African Film Archive

Ashes and Embers

1982 — Haile Gerima — United States

feature · drama · flourishing

Haile Gerima's fragmented, non-linear drama follows a disillusioned Black Vietnam War veteran struggling to reconnect with American life after returning to a hometown that no longer feels like home.

Fun fact: Gerima won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin Forum of New Cinema for the film in 1983, a decade before his more widely known Sankofa.

Notes: Ethiopian-American director, US production and setting; runtime approximately 120 minutes.

Verification: verified · Sources: [1] [2] [3]

Poster source: Wikipedia