Last March – with the help of great coaching by my favorite acting coach Fran Montano at AWS – I got cast as U.N. worker BORIS in the AFI Grad Film ‘Acholiland’ , directed by South African Director Dean Israelite. The film took place in Uganda yet was shot in Calabasas and on the Disney Ranch here in Los Angeles… makes sense, right?

We shot during beautiful weather in very authentic looking settings. The shoot was a lot of fun and I got to work with some amazing talents such as African actor Owiso Odera, German Actor Christian Oliver as well as German-looking actor (but he’s American) John Collin Barclay. The four of us played a team of U.N. workers, hijacked by Militia en route to an adjacent refugee camp…

What was ironic about the whole thing is that I got a call from a good friend of mine while I was on the set, asking me if I wanted to go to Uganda to shoot a documentary in July… I mean what are the odds of that, come on!? (needless to say I said yes and found myself in the ‘real’ Africa, only months later… pictures below).

Well, now, almost a year later, Dean and his team finished up the film and it will play next Sunday evening at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. I can say that I am very proud of both achievements, shooting Acholiland and my visit to Africa. As always, life is a learning experience, no matter where we go and what we do… there is always a lesson or two to grow from

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ACHOLILAND – Produced by Daniel Harrich, Directed by Dean Israelite

Length: 0 hour, 20 minutes

Synopsis:
In Northern Uganda, four U.N workers complete a much needed food delivery to a remote and war-torn village.But as they pull out of the swarming mass, news arrives that another food truck has been hijacked by the Militia en route to an adjacent refugee camp, and its inhabitants will never last without the delivery. Now, these men must return to the village they just left and reposes half of the goods; it is the only way for both villages to survive.In a place where food is everything and the militia reign with utter terror, these men will face impossible choices to keep everyone alive.

Rating: NR