The Unknown Famine

Oct 18, 1973

0h 23m

★ 0.0

A coverage of the 1973 Ethiopian famine by a British journalist

Overview

Jonathan Dimbleby’s landmark 1973 documentary “The Unknown Famine” stands as a pivotal moment in Ethiopian history—a journalistic endeavour that not only exposed a humanitarian crisis but inadvertently helped precipitate the end of Africa’s oldest monarchy. The footage was broadcast by ITV for its flagship affairs series named "This Week".

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

BBC

Thames Colour Productions

The Unknown Famine Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self

Jonathan Dimbleby

Self

Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia

Every day the U.S. donates millions of tons of food to famine victims and other starving people in the world's poorest countries. This provocative documentary, through an in-depth case study of a recent famine crisis in Zambia, shows how these aid programs may address an immediate crisis but at the same time can create long-term problems for the recipient nation.

0.0

Abyssinia

Jan 1, 1999

A sentimental, delightful journey along the former railway route “Porečanka” that connected Trieste and Poreč from 1902 until 1935. Then it was dismantled and the tracks to be used in Mussolini’s war in Abyssinia but they sank in the Mediterranean – an ironic turn of history, an ideal subject for Karpo Godina, the master of tender wit.

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0.0

Zero Hunger: In a World of Plenty

Aug 19, 2024

Distressing accounts and images of historical warfare and the ongoing issues of a population suffering from hunger fill this short documentary about the North Ethiopian region of Tigray.

0.0

Afrique-France : le divorce ?

Jun 22, 2025

At a time when French flags are being burned and French embassies targeted, this documentary delves into the growing disaffection between French-speaking Africa and the former colonial power. Through the voices of African leaders, pan-African activists, and committed young people, the film questions the persistence of a relationship marked by the aftermath of colonization, the opaque agreements of "Françafrique," and a military presence deemed paternalistic.

0.0

The Living

Jan 1, 2009

Tells the story of the tragic events in Ukraine in 1932-33, the genocidal Great Famine or the Holodomor, and one Welshman's attempts to tell the world what was happening.

6.5

Adwa

Nov 20, 1999

In 1896, Ethiopia, an African nation, largely armed with spears and knives, defeats a well-equipped and organized Italian military bent on colonization.

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0.0

Negotiating Amnesia

Nov 27, 2015

Negotiating Amnesia is an essay film based on research conducted at the Alinari Archive and the National Library in Florence. It focuses on the Ethiopian War of 1935-36 and the legacy of the fascist, imperial drive in Italy. Through interviews, archival images and the analysis of high-school textbooks employed in Italy since 1946, the film shifts through different historical and personal anecdotes, modes and technologies of representation.

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0.0

Walter Mittelholzer - Eine Schweizer Pioniergeschichte

Feb 27, 2015

No overview available.

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0.0

African Spirit

Sep 14, 2009

A celebration of the diversity of Ethiopia's culture and wildlife. It journeys from North to South - spanning mountains, rainforests and the hottest place on Earth. It documents Muslims mixing with Christians as they have for over a millennia and the 'honey people' of the forest, filmed here for the first time. Visually stunning and unsentimental, this is Ethiopia as you've never seen it before.

0.0

Dukas Dilemma

Jul 30, 2002

No overview available.

0.0

The Great Famine

Apr 11, 2011

When a devastating famine descended on Soviet Russia in 1921, it was the worst natural disaster in Europe since the Black Plague in the Middle Ages. Examine Herbert Hoover’s American Relief Administration—an operation hailed for its efficiency, grit and generosity. By the summer of 1922, American kitchens were feeding nearly 11 million Soviet citizens a day.

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6.6

A Walk to Beautiful

May 5, 2007

"A Walk to Beautiful" tells the story of five women in Ethiopia suffering from devastating childbirth injuries. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. The trials they endure and their attempts to rebuild their lives tell a universal story of hope, courage, and transformation.

0.0

Citizen Xenos

Mar 5, 2018

An intimate look into the lives of individuals experiencing displacement and relocation amidst the European migration crisis. A journey of strangers arriving at the shores of Lesbos in Greece, the people who receive them and the struggles they face towards an unknown future.

6.2

Benito Mussolini: Anatomy of a Dictator

Jan 20, 1962

No overview available.

5.3

The Imperial Lullaby

Mar 21, 2020

The armies of Fascist Italy conquered Addis Ababa, capital of Abyssinia, in May 1936, thus culminating the African colonial adventure of the ruthless dictator Benito Mussolini, by then lord of Libya, Eritrea and Somalia; a bloody and tragic story told through the naive drawings of Pietro Dall'Igna, an Italian schoolboy born in 1925.

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7.0

Saving South Sudan

May 22, 2014

The famous adventurer Robert Young Pelton travels with a former "Lost Boy" child soldier back to the violence of South Sudan to track down the recently deposed Vice President Riek Machar in his secret jungle camp and become the first to film the brutal White Army in combat.

9.0

Megeti - Africa's Lost Wolf

Jan 1, 2016

This film tells the dramatic story of Megeti, a lone wolf who wanders across the highlands on a quest to find a new home after losing her pack and suddenly being left to fend for herself. For the young wolf to survive, it is vital that she finds a new family and this quest pushes her into foreign territory, occupied by cattle breeders and other wolves.

0.0

Hoffnungsschimmer am Horn von Afrika

Dec 10, 2019

No overview available.

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2.0

35 Cows and a Kalashnikov

May 10, 2014

35 Cows and a Kalashnikov is a joyously made triptych about warrior-farmers, colorful dandies and voodoo wrestlers in Ethiopia, Brazzaville and Kinshasa. It paints a loving and attentive portrait of African pride and beauty.

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0.0

Der Sojakomplex oder Die phantastische Geschichte der eisernen Kuh

Oct 31, 1988

The film shows the connection between agricultural overproduction in Europe and hunger in Brazil.

The Unknown Famine

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Unknown Famine Trailers