That's A Wrap!

We just finished shooting our short film with the Ethiopian staff and students! It was such a pleasure to work with people of a different culture who are also passionate about combining their love for Jesus with the creative process of filmmaking. We will be editing this week and on Friday they will be screened at a local film festival. I'm really excited especially because I have heard good things from the two other teams and their experiences during the production of their films.

Our film is called "Erdata," which is an Amharic phrase for "the help." It is about a young boy named Mesay who must appease his abusive father after witnessing a tragic accident with his older brother. Here are a few photos from set but to see the rest, click on this link: Erdata Production Stills

Photos of Addis

Here is a link to some of the photos I have taken. There are many more to come so stay tuned!

http://s1095.photobucket.com/albums/i464/Matt_Infante/Ethiopia%20Album/

Back On Track

Ethiopian and American film track

Hi everyone!

I apologize for the extreme lack of updates. There have been major technical problems but I now have a short window to let you all know what has been going on in the past week and a half.

The Ethiopian staff and students who are part of the Great Commission Ministry here are very friendly. After the third day, the Americans and Ethiopians split into two separate tracks, directing/writing and cinematography. Director Jeremy Casper and Cinematographer Joe Sindorf traveled from the US to teach us the process of filmmaking from beginning to end. They have been really helpful and knowledgeable with giving us the motivation to start pre-production and answering any questions we have. It has been really exciting to see everyone in our film group learn so much. We’re shooting in a week and we are all getting the first draft of our scripts ready for this Saturday. Since we are still planning…and planning…and planning, there is not much else to say. I will have much more info and photos when we move into production next week.

As for Addis Ababa, it is difficult to express what I am experiencing here but I will try my best to convey what I have seen so far.  Since the city is 7,600 feet above sea level, the air is very thin. On top of that, the cars pollute the air so much that it is difficult to breathe when walking or even riding in a taxi. The people here are beautiful and they always stare at us when we walk down the street, and understandably so. A group of 30 American students stand out here like an awkward flock of geese. For the most part, drivers only stop if they feel they want pedestrians to cross the street, though we did take a short field trip to the one stop light in the middle of the city.

We have traveled around different areas of Addis and have seen poverty on a level that I just can’t wrap my mind around. Most of the stores and homes are just large, metal storage crates that have been placed side by side. It is also common to see vendors sleeping under bridges and building fires at night to keep warm, ready to sell cigarettes, toys, and other goods in the morning.

How I feel about all this, I’m not sure. One thing I noticed is that people here are not afraid to hope in something greater than themselves. Many have no other option. People here choose to believe in one of three major belief systems: Islam, Orthodox Christianity, and Protestantism. Just the reality of God in the lives of the majority of Ethiopians and their openness to talk about it is probably the biggest shock to me. This is especially true when comparing this to the general indifferent attitude towards religion and spirituality that I have experienced back home.

There will be more to show of the city and its culture with a short video in the next few days. For now, some of the photos I have taken so far are embedded in the following post since Blog spot is too slow to upload photos.

The Journey to Addis

Day 1:

We have successfully arrived in Ethiopia and are now in our hotels catching up on sleep (or trying to).

The plane ride over consisted of flying to Dallas, Texas for a night where I met everyone on the team and even tried my first Whataburger Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit (what?!) This deep fried chicken sandwich doused in honey butter reminded me that soon we will not have access to such luxuries in Addis Ababa with the exception of McDonalds, maybe.

After an early morning group Bible study, the staff members brought us up to speed on what to expect culturally, mentally, physically, and spiritually when staying in Addis. We then flew nine hours to our first stop, Frankfurt, Germany. We had the pleasure of watching the beautiful sunset and sunrise from the window with an unending twilight in between. We landed safely in Frankfurt where we loaded up on bratwurst, burgers, and coffee.

The next flight we took went from Frankfurt with a quick pit stop in Khartoum, Sudan. It honestly looked like Mars due to the smog. It felt like another planet. This was the first striking image that made me realize how far out of my comfort zone I am:

There is no color correction or filter, that was the actual color of the sky.

Once we arrived in Addis, we regrouped and were greeted with flowers by some of the staff members from the Great Commission Ministry. We packed ourselves tightly into a van with our luggage and headed to the hotel.

And here we are.

This is a link to a brief, 1:30 video diary of our travels thus far. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up, though the quality of the video may decline in the future for the sake of faster uploading time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOcV1u6ohbc&feature=youtu.be

Stay tuned for more!

Got all my support and heading to Ethiopia today! The first  speed bump of the trip is that my flight is delayed until 4pm. Patience!

Quick update: After receiving generous donations in the past two weeks, I only have $900 left to go! Thank you again to everyone who has generously donated!

If you want to make a donation, please follow the link and instructions in the previous post. 

Another video update will be up in the following week.

Peace!

Greetings!

Hi everyone, thanks for checking out my blog. Please watch my first video post as you get up to speed on where I will be going from June 23rd to July 28 and what I will be doing. You  will also experience me in my awkward state as I find it very strange talking in front of a camera.

I am still raising support for my trip until June 23 and I am in the final stretch. The goal is $5,500 and I have only $1,500 to go! If anyone wishes to donate, go to the following link: https://give.cru.org/give/View/5625269?pp= and forward me the confirmation notice at infantsinethiopia@gmail.com. For any other questions/comments, you can reach me at the same address.

I'll repeat it even though I said it in the video, THANK YOU to everyone who has been really supportive and encouraging through prayer, donations and advice. Thank you for all the love and care from everyone  in the past months. I can only imagine what God will show me on this 5 week journey. Join me by following along, peace!