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Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, Conversations about issues that matter.
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Here's your host, three time Grasie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein.
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I want to introduce you to an Academy Award nominee,
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Laura check Away. She has such an interesting and homespun
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because it takes place in Brooklyn documentary that.
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You can now view online.
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It's called The Catman Sheddy and it's about a refugee
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who finds his calling and caring for stray cats. And
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we find out his history because he is he escaped
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war torn Ethiopia, but then he ended up on the
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streets of Brooklyn. First of all, how did you find him, Laura?
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I was walking in my earth.
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Sorry, I was walking in my neighborhood in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn,
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and I saw a gentle who was surrounded by cats
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and also pigeons. He feeds a lot of pigeons who
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come around for the cat food, and I was curious
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about who he was. And on another occasion, I was
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passing by and our eyes met and just that fire
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or energy that connects between people was there. Instantly we
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started chatting, and right in that first conversation, I asked
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him if I could film him and his cats, which
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is some I haven't done before as far as just immediately,
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almost instinctively, it just came out of me that I
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wanted to know more about him and who he was,
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and so we started filming, I think within the next
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week or so.
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So did you know right away this is my next documentary?
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You know?
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It's funny because.
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I work from film to film, and there's a certain
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like what I described with Ashetti in my eye contact,
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there's this certain fire inside that I think we all
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have and want to keep kindled, and often as an artist,
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they're different waves of inspiration that each of us go through.
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And so sometimes you know, as I'm finishing one film,
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I'm wondering.
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Is am I ever going to feel that spark again?
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And you know it when you feel it, So I
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would say that subconsciously, I think I knew it right
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and consciously on some level because I did bring up
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the idea with him and he said yes right then
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and there. However, did I know that it would take
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several years and that we would develop such a close
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friendship and bond way beyond the film and all of
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the other things that come along with making a film
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like this, you know, had to unfold in time.
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Why did it take years?
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Well, it was an entirely independent film, and so it
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was really made with craft and heart, and the collaboration
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of it was really me and one other camera person.
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There are two people that shot it with me over
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the years, and that it took a long time to
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understand the dynamics and all. You know, it's a very
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multi layered story. And there's a community of neighbors who
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are also helping a Schetdy feed the cats. Is Shetty
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and also helping a Shetty absolutely and Ishetty is, as
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you mentioned, a refugee from Ethiopia who escaped as a
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young man. He was in college at Addis Ababa University
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from a little boy. He was a very advanced student
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who was always very hungry for knowledge and information and
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education and he really excelled and he then the Civil
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war broke out and he fled to save his life.
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He fled on foot with a friend.
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It was a complete secret from all of their other
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friends and loved ones.
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They escaped.
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He says it took them a year on foot to
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make their way through the war to wind up in
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the Sudan in the Sahara Desert, where he lived for
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five years in a refugee camp before being brought to
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New York City, which was I think he said he
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arrived in nineteen eighty seven, and so he's been in
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New York City for almost forty years. He is such
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a New Yorker. And he also in many ways is
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his story really represents the lasting impacts of being a
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refugee that even after all of these decades, his homesickness
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and grief and longing is still very very strong.
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Had he stayed in Ethiopia, what would he have done
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career wise?
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Well, that's a great question. I believe he was. He
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was studying management and administration. He is such a deep soul,
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very philosophical, very interested in people, in psychology. He's an
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incredibly keen observer of people. As soon as you meet him,
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he can basically read you and who you are and
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all of your qualities. And he also is such a historian,
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a living through experience historian of Ethiopian history and culture.
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He's obsessed with Ethiopia.
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And what is still going on there today, and so
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I see him as take your pick, but he's a
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very prolific writer. He also he should be lecturing in
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a university to hundreds of students.
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And what did he do career wise when he came here,
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because he wasn't always homeless.
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Yeah, he worked for this at the Statue of Liberty
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for a short time, and then he got into construction.
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He actually enrolled in college at Baroque College. When he
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first arrived in New York City, he worked construction and
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then he had a severe accident where he fell and
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was in the hospital for a year, and it took
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him a long time to recover. And so from my understanding,
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he had already been through war, a refugee camp. But
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he has such an incredible spirit and just such determination
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and optimism that I think he you know, it's interesting
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to think about what paths he could have taken and
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perhaps still will take, and.
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That accident I think really his trajectory.
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How did he end up homeless? It was related to
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the accident, right, Yeah.
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So he received a settlement which paid for an apartment
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that he was living in for over twenty years he
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lived there and he was a part of this community
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in Brooklyn, and then the money ran out and he
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ultimately was evicted and so he went across the street
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from the building where he lived, and that's where he
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met this family of cats who he then devoted his
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life to.
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It's such a unique story.
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I am speaking with Academy Award nominee Laura check Away
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and about her new documentary, which you can now see
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various platforms, The Catman a Shetty. It's the story of
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a man who made his escape from war torn Ethiopia.
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He made his way here and ended up working here,
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fully employed here than getting injured on the job, and
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then the money from the settlement runs out and he's
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living on the streets.
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But did he come here legally? Is he legal? He
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is legal.
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Have you spoken to him recently about what's going on
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with other refugees.
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Yes, I speak with him every day. As I mentioned,
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we are very dear friends. And Ischetti has a place,
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so he appears to many people to be homeless because
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of the way he presents himself. And he also spends
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most of his time outside with his cats.
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I mean, he loves his cats.
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He's very devoted to them and one might say obsessed
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with protecting them. It seems to be very much a
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part of his way of dealing with his grief and trauma.
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He doesn't like to take medication. He loves nature and music.
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And his cats, and so that's really the cats are
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his medicine.
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And he.
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Oh, no, I forgot, I know, I don't know the
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question I have to take talked about?
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Yes, sorry, So he has.
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Refuge yeah, and so he he has a subsidized room
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in the Times Square Port Authority in a building for
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people who would otherwise be unhoused or have severe mental
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health issues. And just in recent years he has befriended
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a number of new refugees from mostly from Senegal and
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the Sudan as well as Venezuela. But almost every day
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he shares about how in that area a lot of
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former hotels have now been converted into refugee shelters. And
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so he's meeting young people, family who really connect with
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him because I think they see him sitting outside and
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he has such a just warm regal presence to him
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in a way about him, and so people, you know,
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he's very misunderstood, but also people who have open minds
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really are drawn to him. You know.
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It seems to me he is capable of working right
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if he wanted to. I mean, he is disabled, but
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he could work, and you mentioned you thought he would
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make a good, you know, a great college professor. Have
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you turned on others in the educational community to his story,
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because I think, yeah, I mean, this is a first
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hand account of somebody that's it's a miraculous story him
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just escaping war torn Ethiopia and just that bravery and that,
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I mean, how many people would leave behind their family
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and their friends and not even say where they're going,
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but basically to save their lives.
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Yes, and he really is such an inspiring example. And
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also his family, who he never saw again and you know,
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doesn't know what happened to them.
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He comes from a.
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Very large, very loving family who he thinks of, you know,
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with such longing and heart sickness. And it's just such
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a beautiful example of how when that is instilled in you,
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nothing are almost nothing can take it away, and hopefully nothing.
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And yeah, so he carries that with him. His heart
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just overflows, and he has so much compassion for the cats,
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for all animals, and also for other humans, especially other
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people in the streets. Like you mentioned some of the
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newer refugees who he's befriended from the Sudan. He is
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giving what he has to them, and so he's very
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generous with others and.
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Yes would.
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The film was released on World Refugee Day and it
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has been spreading around the world. The response has been
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absolutely incredible, especially from Ethiopians and.
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Has anyone offered to put him in touch with his family?
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You know.
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A lot of people who have seen the film want
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to bring him back to Gonder, Ethiopia, where he's from.
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Some people have reached out wondering if he was their
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family member who fled. He is not so far. When
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I ask him about the idea of maybe visiting Ethiopia
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again someday or trying to reconnect with loved ones on
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the internet, he says no and that that chapter is closed.
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I think it might be too much for him, and
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you never know, as things continue to happen, maybe more
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connections will open up. There are a lot of people
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who have seen the film, including some Ethiopia New Yorkers
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who have come looking for him and actually found where
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he sits based on watching the film, just to get
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to know him, to be with him, to help support him.
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So it's really been amazing the immediate response that has
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been very direct and the outpouring of love for him
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and for his cats.
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Where can people see The cat Manachete? Which platforms it is?
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It's streaming on Al Jazeera, It's on their Witness documentary series,
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and so you can watch it on YouTube for free.
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The cat MANACHETI. It's a twenty five minute film. It's
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a very full story in a short, short capsule. And
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just regarding when you mentioned have other people in education
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learned about him and his story.
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We're really eager to.
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Keep spreading this and for the film to have a
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big impact beyond just being a documentary that people watch.
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We really want this to be transformative.
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Because it's really both a story about a refugee and
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it's really a story about somebody who chooses partial homelessness,
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and that's interesting in and of itself. I'm sorry, we
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are out of time. The Catman Aschetti. That is spelled
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E s h e t E if you google it
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E s H E t E. The Catman Aschetti on
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YouTube and Al Jazeera. And I want to thank Laura
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check Away looking forward to her next documentary when that
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breaks into her life, because that seems to be how
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you've inspired Laura
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You've been listening to Sunstein sessions on iHeartRadio, a production
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of New York's classic rock Q one O four point
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three
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Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, Conversations about issues that matter.
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Here's your host, three time Grasie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein.
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I want to introduce you to an Academy Award nominee,
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Laura check Away. She has such an interesting and homespun
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because it takes place in Brooklyn documentary that.
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You can now view online.
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It's called The Catman Sheddy and it's about a refugee
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who finds his calling and caring for stray cats. And
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we find out his history because he is he escaped
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war torn Ethiopia, but then he ended up on the
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streets of Brooklyn. First of all, how did you find him, Laura?
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I was walking in my earth.
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Sorry, I was walking in my neighborhood in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn,
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and I saw a gentle who was surrounded by cats
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and also pigeons. He feeds a lot of pigeons who
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come around for the cat food, and I was curious
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about who he was. And on another occasion, I was
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passing by and our eyes met and just that fire
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or energy that connects between people was there. Instantly we
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started chatting, and right in that first conversation, I asked
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him if I could film him and his cats, which
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is some I haven't done before as far as just immediately,
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almost instinctively, it just came out of me that I
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wanted to know more about him and who he was,
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and so we started filming, I think within the next
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week or so.
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So did you know right away this is my next documentary?
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You know?
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It's funny because.
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I work from film to film, and there's a certain
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like what I described with Ashetti in my eye contact,
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there's this certain fire inside that I think we all
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have and want to keep kindled, and often as an artist,
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they're different waves of inspiration that each of us go through.
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And so sometimes you know, as I'm finishing one film,
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I'm wondering.
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Is am I ever going to feel that spark again?
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And you know it when you feel it, So I
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would say that subconsciously, I think I knew it right
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and consciously on some level because I did bring up
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the idea with him and he said yes right then
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and there. However, did I know that it would take
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several years and that we would develop such a close
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friendship and bond way beyond the film and all of
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the other things that come along with making a film
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like this, you know, had to unfold in time.
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Why did it take years?
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Well, it was an entirely independent film, and so it
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was really made with craft and heart, and the collaboration
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of it was really me and one other camera person.
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There are two people that shot it with me over
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the years, and that it took a long time to
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understand the dynamics and all. You know, it's a very
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multi layered story. And there's a community of neighbors who
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are also helping a Schetdy feed the cats. Is Shetty
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and also helping a Shetty absolutely and Ishetty is, as
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you mentioned, a refugee from Ethiopia who escaped as a
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young man. He was in college at Addis Ababa University
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from a little boy. He was a very advanced student
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who was always very hungry for knowledge and information and
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education and he really excelled and he then the Civil
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war broke out and he fled to save his life.
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He fled on foot with a friend.
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It was a complete secret from all of their other
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friends and loved ones.
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They escaped.
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He says it took them a year on foot to
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make their way through the war to wind up in
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the Sudan in the Sahara Desert, where he lived for
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five years in a refugee camp before being brought to
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New York City, which was I think he said he
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arrived in nineteen eighty seven, and so he's been in
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New York City for almost forty years. He is such
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a New Yorker. And he also in many ways is
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his story really represents the lasting impacts of being a
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refugee that even after all of these decades, his homesickness
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and grief and longing is still very very strong.
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Had he stayed in Ethiopia, what would he have done
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career wise?
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Well, that's a great question. I believe he was. He
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was studying management and administration. He is such a deep soul,
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very philosophical, very interested in people, in psychology. He's an
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incredibly keen observer of people. As soon as you meet him,
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he can basically read you and who you are and
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all of your qualities. And he also is such a historian,
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a living through experience historian of Ethiopian history and culture.
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He's obsessed with Ethiopia.
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And what is still going on there today, and so
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I see him as take your pick, but he's a
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very prolific writer. He also he should be lecturing in
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a university to hundreds of students.
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And what did he do career wise when he came here,
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because he wasn't always homeless.
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Yeah, he worked for this at the Statue of Liberty
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for a short time, and then he got into construction.
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He actually enrolled in college at Baroque College. When he
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first arrived in New York City, he worked construction and
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then he had a severe accident where he fell and
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was in the hospital for a year, and it took
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him a long time to recover. And so from my understanding,
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he had already been through war, a refugee camp. But
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he has such an incredible spirit and just such determination
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and optimism that I think he you know, it's interesting
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to think about what paths he could have taken and
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perhaps still will take, and.
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That accident I think really his trajectory.
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How did he end up homeless? It was related to
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the accident, right, Yeah.
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So he received a settlement which paid for an apartment
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that he was living in for over twenty years he
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lived there and he was a part of this community
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in Brooklyn, and then the money ran out and he
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ultimately was evicted and so he went across the street
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from the building where he lived, and that's where he
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met this family of cats who he then devoted his
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life to.
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It's such a unique story.
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I am speaking with Academy Award nominee Laura check Away
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and about her new documentary, which you can now see
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various platforms, The Catman a Shetty. It's the story of
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a man who made his escape from war torn Ethiopia.
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He made his way here and ended up working here,
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fully employed here than getting injured on the job, and
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then the money from the settlement runs out and he's
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living on the streets.
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But did he come here legally? Is he legal? He
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is legal.
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Have you spoken to him recently about what's going on
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with other refugees.
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Yes, I speak with him every day. As I mentioned,
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we are very dear friends. And Ischetti has a place,
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so he appears to many people to be homeless because
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of the way he presents himself. And he also spends
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most of his time outside with his cats.
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I mean, he loves his cats.
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He's very devoted to them and one might say obsessed
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with protecting them. It seems to be very much a
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part of his way of dealing with his grief and trauma.
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He doesn't like to take medication. He loves nature and music.
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And his cats, and so that's really the cats are
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his medicine.
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And he.
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Oh, no, I forgot, I know, I don't know the
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question I have to take talked about?
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Yes, sorry, So he has.
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Refuge yeah, and so he he has a subsidized room
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in the Times Square Port Authority in a building for
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people who would otherwise be unhoused or have severe mental
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health issues. And just in recent years he has befriended
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a number of new refugees from mostly from Senegal and
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the Sudan as well as Venezuela. But almost every day
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he shares about how in that area a lot of
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former hotels have now been converted into refugee shelters. And
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so he's meeting young people, family who really connect with
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him because I think they see him sitting outside and
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he has such a just warm regal presence to him
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in a way about him, and so people, you know,
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he's very misunderstood, but also people who have open minds
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really are drawn to him. You know.
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It seems to me he is capable of working right
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if he wanted to. I mean, he is disabled, but
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he could work, and you mentioned you thought he would
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make a good, you know, a great college professor. Have
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you turned on others in the educational community to his story,
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because I think, yeah, I mean, this is a first
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hand account of somebody that's it's a miraculous story him
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just escaping war torn Ethiopia and just that bravery and that,
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I mean, how many people would leave behind their family
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and their friends and not even say where they're going,
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but basically to save their lives.
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Yes, and he really is such an inspiring example. And
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also his family, who he never saw again and you know,
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doesn't know what happened to them.
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He comes from a.
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Very large, very loving family who he thinks of, you know,
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with such longing and heart sickness. And it's just such
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a beautiful example of how when that is instilled in you,
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nothing are almost nothing can take it away, and hopefully nothing.
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And yeah, so he carries that with him. His heart
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just overflows, and he has so much compassion for the cats,
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for all animals, and also for other humans, especially other
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people in the streets. Like you mentioned some of the
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newer refugees who he's befriended from the Sudan. He is
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giving what he has to them, and so he's very
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generous with others and.
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Yes would.
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The film was released on World Refugee Day and it
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has been spreading around the world. The response has been
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absolutely incredible, especially from Ethiopians and.
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Has anyone offered to put him in touch with his family?
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You know.
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A lot of people who have seen the film want
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to bring him back to Gonder, Ethiopia, where he's from.
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Some people have reached out wondering if he was their
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family member who fled. He is not so far. When
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I ask him about the idea of maybe visiting Ethiopia
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again someday or trying to reconnect with loved ones on
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the internet, he says no and that that chapter is closed.
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I think it might be too much for him, and
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you never know, as things continue to happen, maybe more
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connections will open up. There are a lot of people
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who have seen the film, including some Ethiopia New Yorkers
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who have come looking for him and actually found where
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he sits based on watching the film, just to get
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to know him, to be with him, to help support him.
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So it's really been amazing the immediate response that has
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been very direct and the outpouring of love for him
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and for his cats.
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Where can people see The cat Manachete? Which platforms it is?
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It's streaming on Al Jazeera, It's on their Witness documentary series,
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and so you can watch it on YouTube for free.
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The cat MANACHETI. It's a twenty five minute film. It's
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a very full story in a short, short capsule. And
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just regarding when you mentioned have other people in education
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learned about him and his story.
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We're really eager to.
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Keep spreading this and for the film to have a
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big impact beyond just being a documentary that people watch.
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We really want this to be transformative.
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Because it's really both a story about a refugee and
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it's really a story about somebody who chooses partial homelessness,
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and that's interesting in and of itself. I'm sorry, we
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are out of time. The Catman Aschetti. That is spelled
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E s h e t E if you google it
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E s H E t E. The Catman Aschetti on
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YouTube and Al Jazeera. And I want to thank Laura
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check Away looking forward to her next documentary when that
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breaks into her life, because that seems to be how
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you've inspired Laura
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You've been listening to Sunstein sessions on iHeartRadio, a production
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of New York's classic rock Q one O four point
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three
