13 Months of Sunshine is the story of an Ethiopian man who marries a woman so she can get a green card and become a citizen of the United States

by Janet Smith.  Posted Thursday, July 15, 2010

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There are good reasons to call an Ethiopian film 13 Months of Sunshine. Not only is it true – the sun never sleeps there – but it’s also the country’s tourist slogan because of its orthodox calendar.

And, sweetly, the name echoes the exultant words of Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers in their song in which they call to be taken to that land, feeling high, sun in the eyes.  So this romance has a great name, and it’s not bad itself. Not bad at all.

The tale is that of a young man taken to the US and naturalized there by his African parents in Little Ethiopia, Whitworth, south of Fairfax in LA. He dreams of opening his own coffee shop to rival Starbucks where he will worship the great bean, the buna, and the memory of his grandmother who was once honored by Haile Selassie.

But there’s not enough money for that, so when advantage beckons in a family’s desire for their daughter to have a Green Card, life twists – and the Earth, as Marley says, gives food.
Made by Yehdego Abselom, the film teases your senses with its constant reminder of coffee beans thrown lightly on a pan on a hot gas stove. It’s about disappointment – especially from women, whose betrayals wrap around a man’s fist like a wet cloth – but mostly about love. Definitely worth a watch.