Difret

Ethiopia, 1996, three hours outside Addis Ababa. Hirut, fourteen, is walking home from school when men on horseback ride in and take her. In her district this is not a crime but telefa, one of the oldest customs there is: abduct the girl, then marry her. Hirut gets hold of a rifle trying to escape and kills the man who took her. That makes her the defendant rather than the victim, and she faces the death penalty. Meaza Ashenafi, a lawyer from the capital, takes the case and argues self defence, which sets customary law directly against the courts. Zeresenay Berhane Mehari adapted a real case, Angelina Jolie is among the producers, and the film won audience awards at both Sundance and Berlin in 2014.