In the village of Megendi, maternity care is having a change. Caught in the midst of the shift, a community of women explore how to best provide for expectant mothers. At the center, pregnant Huluager Endeshaw weighs what is expected of her against what she needs, bringing past pain to the surface. Working through her discomfort, she finds solace in her fellow women and the godfather of her child. As the story unfolds, Hulu uncovers her true wishes and with them, an unshakeable desire to remain loyal to her heart.

Production notes

The first feature-length documentary by German director Sarah Noa Bozenhardt and Ethiopian filmmaker Daniel Abate Tilahun, Among Us Women – – looks at the situation that women in rural Ethiopia find themselves in from the standpoint of pregnancy. A surprisingly calm and quiet film, it essentially shows us the life of these women in a beautifully dignified manner. – –

The most surprising aspect of the film is how the co-directors aim to immerse us in the everyday life of the characters, as opposed to making an urgent, issue-driven documentary that the topic would naturally lend itself to. They take great care to show us the beauty and dignity of their lives, crafting an idyllic image, as opposed to the usual poverty porn that is often present in films about underrepresented communities in the third world.

Vladan Petkovic, Cineuropa