NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (August 2022): Criterion have transferred Jessica Beshir's Faya Dayi to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "High-definition digital master, approved by director Jessica Beshir". It was shown theatrically as a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) and it's in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The image is as pristine as you might expect for a modern film on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. Faya Dayi  is solely in black and white and director Jessica Beshir is responsible for the exquisite cinematography. There are some magnificent shots, strong shadow and light play and the 1080P produces a glorious, hypnotic, image. Beautiful.

NOTE: We have added 28 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a robust DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (24-bit) in the original Amharic language. Faya Dayi has few deft separation moments - but those that exist are crisp. There is diegetic music written and performed by the likes of Mehandis Geleto, William Basinski, Adrian Aniol, Kaethe Hostetter, Nasir Abdella and others... that add a vérité sense of the surroundings - sounding clean with consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. Criterion offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers supplements. There is a new 35-minute selected-scene commentary featuring Beshir and poet Ladan Osman recorded by Criterion in 2022. In this conversation Osman talks to director Beshir about the making of her film Faya dayi and being so devoted to her project, patience in production, how to show the ancient city of Harar located on a hilltop and much more about the personal filmmaking process of Faya dayi. Included on the Blu-ray are three short films by Beshir; He Who Dances on Wood is from 2016 and runs shy of 6-minutes. It is about Fred Nelson, a man she met in Brooklyn's Prospect Park who tap-dances every day on a worn piece of wood. Made in 2017, Heroin is a 1/4 hour film directed by Beshir about a portrait painter whose sole subject is his ex-wife. Lastly is Hairat from 2017 about an Ethiopian man and his relationship with his beloved hyenas. It is proceeded with a 5-minute introduction by Beshir. Lastly, is a trailer and the Blu-ray package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by film scholar Yasmina Price.

Jessica Beshir's Faya Dayi is a documentary that explores Harar's (a walled city in eastern Ethiopia) seasonal religious rituals of chewing khat, a psychoactive plant that plays an important role in the country's economy and culture. It is filled with powerful imagery showing the harvesting, preparing, packaging of khat as well as locals who partake in the smoking and chewing of the product - often reaching a euphoric, hallucinogenic state. It's a fabulously fascinating piece of 'real' cinema. It doesn't have typical talking heads explaining the focus of the documentary - but rather shows an artistic, often poetic, vision of the subject matter. I'm so glad that Criterion brought this out on Blu-ray and have added to their package with the valuable supplements. It's one of those films that you can say "You should really see this" to friends. We absolutely recommend!

Gary Tooze