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LISTEN: Congolese refugees arrival in Alaska featured in documentary on kindness

Photo of cropped movie poster for "The Antidote"
Photo of cropped movie poster for "The Antidote"

Intentional acts of kindness all over the country are the subject of a new documentary film that includes the story of African refugees coming to Alaska.

Part of " The Antidote" shows members of a Congolese immigrant family -- including a 104-year-old grandmother -- arriving on the icy streets of mid-winter Anchorage. The refugees were supported by Catholic Social Services' Refugee Assistance program, after spending 17 years in a camp in Rwanda.

"The Antidote" is out now in virtual cinemas and available on video-on-demand starting Oct. 27.

Producer-director Kahane Cooperman said that to get at the idea of kindness, she and her fellow filmmakers came up with a set of questions, like, "How do we welcome the stranger?" which led them to Anchorage.

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Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cgrove@alaskapublic.org.