TRENTON: TO THE MOON & BACK
口
Directed by Josh LeongCast: Brian Auga, Frances Taylor, Joann Taylor, Moses Allen
- Pacific Cinewaves
- USA
- Documentary, Drama, Family, Human Rights, International, Pacific Islander, Social Issues, Spiritual, Student
- English, Pidgin (Solomon Islands)
- Subtitled
- 2020
- 18 mins
- World premiere
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shareIn 2017, Brian Auga (20) was recruited in the Solomon Islands for the International Leadership Training Program. Both he and his brother, Moses, were promised college scholarships and flown to the US. Over the next two years, the brothers and at least 25 indigenous teens/YA’s were trafficked in vans across state lines, soliciting money. Enduring inhumane living conditions, the boys were indoctrinated into the Unification Church – colloquially known as the “Moonies”. Only through COVID-19 did the boys dramatically escape the trafficking group. Finding refuge in a rural town in Trenton, Georgia, the pair remained in hiding until 2022, impacting the deeply conservative community there, forever.
CREDITS
Writer: Josh Leong
Producer: Sam Gollob, Will Nelson, Sofia Bara, Josh Leong
Executive Producer: Sundeep Sanghavi, Will Nelson
Director of Photography: Stan Pe
Editor: Josh Leong
Sound Designer: Vinny Alfano
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Powerful non fiction storytelling roots us in place and identity. These short form works travel you around the world, documenting personal stories here and abroad.
