Heart of Fire - Preview
Preview by Jack Foley
SHE has the heart of a fighter: filled with strength, love and longing. Despite the chaos and turbulence of Eritrea’s war of independence against Ethiopia, bright little Awet grows up peacefully in an orphanage in Asmara, lovingly cared for by Italian nuns.
Then, one day, Awet learns that her father, a freedom fighter, is still alive and demands her return. Amidst her new family, Awet finds not warmth and security but poverty and hard work.
The father ultimately gives her and her sister away to one of the rival liberation armies as “daughters of Eritrea”.
There Awet makes friends and sees how one can be inspired by the ideals of freedom, but she also experiences the numbing madness of war as she comes face to face with death and fanaticism.
But her “Heart Of Fire,” her courage and her conscience finally show her a way out…
The film is based on the acclaimed autobiography by Senait Mehari and is co-written and directed by Luigi Falorni. Letekidan Micael plays Awet.
Certificate: 12
Running time: 89mins
UK DVD Release: January 18, 2010.