Renowned Ethiopian film maker Professor Haile Gerima received the Berlinale Camera, an honorary award recognizing outstanding contributions to the world of filmmaking, at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival held in Berlin, Germany, on 17 February 2026.
Following the award ceremony, Gerima’s latest film, “Black Lions – Roman Wolves”, was screened – a world premiere. The film is a nearly nine-hour exploration of the history and mythology of Italian colonialism and a commemoration of Ethiopian resistance.
Haile Gerima was born and raised in Gondar, Ethiopia. His father was a dramatist and playwright, who traveled across the Ethiopian countryside staging local plays. He was an important early influence.
Gerima emigrated to Chicago, United States in 1967 to study theatre. In 1970, he moved to California to attend the University of California where he earned Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees in film. He was part of a generation of new black filmmakers who became known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. In addition, through teaching at Washington DC’s Howard University’s Department of Radio, Television, and Film, he has influenced young filmmakers for over twenty-five years.
Gerima’s unique filmmaking aesthetic is coupled with a personal mission to correct long-held misconceptions about Black peoples’ varied histories throughout the world; for this reason, he is considered–by colleagues and students alike–to be a master teacher in the classroom and behind the camera.
Sources: www.imd.com, www.wikipedia,
www.berlinale.de/