Catch up TV

Series 1: 1. Dorze House

Filmed in the remote Gamo highlands of southern Ethiopia, this episode tells the story of Dorze house builders as they weave a traditional bamboo home for an elderly woman in their community. \n\nThe Dorze are a minority ethnic group who live in the mountains and have retained their distinct culture and dialect. They are renowned as producers of colourful cloth and for their unique houses, which are woven from strips of bamboo.\n\nThe film follows village elder Admasu Ourage as he oversees the building of a new house for his friend Dasanshi, whose old house is falling down. The whole process is captured, from the moment Dasanshi’s old house is moved, and the cutting and preparation of the bamboo, to the construction and completion of the new house. Their work is a window on to the significance of Orthodox Christian faith in Ethiopia; each stage of the build is accompanied by blessings and prayers of thanks, led by Admasu.\n\nThe film is also a portrait of a community in flux, as more and more Dorze people choose to build their houses with corrugated iron roofs instead of traditional, woven bamboo. For the Dorze, the construction of a new woven house is like ‘a child being born’. It is testament to a thriving community. Once complete, the whole village comes together to sing and dance in celebration.

Source: BBC 4