To report on things differently means to report different things, wrote Pierre Bourdieu about Algeria. In WAX & GOLD, Ruth Beckermann chooses to stay in a hotel built by Emperor Haile Selassie in Addis Ababa as a vantage point to explore the thoughts and emotions of a European woman (herself) in a place that feels both familiar and foreign. Blending archival footage about a little-known chapter of fascism with conversations held on location about Ethiopia’s past and present, the film gradually uncovers the layers of contradiction that shape the search for historical truth.