Other Story presented by Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation

Other Story as presented by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation: LINK for TXT on LDF site.

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As presented by Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation site, the 27th of January 2018

Other Story is an ongoing documentary project, comprised of short films presenting personal stories in a world of monumental change. This is an alternative approach to news media, recording human testimonials based on heart-to-heart dialogues.

Central to Other Story’s work is the belief that stories matter. Stories shape the way we know our world, each other and ourselves. In a time when it is crucial that we change our habits and ways of inhabiting the world, Other Story seeks to encourage this process by sharing the stories of ordinary people, the change-makers fighting for humanity and for the planet. 

Characterized as “slow journalism with radical softness” the films evolve from a series of simple questions, such as: What is home? Have you ever been in love? What is water?Responses to these questions are exquisitely relatable and have the potential to reveal much of what makes us human.

In my opinion, “Other Story” is far more than a work of art, it is a humanitarian manifest, because it uses the medium of film to create an image of the reality and the intense presence of the other person’s life, a reality which we are inclined to ignore, reject or even despise. The difference in culture and existential situation is overcome and over-bridged in the twinkling of an eye, and our escape into a safe ignorance is no longer a possibility. - Ole Fogh Kirkeby, Danish philosopher and writer.

Based in Copenhagen, and with active members from Denmark, Syria, the US, Afghanistan and England, Other Story seeks to move beyond easy categorization and facilitate the nuance, detail and sensitivity of the individual human story. Through a genuine intention to connect people on a deeper level, the Other Story films are a means to open up the possibility of sensitivity, empathy and awareness, reverberating across nationality, values and culture. The group facilitates an infrastructure for these short films to heighten the visibility of ordinary people, the change-makers fighting for humanity and for the planet. In doing so, perhaps these people, their struggles and their stories are made more visible to the world and to each other, thereby empowering a new global network.

Other Story was founded in 2015 as the influx of refugees and migrants to Europe reached staggering levels, dominating the news media and provoking contentious international political debate. Watching this drama unfold through European news reports, commonly portrayed through images of anonymous masses, cliché-ridden figures and narratives of conflict, the vision for Other Story came into existence as an alternative to this. With a desire to get close to the people behind the news-story and its categorizations, Other Story started recording human testimonials based on heart-to-heart dialogues. The Other Story films reveal a vast range of human expression – seriousness, humor, unmistakable life-force and heart-breaking absurdity. Today Other Story is engaging in dialogues with climate activists and scientists, indigenous communities, workers in rural Europe and refugees in different areas of the world.