THE CAT MAN ESHETE, A Film by Laura Checkoway
A refugee finds his calling in caring for stray cats and shares his story from war-torn Ethiopia to the streets of Brooklyn in Academy Award® nominee Laura Checkoway’s THE CAT MAN ESHETE
USA / Ethiopia 2025, 25’
Ahead of World Refugee Day, Al Jazeera English’s award-winning series “Witness” will broadcast the film worldwide on June 16, and begins streaming globally, including in the U.S. and Canada
Brooklyn Premiere at Brooklyn Film Festival, In-person, June 4, 6:00 p.m. ET, Windmill Studios
From Academy Award® nominee Laura Checkoway (Edith+Eddie) comes her next short documentary, THE CAT MAN ESHETE, which makes its worldwide broadcast premiere ahead of World Refugee Day on Al Jazeera English’s award-winning series, “Witness” on June 16, and begins streaming globally including in the U.S. and Canada. The film tells the extraordinary story of Eshete, who escaped Ethiopia’s civil war on foot as a young man and is now a devoted caretaker of a feral cat colony in Brooklyn, New York. Eshete has become the heart of a close-knit community, despite living on the fringes. This intimate documentary is equally a portrait of community care with a supporting cast of New Yorkers who help care for the cats—and for each other.
While the majority of the film was shot in New York City, a portion was shot in Eshete’s hometown of Gondar, Ethiopia by Director of Photography Greg Harriott on an old camera with 16mm film to match Eshete’s memories and dreams of home so beautifully. “It was my first time ordering and working with film stock,” said Checkoway. “It was quite cosmic how it all came together.”
In Ethiopia, cats symbolise freedom and sovereignty, two qualities Eshete shares with the felines he looks after and one of the many layers of his story. Eshete often says it’s a miracle that he’s alive, and though he’s been in New York City for nearly 40 years, in some ways he still lives in a refugee camp of his own making. Eshete’s story embodies the effects of displacement from violent conflict. While the trauma from his wartime experience is evident, Eshete's vibrant spirit, wit, wisdom, generosity and sense of sovereignty shine on.
The United States itself is in the worst housing crisis and the largest level of immigration and people seeking refuge ever right now. Globally, the statistics are no different. If things continue to trend in the current direction, 1 in 100 people will be refugees in the near future globally, and in the U.S. homelessness has trended upward approximately 15% over the last 5 years. Refugees, as well as people who have experienced homelessness, are 30% more likely to experience PTSD compared to 3% of the general population.
“What started with a ‘hello’ from a gentleman surrounded by cats on a street in my neighborhood has grown into a priceless slice of city life and beyond the film, Eshete and I have become dear friends,” said Checkoway. “In all my work, I’m committed to highlighting our humanity, especially people who are often misunderstood, and deepening our understanding of one another and ourselves.”
As The Cat Man Eshete has screened at several film festivals this past year, Checkoway said, “It's been great and surprising to hear how people relate to it.” Audience members from across the country have shared their own stories about their deep connections with animals, as well as stories about neighborhood drama over feeding stray cats, thus they could relate to the dynamic between Eshete and Jeneane, who helps feed the cats in a number of scenes that make audiences laugh out loud. For Eshete, caring for his cats is also therapeutic as he suffers from PTSD. For many people, cats and animals in general offer similar benefits.
THE CAT MAN ESHETE was made with support from NYFA/Made In NY.
Key Credits:
Directed & Produced by LAURA CHECKOWAY
Produced by MARGO MARS
Produced by THOMAS LEE WRIGHT
Edited by KEVIN DOHERTY
Director of Photography GREG HARRIOTT
Cinematographer JOHN LARSON
Sound Design & Mix UDIT DUSEJA
Original Score WILLIAM WILCOX
Impact Producer JESSICA GREEN
Featuring:
ESHETE as well as ROBERT, DIANE, JENEANE, ANTHONY and STEVE
And the Cats: HORIZON, GORGEOUS, GEORGE WASHINGTON, DOODLES, JUNIOR, FRANK SINATRA, JESSE JACKSON, WINSTON CHURCHILL, CASTRO, PATRICE LUMUMBA, PRINCESS DIANA, ALBERT EINSTEIN, OPRAH, SQUIRT, NUBIA, SHEBA, PIGGY, ANIMATION, DRAGON LADY, MS. ETHIOPIA THE ROCKET GIRL, DAMASCUS and RICO
USA/Ethiopia | 2025 | 25 min | HD | 16:9 | Stereo 5.1 | English
About the Filmmaker:
Laura Checkoway is known for her character-driven stories that dive deep into the heart. Laura directed The Cave of Adullam, produced by Laurence Fishburne, which won Best Documentary Feature at Tribeca 2022. Her breakthrough film Edith+Eddie received an Academy Award and Emmy nomination in 2018 and won numerous awards, including the IDA Documentary Awards Best Short. Spanning several years with a young homeless mother masked in tattoos, Laura’s award-winning debut film Lucky screened across the globe and premiered on television in 2014. Learn more at https://www.lauracheckoway.com/. Instagram: @laurachecks, IMDB.
FILMOGRAPHY
THE CAT MAN ESHETE 2025 Director / Producer
THE CAVE OF ADULLAM 2023 (Tribeca Film Festival) Director / Producer
EDITH + EDDIE 2017 (Academy Award Nominee, IDA Award Winner) Director / Producer / Editor
LUCKY 2014 (DOC NYC, HOTDOCS) Director / Producer / Editor
About Lief and Producer Margo Mars:
Lief is an award-winning, female-led production company founded by Margo Mars known for championing boundary-pushing artistry from all backgrounds. Mars has built Lief into a powerhouse for authentic, human-centred storytelling and a natural home to create new culture-defining work with exceptional and uniquely diverse filmmakers. Learn more at https://lief.studio/. Instagram: @we.are.lief
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