Blood is not Fresh Water

Blood is Not Fresh Water has received a positive reception and is considered by Selene Wendt to be Exhetu's seminal work. Stuart Klawans wrote favorably about the movie in The Nation, calling it one of the most absorbing films of the 2000 African Film Festival and that it was "a wryly impressionistic travelogue". Per Mbye B. Cham, the film "uses the filmmaker’s grandfather, Tekle Tsadik Mekouria, a historian in his own right, as the principal narrative vehicle for re-telling the story of Ethiopia across broad time spans, events and achievements. An impressive mosaic of images, archival footage, personal testimonies, and humor is mobilized with great skill and imagination to speak about Ethiopia of Solomonic origins, her ancient and proud heritage of culture, religion, and art, and the experiences with the Italian fascist invasion in 1936, seemingly to avenge their defeat half a century earlier in 1896 at the Battle of Adwa.