
InEthiopia’slabyrinthinecapital,areclusesitstranslatingGreekandRomanmythsonanancientlaptopascosmicchaospressesinonhim.Atruebibliophile’sgemofafilm. Fifty-year-oldSamilivesintheEthiopiancapitalAddisAbabainasmall,clutteredroomwithmouldliningthewalls.Anartisticsoulandamanofgrandcontradictions,hehasspent19yearstranslatingananthologyofGreekandRomanmythsintotheEthiopiannationallanguageofAmharictointroducehisfellowEthiopianstotheancientwisdom.Aquixoticlife’sworkthatatlonglastlooksreadyforprintwhenfilmmakerRobinDimetmeetstheeccentricandself-effacingSamionhisendlesswanderingsaroundtheunwieldycity,andagenuinerelationship–andabibliophilegemofafilm!–slowlytakesshapebetweenthem.‘Sami’sOdysseys’isarichlydetailedphantomportraitofamanpursuinghisinexplicabledreamsandanotionofapoeticlifeintheserviceofliterature.Evenwhenthecontrastswiththeprosaicrealitiesofhissurroundingsareattheirstrongest,andaragingcosmicchaospressesinonhim.