Faya Dayi with Jessica Beshir

In this episode Aylin  Gökmen, filmmaker and contributor / co-curator of Docs in Orbit invites Jessica Beshir for a conversation about her film FAYA DAYI which premiered at Sundance and will be having its international premiere at Visions du Reél this month.The film is an immersion into Harar, Beshir's hometown in Ethiopia, where many people’s lives revolve around the harvest, the trade, and the consumption of khat -  a leaf that is chewed as a stimulant and also as a part of spiritual rituals. Khat is a narrative and visual thread that weaves together the individual stories of the community that Jessica spent 10 years filming. These stories are full of light and darkness, just like the stunning black-and-white cinematography which, together with a hypnotic soundscape, make this film a beautiful piece of atmospheric cinema.Aylin caught up with Jessica to discuss her approach, her inspirations, and how she makes the intangible felt through cinema.  We also discuss her previous short film, HAIRAT, which was filmed in parallel with FAYA DAYI and is available to stream on Vimeo and Criterion Collection. Links to screenings FAYA DAYI by Jessica Beshir (2021) North America: https://truefalse.org/program/films/#faya-dayihttps://www.siff.net/festival/faya-dayihttps://www.filmlinc.org/daily/celebrating-50th-years-of-new-directors-new-films-2021-lineup-announced/https://boxoffice.hotdocs.ca/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=141667~367cbc04-eb03-453a-90f8-88ca48c4cf79&epguid=da382742-ea7c-44b6-ab36-80af94cedc7f&Europe: https://www.visionsdureel.ch/film/2021/faya-dayi/HAIRAT by Jessica Beshir (2017) Vimeo (Worldwide)Criterion Channel (North America)  For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit