Arada is not only the old city centre of Addis Ababa. In the slang of the streets of Addis Ababa, being Arada means being smart and cool. Since the 1960s, sex workers, intellectuals and street hustlers engaged with ideas of "Arada" to describe themselves and make sense of their lives in the city. Combining still-image cinematography and participatory storytelling , "A Day in Arada" narrates the struggles of being an Arada and what is to achieve respect and recognition in the midst of exclusion.