Mercato (2016)

Abebe and Ashenafi are ordinary 10-year old boys, whose parents sent them to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to work as shoe shine boys so the family would not starve. Abtu is an orphan teenager and works as a talalaki or a messenger, but work is the least on his mind. Bertukan is a mother of three. In order to survive, she carries heavier loads of wood than she herself weighs. Mulugeta is an educated guide who, thanks to his language skills, has an higher ranking in local society. All these Ethiopians are brought together in the Africa's largest market - the endless and colorful Mercato. Documentary film “Mercato" follows the workday of five ordinary Ethiopians in one of the world's poorest country, where filming the documentary was indeed an ordeal in itself.