People's knowledge of Ethiopia might start with Haile Selassie - thanks to Bob Marley - and finish with the Live Aid concert provoked by the famine of 1985. Few people, however, are aware that Ethiopia was the only African country to resist colonisation. It has maintained its independence throughout the twentieth century but has often been the victim of internal conflict culminating in civil war and the independence of Eritrea. The film traces the internecine struggles of a country with a proud past striving for a democratic future.