SYNOPSIS
Documentary film “Liberate Area in the Desert”

1. Prologue
After difficult negotiations for more than half a year in various parts of the Middle East, theNHK crew received an information that the contact point of the EPLF (Eritrean People'sLiberation Front) is located in Port Sudan. The crew visited the secret branch inside thewarehouse town of Port Sudan's port where the crew was greeted by the head of the branch andobtained pass to the liberated area.

2. To the DesertThe crew departs for the liberation zone with an EPLF vehicle at Port Sudan without being told
about the destination. The vehicle with the crew heads south of Sudan's desert towards Eritrea,
and two days later arrives at Merafit, a post town in the desert.
Sudan ended the diplomatic ties with Ethiopia in favor of EPLF, and allowed the passage of its
transportation troops through their teritory.

3. History of Struggle
After 300km south from Port Sudan through the hilly country, the crew finally crosses theborder to enter Eritrea.
File Footage : July 1977 Keren*
World War II ended the long period of Italian rule and Eritrea was put under the rule of Ethiopia by
the UN resolution. In September 1961, armed struggle broke out. The intensified fight against
Ethiopia by Eritreans, who had different manners, customs, and languages, were escalated. This is
described as “tribal conflict” but what the NHK crew found there is much fiercer war aiming for
ethnic independence.

4. The Cave Base
The crew goes through the desert area and enters into the mountain area. Climbing up the rocky
mountain, the interview team heads for the secret cave base that is the heart of the liberationfront. The base is considered as an important place that launched the liberation struggle, and it
is called Fah as a spine of fan.
In the base there were factories that restored and repaired weapons, aluminum plants that madedaily necessities from an enemy aircraft wreckage, power plants and sewing factories formilitary uniform, all in operation.

5. Frontline Coverage
The crew joins the vehicle of Estifanos*, the Eastern Military District Commander, to theforefront of the besieging liberation front near the vicinity of Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea.
Last year, following the fall of Keren, the third city of Eritrea, EPLF launched an attack onAsmara, however, the Ethiopian government forces gained a new strong support from theSoviet and rescued the besieged Asmara and began a protracted warfare. Under a tense
situation of a likely counter attack by the Ethiopian government army, the crew visits various

places in the front line such as trenches around Asmara, field hospital at Fah, and POW camp.
*current ambassador of Eritrea to Japan. It should be noted that although described as Commander of theEastern Military District in Japanese, the correct title is Commander of the Northern Front.

6. Interview with SG of EPLF
The crew interviews Secretary General Ramadan, the chief executive officer of the EPLF,
about the aim and the prospect of ending the struggle. The Secretary General Ramadan
describes that the path for peaceful resolution has been broken and that arms struggle is now
necessary. However, he says that ending the struggle by military power would not be possible
and that both peaceful negotiations and military struggle would be necessary.

7. At the Farm Village
The crew heads to Adi Tekelezan village near the front line. Over 1,000 militiamen hold an
outdoor monthly meeting and receive a battle report from Commander Estifanos of the Eastern
Military District who has returned from the front line. In the village of Zagre near Asmara, thecrew reports the situation of the farmers who have obtained land through the agricultural land
reform by EPLF. One of the reasons to the EPLF’s success in liberating two-thirds of theEritrean population was by gaining support from the farmers who had been suffered by highrent to their landlords under Ethiopian rule.

8. Keren, Liberated City
Next, the crew visits Keren which is one of the three major cities in Eritrea. After gaining
control over most of the rural areas, last year EPLF recaptured Keren from the Ethiopian
government army after a fierce battle. Having being recently liberated, the citizens of Karen
still seems to be worried and confused.
Several scenes are introduced in the documentary such as citizens being taught how to use a
gun by EPLF and the political education for the citizens, where life in the liberated city is
depicted through a woman called Elfnesh and her family.

9. Youth training
The crew heads to the youth training center in the cave base of Fah. About 1,000 young boys
and girls between the age of 15 to 18 volunteered from all over Eritrea have gathered andreceives training aiming for the day of liberation. There are scenes of training and amusementof liberation songs and dances.

10. Epilogue
It is reported that the Soviet’s support to Ethiopia have increased sharply this year. On the other
hand, despite the situation being far from optimistic for the EPFL who are relying on scarce aid
coming through the desert of Sudan, the people of Eritrea are becoming more enthusiastic
about their independence. A group of young soldiers advance to the Asmara front, a criticalpoint in the Liberation War.
Note: The description and views above are based on the script made by NHK in 1978.