the tribe

RENEGADE FILMS FOR CHANNEL 4 (2015) DIRECTED BY PADDY WIVELL

In a television first an Ethiopian family belonging to the Hamar tribe, led by cantankerous elder Ayke Muko along with his two long suffering wives were filmed day and night with small unobtrusive fixed-rig cameras. This fun-loving and charismatic family, known to their friends and neighbours as the Ayke Mukos invited us to rig twenty cameras in their four huts and homestead to film their everyday lives.

The Tribe presents an authentic portrayal of tribal family life capturing the ups and downs of familial relationships as they manage those everyday dramas we all share: rebellious teenagers, marital difficulties, sick children and school dilemmas. As the modern world begins to leave its mark on their traditional lives we keep a playful eye on how the family grapple with technology like smart phones.

This unique observational series directed by Paddy Wivell is a dramatic, surprising, sometimes shocking but ultimately joyful exploration of family life. Over four episodes we watch them as they fall in love, fall out and come together and through it all we discover there may be more that unites than divides our two worlds.

‘What is miraculous about this series is the way it highlights our shared humanity.’ - The Times

‘Glorious…What this series is doing, brilliantly, is turning the exotic into soap opera, reminding us, along the way, that we are all one tribe’ - Daily Express

Photographer: Richard Ansett