Press Release
For Immediate Release
June 11, 2021
Me, The “Other” launches global streaming on new website.
The unsettling and rapidly-shifting energies in the world inspired over 200 (mostly volunteers) cast and crew members to come together with the urge to address the growing hatred and prejudice within our communities in a documentary film guaranteed to spark conversations about “otherness” and “oneness” in our human family. Independently released, the award-winning documentary about otherness and oneness is now available for global streaming through its official website www.metheotherfilm.com.
The cast of Me, The “Other” inspired the film’s unfolding rich mosaic of human experience. The cast is comprised of twelve students from three local universities in Michigan. The diverse group ranges from an African-American acting student from Flint who tells a personal heartbreaking story of racism and the water crisis in her community; a student from Mexico on the DACA program whose family live in fear of deportation; a Pakistani Muslim immigrant; an interracial married couple; a #MeToo story of an orphaned immigrant from Cameroon; a gay couple living with chronic illnesses; an Asian film student and gymnast who feels othered by his own culture; and a 66-year-old transgender student who was homeless and alcohol and drug-dependent but she chose education over suicide.
The film has been used by schools, libraries and colleges. The University of Michigan, for example, has made the film available campus-wide to all students, staff and faculty, and has used it for human resources training and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts to raise awareness about social issues and affect positive change in the school and the wider community.
For more information about the cast and creative team, please visit metheotherfilm.com
“I believe that at this critical juncture in our journey as a human race, we need a radical paradigm shift in our approach to the preservation of our collective home by starting to view our planet as one country and humanity its citizens. Elimination of prejudice is one of the fundamental principles in establishing this goal. Storytelling is a powerful tool in raising awareness and bridging the gaps. With this film, we set out to tell stories of a diverse cast of characters who are on some level experiencing prejudice in their lives. They come from various backgrounds but in that deep place inside, they are all essentially one… and we are one with them. My personal hope for this film is to expose that sacred place inside where beyond the clouded isms of race, religion, class, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical appearance—lies a place of light, warmth, hope, and pure love called the human soul.” — Shidan Majidi, Director/Co-Producer
ABOUT THE FILM:
Participants in the documentary share their personal stories which include: mental illness, suicidal thoughts, loss of a loved one, substance abuse, racism, Islamophobia, gender dysphoria, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, sexual assault, disease (Asperger syndrome, cancer, Lyme), religion and spirituality, immigration, DACA, deportation.
AWARDS:
Special Proclamation from the Washtenaw County Commissioners honoring Me, The “Other”‘s cast and creative team for “a timely film which voices an urgent message that our diversity should be the cause of unity for our communities in these challenging times.” March, 2018
Prestigious Ida Gray Award from University of Michigan’s School of Dentistry for Me, The “Other”’s celebration of diversity. March 2018
Best Documentary Award at the Buddha International Film Festival in India. June 2018
Best Documentary (Social Issues category) at the Docs Without Borders Film Festival. June 2019
Semi-finalist for the San Francisco Indie Short Festival. May 2021
For more information about the film, please visit metheotherfilm.com
Check website for full bios and cast list - metheotherfilm.com
For more information and scheduling interviews, please contact: