Refugees come from many different backgrounds, and they come for as many different reasons as there are different styles of life in Kentucky's largest city. Third Lives in the First World explores the variety of lifestyles and perspectives among the refugees that have come to reside in Louisville. It airs Monday, Oct. 8 at 10/9 p.m. CT on KET2.
In the film, viewer s are introduced to a diverse cast of characters, ranging from Long Nguyen, a virtuoso guitarist from Vietnam , to Hamid Wali, an Afghani who dreams of Hollywood and Bollywood.
The film portrays the respective communities well, including the resourceful Somali Bantus and their weekend school at Arcadia Community Center, and the Vietnamese community with its neighboring Buddhist Temple and Catholic Church. The film also features interviews with U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth and experts such as Dr. Randy Capps from the Urban Institute and Afif Safieh, U.S. Representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
The goal of Third Lives in the First World , says producer Joshua Shapero, is to bring closer to home the greatest problems that the world now faces: hunger, homelessness and racial, religious and ideological intolerance. "By sharing the stories of these miraculously optimistic and resilient people, we hope to bring these problems of the 'third world' into perspective and give viewers a new perspective on their neighbors," he said.
Third Lives in the First World is produced by Joshua Shapero and Hossein Alavi with funding provided by the Kentucky Fund for Independent Production.
