On 10 March 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX airplane crashed just six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All 157 people on board perished, including Max Thabiso Edkins, the younger brother of director Teboho Edkins. He and his father, film producer Don Edkins, decided to travel together to the crash site in order to seek something tangible in their grief.

What they find is a community in which mourning is an important part of the culture. Just as for the Edkins family, the lives of the villagers have also been turned upside down by the crash. In a deeply moving experience, they discover that the community members who welcome them regard the crash victims as visiting guests, whom they have taken into their hearts as brothers and sisters.

Their compassion contrasts starkly with the calculating stance of airplane manufacturer Boeing. As if attempting somehow to connect with his brother's spirit, the filmmaker immerses himself in the sounds of the disaster site.

38 min
color / black and white
DCP
Spoken languages: Amharic, English

Director
Teboho Edkins

Production
Don Edkins for Day Zero Films

Co-production
Carine Chichkowsky for Survivance

Cinematography
Jide Tom Akinleminu

Editing
Anne Fabini

Sound
Teboho Edkins

Sound Design
Bertrand Larrieu

Screening copy
Teboho Edkins

World Premiere
IDFA Competition for Short Documentary november 2025
IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary