TEHRAN – The Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran screened “Faya Dayi,” a 2021 American-Ethiopian documentary film, directed, written, starring, and produced by Jessica Beshir, on Sunday.

The movie explores the rituals of khat-chewing in Harar, Ethiopia. Khat a psychoactive plant that plays an important role in Ethiopia's economy and culture.

Khat or qat, also known as Bushman's tea, especially in South Africa, is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, and the sole species in the genus Catha. It is a shrub or tree native to eastern and southern Africa, ranging from Ethiopia and South Sudan to Angola and the Cape Provinces of South Africa. 

It has a history of cultivation originating in the Harar region of Ethiopia, and it was subsequently introduced at different times to countries nearby in East Africa and South Arabia, notably Somalia and Yemen. Cultivated by farmers, its leaves are sold on the market to be chewed as a recreational stimulant. The world's largest consumers are East Africans, particularly Somalis, and nearby Yemen, with the largest producers/exporters being Ethiopia and Kenya.

Khat contains the alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant which causes greater sociability, excitement, mild loss of appetite, and mild euphoria. Among communities from the areas where the plant is native, khat-chewing has historical relevance (as a social custom, especially among men) dating back thousands of years, analogous—but slightly different—to the use of coca leaves in South America's Andes Mountains or the betel nut preparations in South Asia.

Its production, sale, and consumption are all fully legal in the nations where its use is culturally significant, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, and Yemen.

Although the practice of khat-chewing is still primarily restricted to its original area of cultivation in the Red Sea area, the khat plant is native to the whole of the eastern side of Africa from Kenya southwards to Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, where it grows on rocky outcrops and around the fringes of woodlands.

In countries outside the core area of growth and consumption, khat is sometimes chewed at parties or social functions. It may also be used by farmers and laborers for reducing physical fatigue or hunger, and by drivers and students for improving attention.

“Faya Dayi” is Jessica Beshir’s debut feature film, for which she won several awards. She won an American Society of Cinematographers Documentary Award, the Independent Spirit Awards Truer Than Fiction Award, and two Visions du Réel awards for the film, which was also shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. 

The complexity of the human experience is explored, and underrepresented perspectives are frequently highlighted in Jessica Beshir's work. She uses a lyrical visual language in her films to elicit strong emotional reactions from her viewers. Focusing on topics like migration, family, and cultural legacy, Beshir's documentaries offer a complex look at the lives of people who are frequently underrepresented in the media.

SS/SAB