FAQ
Questions producers ask before they call
Permits, costs, customs, drones, crew, safety and coverage — answered plainly, including the answers that are not what you were hoping for.
Quick answers
The most common questions about filming in Ethiopia: yes, a permit is required for all professional filming, and it is issued at federal, regional and site level. Allow two to four weeks minimum, longer for national parks, heritage sites and drones. Equipment must be temporarily imported with a serial-numbered manifest and a clearing agent. Drones need aviation approval plus security clearance and are usually cheaper to hire locally. Costs depend on crew size, regions and permit complexity, and should always be quoted with government fees, third-party costs and the fixer's fee on separate lines.
Working with us
What is a film fixer, and what does one do in Ethiopia?
A film fixer is the person who makes an international production physically possible in a country that is not its own. In Ethiopia that means securing federal, regional and site-level permissions, clearing equipment through customs, hiring crew and vehicles, negotiating access with communities and institutions, translating, and solving the problems that appear at six in the morning on a road with no phone signal. Film Ethiopia does this and then keeps going: line producing, archive research, post-production and original music if you want them.
Who is Henok Mebratu?
Henok Mebratu is the founder of Film Ethiopia. He is an Ethiopian writer, director, producer and editor who has worked in the industry since 2002 and has been supporting international productions since 2008. He has directed documentaries for the African Union, the European Union, UNDP and Al Jazeera, cut four Ethiopian feature films, and represented Ethiopia at the Cannes Film Festival and Berlinale. He leads the company from Addis Ababa.
Is Film Ethiopia a one-man operation?
No. Henok leads the company and is personally involved in every project, but Film Ethiopia works as a bench of specialists assembled for each job: producers, assistant directors, DoPs, sound recordists, drone pilots, translators, regional fixers resident in each area, medics, security advisers, editors, colourists and composers. We scale the team to the requirement and the budget rather than pushing a fixed package.
What makes you different from other fixers in Ethiopia?
Four things. The company is led by a working filmmaker rather than only a logistics coordinator, so briefs are read the way a director reads them. We are connected to both the local and the international industry, having worked with productions from every continent. We work at every budget level, from a solo self-shooter to a fifty-person unit. And we cover the entire chain, from a single translator through to a delivered, graded, scored film.
How early should we contact you?
As early as you have a rough brief. Permit lead times run from two to six weeks and longer for drones and community filming, so an enquiry three weeks before the shoot has already narrowed its own options. Dates, regions, crew size and a paragraph about the subject are enough to start.
How fast do you reply?
Within one working day for a written brief, and same day on WhatsApp. During a shoot, our number answers at any hour.
Do you sign NDAs?
Yes, as a matter of routine, and we work confidentially by default for broadcasters, agencies and productions in development.
Permits, customs and legal
Do I need a permit to film in Ethiopia?
Yes, for any professional filming. Permission is layered: federal authorisation, regional approval from each regional state you shoot in, and site-level access from whoever manages the specific location. There is no single national permit that covers everything.
How long do filming permits take in Ethiopia?
Two to four weeks is a realistic minimum from a complete application. Heritage sites and national parks typically need four to six weeks, drone approvals longer, and Omo Valley community filming six to eight weeks. These are minimums, not averages.
Can I film on a tourist visa?
No, not professionally. It creates exposure at customs, at locations and on departure. We advise on the correct visa category and provide the invitation and supporting documentation your crew needs.
Will my equipment clear customs at Addis Ababa airport?
Yes, if it is declared properly. You need a serial-numbered manifest prepared before you fly, a licensed clearing agent instructed in advance and a temporary import arrangement or refundable duty deposit. Gear is usually held when a crew arrives with professional equipment listed as personal baggage, or with an undeclared drone.
Can I fly a drone in Ethiopia?
Only with prior approval. Drone filming needs civil aviation authorisation plus security clearance and site-level permission, with permanent restrictions around airports, military and government installations and some border regions. In most cases the fastest and cheapest route is to hire a licensed Ethiopian operator whose aircraft is already registered in country.
Do you handle insurance?
We advise on what your production and equipment policy needs to cover locally, provide the documentation local partners and authorities require, and arrange in-country vehicle and third-party cover. Your own production insurance should be in place before travel.
Crew, cost and logistics
How much does it cost to film in Ethiopia?
It depends on crew size, number of regions, permit complexity, drone requirements, remoteness and duration. Crew, vehicles, accommodation and catering are inexpensive by European or North American standards; permits, park and heritage fees, domestic flights and remote logistics are where the money sits. We quote with government fees at cost, third-party costs at cost and our own fee as a separate line, usually within one working day of receiving a brief.
Do you mark up crew, vehicles or hotels?
No. Third-party costs are passed through at cost and itemised so you can see what each person and each vehicle is being paid. Our coordination or production fee is shown separately.
Can you provide an entirely Ethiopian crew?
Yes, and many clients now prefer it. An all-local unit removes visa and customs exposure, costs less, moves faster through communities and often gets better access. We can also place local heads of department alongside your travelling director and producer.
What languages do you work in?
English and Amharic as standard, with Afaan Oromo, Tigrinya, Somali and Afar covered routinely and working French available. For minority languages, particularly in the Omo Valley and Gambella, we bring an interpreter from the specific community.
Can you support a production if we cannot travel to Ethiopia?
Yes. We run remote productions regularly, with the client watching a live monitor feed and giving notes in real time, and dailies uploaded from the field each night. For many clients this removes travel cost entirely.
Is it safe to film in Ethiopia?
Most of the country is straightforward to work in with proper planning, and we run shoots continuously. Conditions vary by region and can change, so we give an honest current assessment of your specific route rather than a blanket answer, and we will tell you when somewhere is not advisable and propose an alternative.
Coverage and services
Where in Ethiopia do you operate?
Across the whole country and all regional states, with fixers resident in the regions rather than driven out from the capital. That includes Addis Ababa, Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, Afar, Somali Regional State, Sidama, South and South West Ethiopia, Gambela, Benishangul-Gumuz, Harari and Dire Dawa.
Do you work outside Ethiopia?
Yes. We provide fixing and production support across the Horn of Africa and the wider continent, including Kenya, Djibouti, Somaliland, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Egypt, Ghana and South Africa, working through vetted partners we have used ourselves.
Can you find archive footage of Ethiopia?
Often, yes. We research national, broadcast, institutional and private collections, report honestly on what exists and its condition, then negotiate licensing and clear rights. Where archive does not exist, we shoot current footage to your brief anywhere in the country without you needing to travel.
Do you offer post-production?
Yes, in house in Addis Ababa: offline and online editing, colour grading, motion graphics, sound design and mix, Amharic and local-language transcription and subtitling, versioning and delivery to broadcast specification. Post is a core discipline here, not an add-on.
Can you arrange original Ethiopian music?
Yes. We commission and record original score with Ethiopian composers and traditional players of the masenqo, krar, begena, washint and kebero, including azmari performers, recorded in Addis Ababa with rights fully cleared and assigned to you.
What is the smallest job you will take?
A single day with one fixer and one vehicle. Small jobs are how most of our long client relationships started.
Still unanswered?
Ask us directly. A rough brief is enough, and we reply within one working day — same day on WhatsApp.
Start a production
Tell us what you are trying to shoot
Send dates, regions, crew size and a paragraph about the film. You will get an itemised, honest answer within one working day — and we will tell you if something is not going to work.