‘ THE OTHER SIDE’
WESTON NATIVE MAKES SHORT FILM ABOUT ETHIOPIAN ORPHANS
Before the pandemic flipped the world upside down, Weston’s Sofia Bara traveled to Ethiopia in 2019 to make a short film with fellow film student Josh Leong about the country’s abandoned children crisis.
Bara and Leong, both students currently enrolled at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, spent two weeks in Ethiopia filming with “When They See Us” star Ethan Herisse. Their film “The Other Side” is based on the life of Abel, a young man Leong had met while on a previous trip to Ethiopia, who would be aging out of the orphanage where he lived.
Hearst Connecticut Media spoke with Bara and Leong about “The Other Side” which is available for streaming now.
TinaMarie Craven: How would you describe your film?
Sofia Bara: We not only see this film as an opportunity to bring awareness to a social cause that is rarely discussed in the United States, but also, at the core, it is a story about brotherhood. We hope it serves as a reminder that sometimes what we desperately search for has been right next us the whole time.
TC: What inspired you to work on this film?
Josh Leong: Back in 2018, I went to Ethiopia on a mission trip with my church. During my stay in one of the government boys orphanages, I met a 16-year-old boy named Abel. We initially connected because he spoke English. But after getting to know him, I learned that in Ethiopia, when an orphan turns 18, they age out of their orphanage and have to fend for themselves on the street. Abel had a younger brother inside the orphanage, and it was only a matter of time before they’d be separated and he’d have to face the outside world alone. Later that fall, I started my freshman year at NYU. Abel’s story had stuck with me throughout that time, and I felt compelled to write a film about what he was going through. Fast-forward to February, and after meeting some classmates at NYU (including Sofia) we decided to pursue the project for real.
TC: What was it like meeting with the real-life Abel while shooting the film?
JL: We actually got to film in the same orphanage that Abel was living in – which was the first place I had ever met him in 2018. I remember arriving at the orphanage in July 2019 and seeing so many familiar faces – but I was searching for one kid: Abel. Despite being apart for an entire year, he still recognized me. It was an incredible experience to tell him that I’d come back – this time with a film crew – to make a movie about his life. He and some of the older boys followed us around all day, watching us shoot scenes and use the camera. He even helped slate for us on set. I think everyone could agree that having him on set made everything feel viscerally personal and real. This wasn’t just a fictional story we were telling – it was someone’s life.
TC: You began working with Ethan Herisse before “When They See Us” received Emmy recognition, what was it like working with him?
JL: Ethan was a joy to work with from the beginning. Every day was filled with smiling, dancing, and laughter when he was on set. It was as if he was two people! One minute he’d be happily dancing with a little kid, and the next he’d be stone cold and fully immersed in character. His acting marked a standard for everyone else to match. He truly set the tone and made his co-stars better.
TC: The film is intended to raise awareness about Ethiopia's abandoned children crisis, how do you think the film will help?
SB: We believe that the film is the instigator of new conversations through which we hope our American audiences will learn about and become aware of this largely-unknown orphan crisis in Ethiopia and reality that these vulnerable children face. Beyond this, however, we hope to inspire
. our audiences into taking action beyond “becoming aware;” our team actively supports organizations like Orphan Care Ethiopia (OCE), who work to provide local solutions for Ethiopian orphans and meet their basic needs. In fact, “The Other Side” team participated in OCE’s inaugural virtual 5K run this summer and helped raise $50k for COVID-19 relief in Ethiopian orphanages.
For more information about the film, visit theothersideshortfilm.com.