On July 3, 2007 I boarded a plane bound for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This flight marked my sixth trip to an African country in the past seven years. I had spent the previous year working and traveling throughout southern Africa and had what so many people refer to as a heart-opening experience. I fell into rhythm with the richness of the people and the power of the land. I breathed slower, did less and connected more.

I was living in a new way, with a heightened awareness and an expanded sense of compassion. I wrote and photographed extensively but managed only to capture a glimpse of what surrounded me. My words sounded shallow and my photos felt flat. Out of frustration, an unexpected dream was born. Could I interpret this magic and share it through a film?

A year later, after working in film related entry-level, part-time and volunteer positions, I learned about the Ethiopian Millennium, which became the inspiration for my first film. I saw the Ethiopian Millennium as an opportunity to tell a celebratory story about a country who was mostly known for famine, war and poverty.

My cinematographer and I spent six months in Ethiopia researching and shooting the film. We traveled extensively within Ethiopia and we filmed in the U.S. and Israel to document Ethiopians living abroad. Our time in Ethiopia passed quickly and we returned to the U.S. with over a hundred hours of footage.

As the film is being completed, a three-year-old dream is slowly coming to fruition. Along the way, the project expanded far beyond my expectations and contributions and became a collaborative work of documentary art. The journey has been wonderful, beyond challenging and in the end we hope that Ethiopia finds a special place in your heart as it has for us.

- Ben Mandell, May 2008