Maji-da Abdi

Maji-da Abdi (born 25 October 1970) is an Ethiopian film director and producer.

Biography Born in Dire Dawa, Abdi lived in Addis Ababa until the age of four. In the aftermath of the 1974 revolution, her mother, who had divorced her father, fled with her and her brother to Nairobi, Kenya. Abdi completed her primary and most of her secondary education in Kenya. At the age of 17, she moved to Canada with her family to study business. Enrolled at the University of Western Ontario, Abdi became accustomed to international cultures. In 2001, Abdi moved back to Ethiopia and directed her first documentary, The River That Divides, exploring the daily life of Ethiopian women during the Eritrean–Ethiopian War. The film received a Canadian human rights prize.

In 2010, Abdi created the film festival Images That Matter, the first festival dedicated to Ethiopian short films. She had planned to create such a festival for several years but eventually received funding from the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Olivier Poivre d'Arvor. At the first festival, Abdi created workshops to help young filmmakers get trained. She said that six years prior to the festival, Ethiopian cinema lagged behind most countries but the level of production was increasing. In addition to film work, Abdi works for Orbs, a magazine focusing on science, art and spirituality.