When Waters Rise

In a Bronx juvenile prison, a 16-year-old boy faced with losing custody of his child must discover what it takes to be a father through raising a chicken.

Set against the Ethiopian abandoned children crisis, two orphan brothers are faced with the reality of never being adopted. Inspired by a true story.

In 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.