You, From The Other Side

You, From The Other Side, is a screenplay made for an animated feature film/miniseries, adapted from the novel The Man From The Other Side written by the renowned Israeli author Uri Orlev. The story revolves around Marian, a 14-year-old Polish boy who helps his stepfather in smuggling contraband goods inside the Jewish Ghetto in German-occupied Poland. By making endless trips through the foul sewers of Warsaw, they deliver food supplies to starving Jewish families, not because of altruistic motives, but to reap a hefty profit. However, once inside the Ghetto, Marian is confronted with the brutal realities of the Holocaust. Although instilled with the anti-Semitism of the era, he undergoes a change of heart. In the months leading to the 1943 uprising, fueled by a newly found compassion and outrage, Marian decides to risk his life by delivering weapons to the Jewish resistance, while carrying infants out to safety. His audacious actions get him trapped inside the Ghetto during the street fighting at the height of the uprising. As the German siege tightens, Marian and his stepfather avoid death in a dramatic fashion, while helping a group of fugitive Jews escape through the same foul underground route they once smuggled goods in.

​

Uri Orlev

Uri Orlev holds the distinction of being the world’s most celebrated - and certainly most translated - author of Holocaust books for children and young adults. Thirty-eight books in over 200 editions across 36 languages speak for the popularity of his fiction. A survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto himself, Uri paints in his novels a vivid picture of the heroic struggle for freedom and justice; neither demonizing nor glorifying the various factions that populated the era. Whether Poles or Jews, freedom fighters or collaborators, men or women, his characters are ordinary humans caught in the crossfire of ideologies. His refusal to exaggerate, demean, or stereotype gives his stories an unimpeachable impact. He is the only Israeli recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award (1996), also known as the small Nobel Prize. In 2002, he was awarded the Zeev Prize in Israel for his life’s work. Originally published in 1989, The Man From The Other Side has received numerous accolades from critics and the general public alike, including the 1991 Story Book Title by Parent’s Choice, US the 1992 National Jewish Book Award in Children’s Literature, as well as the prestigious Batchelder Award, with which the American Library Association honors the year’s best-translated children’s books published in the U.S.

​

Gavin Benham

Gavin Benham is an L.A.-based screenwriter and author of speculative fiction. A European outcast, Gavin holds graduate degrees in Applied Mathematics (Romania) and Creative Writing (US). He alternates between writing prose and writing for film/TV. For the past several years, his screenplays have placed high at marquee screenwriting contests such as the Nicholl Fellowship, Zoetrope, Sundance, and Blue Cat. In 2016, he won the grand prize at the Fade In Awards for his spec The Queen’s Gambit, as well as placing 3rd at Page Awards with his SciFi feature, Pinocchio Wars. His short story I Remember, You Remember, She Remembers was shortlisted at the UK-based 2016 Bridport Prize, while his flash fiction has appeared in several SciFi fanzines. He’s currently putting the final touches on a collection of short stories, his first novel, and two original TV Pilots. In his spare time, he teaches creative writing and business statistics for the Los Angeles Film School.