Zemene

Born into the gorgeous but poverty-stricken countryside of northwest Ethiopia, in the village of Belessa, young Zemene Tiget faced a grim future. Malnourished and tubercular, her poor health was exacerbated by a life-threatening condition known as kyphosis, a painfully severe curvature of the spine. An orphan for most of her life, Zemene was raised by her grandparents, who could do little to stop the teasing and bullying of the other children. Taken by a relative to the nearby city of Gondar for medical treatment, Zemene’s hopes were quickly dashed. The doctors told Zemene that there was nothing to be done and that her twisted spine would soon crush her lungs. After this terrible prognosis, Zemene was miraculously spotted by Dr. Rick Hodes, a Jewish doctor who specializes in spinal conditions. Hodes, a determined and compassionate healer who has worked in Ethiopia for three decades, made it a personal challenge to help Zemene. He arranges for his colleague Dr. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei to perform surgery in his clinic in Ghana. Director Melissa Donovan follows a recovering Zemene as she journeys halfway around the world to tell of her brave struggle. But the documentary’s most moving section finds Zemene making a pilgrimage back to the village that had once turned its back on her.

Melissa Donovan has worked in the commercial, independent and documentary world as a cinematographer for the past 10 years. After Melissa assisted and learned from a wide range of well-known filmmakers, including Robert Richardson and Carolyn Chen, she transitioned into the role of director of photography and now director. Melissa received critical praise from the New Haven Film Festival for the short film Freebox, which won the Kodak Award in Cinematography. She served as a DP on the Peabody Award-winning documentary Between the Folds, directed by Vanessa Gould and on the documentary An Unreasonable Man, directed by Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan. Melissa worked as the Director of Photography on the PBS series “Vine Talk,” a celebrity wine tasting show, hosted by Stanley Tucci. She has fi lmed multi-camera productions for PBS which include the series of “Intelligence Squared Debates,” the musical, “A Tale of Two Cities” with Michael York, and a program with Deepak Chopra, “Jesus and the Awakening to God-Consciousness.” Additional DP credits include the PBS nationally-aired special “Finding Billy Elliot”, directed by Joe Locarro, and the documentary “Deaf Jam”, directed by Judy Lieff, airing on PBS’s Independent Lens.