Jessica Beshir Ethiopia film country Love Jessica Beshir Ethiopia

‘Faya Dayi’ Review: Stylish Documentary Immerses Us in the Khat Leaf’s Intoxicating Aura

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variety.com

Guy Lodge Film CriticKhat is Ethiopia’s biggest cash crop, making serious business from a spiritual high: When chewed, the leaves of the flowering green plant act as a stimulant, believed in certain corners of Sufism to aid prayer and enable transcendence.

Others make less lofty demands of it, simply chewing the leaves to mellow out, making days of drudgery pass a little more softly — including those who work gruelingly in the khat trade.Mexican-Ethopian docmaker Jessica Beshir presents a country caught in a khat haze in her debut feature “Faya Dayi,” constructing a loose intergenerational narrative around the elder harvesters for whom khat is both their daily bread and daily escape, and the youngsters keen to escape its enveloping,.

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