EN
“The film language of Xala can be constructed on the model of an African poetic form called ‘semenna-worq’ which literally means “wax and gold”. The term refers to the ‘lost wax’ process in which a goldsmith creates a wax form, casts a clay mold around it, then drains out the wax and pours in pure molten gold to form the valued object. Applied to poetics, the concept acknowledges two levels of interpretation, distinct in theory and representation. Such poetic form aims to attain maximum ideas with minimum words. ‘Wax’ refers to the most obvious and superficial meaning, whereas the ‘gold’ embedded in the art work offers the ‘true’ meaning, which may be inaccessible unless one understands the nuances of folk culture.”
Teshome H. Gabriel
