Published: August 30, 2026 · Tedros Editorial
"Whose daughter are you?": the graduation project animating Ethiopian wedding traditions
The project
Batem Ainao, 27, from Beit Shemesh, graduated from the design faculty at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) with a final project titled "Whose daughter are you?" — three short animated films. The project, covered by Nitzan Pinko on ynet (August 3, 2026), explores the meeting — and sometimes collision — between Ethiopian-Israeli wedding traditions and an Israeli wedding, through planning her own wedding with Liam, an Israeli of Polish-Yemenite descent.
The traditions the films document
- Invitations carrying the grandparents' names — earlier generations appear on the invitation as a mark of honor.
- A communal guest list — "everyone is invited to an Ethiopian wedding": guest counts can reach a thousand, because the invitation is communal, not personal.
- Invitations three months in advance — so the whole community can organize.
- Respect for the mother-in-law — the bride does not address her by her first name.
- A wedding as building a home — the community joins the preparations, including cooking together.
Why it matters
Ainao's project joins a wave of young creators from the community bringing Beta Israel heritage to the front of Israel's cultural stage — this time through animation, and through a second-generation story of translating between worlds.
Planning a wedding?
The customs the films document are only part of the sequence. The Ethiopian wedding and henna guide sets out the stages in order — from the request for the bride's hand to the days after the chuppah — and collects verified suppliers for the henna, the dresses and the catering. The bureaucratic side is covered by the Rabbanut marriage-registration guide.