Meet the Family

Humba

Photo by Evelyn Iritani

First… When you’re the head of a family, it’s up to you to keep your loved ones safe. It probably doesn’t get any tougher than it does for Innocent Mbremumwe. He’s a 36-year-old park ranger in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been at war for nearly 15 years. Nearly five million have died. Innocent has an unusually large, extended family of about 200 mountain gorillas. He introduced some of them to producer Karen Lowe.

Karen Lowe is the executive producer of Bending Borders, a radio and multimedia project. She’s also an adjunct professor at USC Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism.

Innocent Mbremumwe

Photo by Evelyn Iritani

Young gorillas

Photo by Evelyn Iritani

Then… Dave White finds himself in a situation familiar to anyone in a marriage or serious relationship… trying to find your place in that strange and unfamiliar tribe that is their family.

Dave White writes about movies for Movies.com, and he has a podcast with Alonso Duralde called Linoleum Knife. Plus, he’s the author of the book, Exile in Guyville.

Finally… Jeff has always had a tortured relationship with his brother… mainly because his brother tortured him. He went through several attempts at reconciliation, but always ended up sorry he even tried. When his brother asked him to be his best man, Jeff used ancient spiritual techniques to try and fix the troubled relationship.

Jeff Bernstein is an artist, animator and writer. He’s co-founder of the Writing Pad writing school.

Danny (left) and Jeff Bernstein (right)

Courtesy of Jeff Bernstein