHER is an I CAMERA YOU productions / Ethiopian Film Initiative co-production.