Filmmaker Jessica Wunderlich will narrate her film on the South Sudan as part of the Discovery World Travel Adventure Series hosted by Marsee Auditorium on Monday, Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“It’s an annual program where they bring in documentaries from all over the world that explore different issues, different cultures (and) different geographies, in an effort to bring awareness,” film professor Kevin O’Brien said.
Wunderlich will take center stage at the Marsee Auditorium as she narrates her film, East African Sojourn.
“East African Sojourn is a story of a place, told through the eyes of a group of orphaned girls from South Sudan who are on a mission to gain an education, in hopes of bettering the future for their families and their country,” Wunderlich said.
Wunderlich has been a writer and an editor on two feature length films prior to East African Sojourn: Out Living It, and Higher Ground.
Following this long journey, she is now hoping to inspire others to assist people who need access to education in areas of instability around the world.
“The creation process was five years of being there, in Eastern Africa, filming for two months a year, just capturing what is happening as it transpires, following the thread of the journey to this one goal of education,” said Wunderlich.
There are many unexplored, unfamiliar territories around the world. EC is looking to cultivate new horizons by presenting material that the people of the community are interested in.
“It’s for people who want to learn about different places that aren’t easily accessible,” Director of Center for the Arts Rick Christophersen said. “Those (selections) are based off season subscriber’s surveys, subscribers to the entire season.”
Christophersen has placed a strong emphasis on providing new content for guest in order to encourage personal growth.
“I believe people will be inspired by the strength, poise and motivation of this group of girls, through a journey no one born in the US could fathom,” Wunderlich said.
There are a wide range of ideas about different environments outside of the United States and Wunderlich’s mission is to change that.
“I hope that it will give the audience a chance to see the people behind the news coverage of the ‘humanitarian crisis’ as the human beings they are; full of drive and passion for a better future,” Wunderlich said.
East African Sojourn gives the audience a chance to visualize history in a different light than they may be aware of.
“The creation process has been emotionally exhausting and rewarding at the same time,” Wunderlich said. “The trials that people have to surmount are unimaginable, yet the people I’ve met have all been compassionate and loving, even if hurting due to circumstance.”
Wunderlich was able to experience first-hand what countless other countries endure on a daily basis. It is her objective to spread the word.
“I hope to bring a new perspective,” Wunderlich said. “The same way my perspective was shifted when I first landed in South Sudan.”
