Making its world premiere last year at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Yared Zeleke’s feature film “Lamb” was the first Ethiopian film ever to be screened at the festival. The film was elected for the festival’s “Un Certain Regard” sidebar which is a program created to recognize young, promising talent and to encourage innovative and daring storytelling on film.

The film follows an innocent nine year old boy Ephraim “and his constant companion, a sheep named Chuni. Ephraim’s affection for Chuni deepens after he loses his mother to famine. Consequently, his beloved father sends him and Chuni far away from their drought-stricken homeland, to live with distant relatives in a greener part of the country. Ephraim soon becomes a homesick outcast who is always getting into trouble. When his uncle orders him to slaughter Chuni for the upcoming holiday feast, Ephraim devises a scheme to save the sheep and return to his father’s home”.

The film was written and directed by Yared Zeleke who holds an MFA in Writing and Directing from NYU. He has written, produced, directed and edited several short documentary and fiction films. The film was produced by Slum Kid Films, an Ethiopia-based film production company co-founded by Ama Ampadu, which aims to discover and nurture emerging talent in Ethiopia, as well as to support the development of Ethiopian filmmaking.

Now “Lamb” is set to be released on DVD through Icarus Films on Sept 6.

No information yet with regards to special features on the DVD, but you can take a look at the trailer below with English subtitles.