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612 AUTHENTIC

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    A fresh start for a Kenyan immigrant in Riverside Plaza

    The pastel panels of Riverside Plaza's high-rise apartment complex are hard to miss. Designed by architect Ralph Rapson and completed in 1973, the towers dominate the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood and are the tallest structures in Minneapolis outside of downtown. While the original plan called for 12,500 units, the plan was scaled back to 1,303 following protests by neighborhood groups.

    Thirty years after Mary Richards moved into Riverside Plaza in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," Abdi Hassan has also made a fresh start. Hassan, a 19-year-old Somali immigrant from Kenya, moved to the U.S. to escape the violence that had claimed the lives of several of his family members. A recent graduate of South High, he now lives in Riverside Plaza with his sisters and grandmother. MinnPost recently caught up with Hassan for a glimpse inside his new life and Rapson's creation.


     

     



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    612 Authentic's short-form documentaries won awards in 2005 and 2006 at the Media That Matters festival in New York, and have been featured in the Ironweed Festival, the Journal of Short Film and the L.A. Shorts Festival. Its films, including "Battleground Minnesota" produced for Phillips Community Television, have been praised by Tim Robbins and Juan Williams. Founded in 2005 by Gabriel Cheifetz, its creative director, 612 Authentic's three-person team serves local and national clients, including Current TV, the San Francisco-based cable network led by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt.

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