It’s a familiar story: Hollywood star takes up a cause, hops on an international flight and gets “do-gooder” attached to her name in gossip magazines.

The tendency has become so familiar, in fact, that we’ve grown to almost expect today’s celebrities to come with social causes — whether it be environmental concerns in the U.S., or malnutrition at the international level.

But few of those philanthropists come back with stories as detailed as Mia Kirshner’s.

Known for her role on Showtime’s “The L Word,” the actress has released “I Live Here,” a paper documentary chronicling her seven-year immersion into global stories of refugees and displaced people.

Proceeds from the book’s sales go to Amnesty International.

The project focuses on four parts of the world: the Russian republic of Ingushetia, Burma, Malawi and the Mexican city of Juarez.

The idea came in 2001 when Kirshner reportedly felt unfulfilled by her life as an actress. She enlisted the help from an impressive list of collaborators, financing the entire project with her own salary.

In its paper form, “I Live Here” comes as one unit spanning four separate books, each of which resembles a journal.

The book doesn’t just take on journal form — it also relies heavily on alternative story forms like photographs, illustrations and graphic novels.

A poignant, beautifully illustrated children’s story underscores the impact of AIDS in Malawi.

Panels in a graphic novel, carefully etched in black and white, detail the obstacles a young Thai sex worker faced early in life.

A series of small, captioned photos gives readers a glimpse into the living space once occupied by a young woman who went missing in Juarez.

The non-traditional approach helps provide an additional human level to headlines that have become so frequent they’re often overlooked.

Sure, solving global crises is at a process accompanied by complicated decisions and extended policy debates.

Yet with its children’s fiction-like approach, “I Live Here” suggests that more often than not, understanding the world outside yourself isn’t that difficult after all.

While reading Kirshner’s stories through illustrated panels, it’s easy at times to believe you’re in the middle of an imaginary tale.

The subtle reminder that you’re reading an account of a real-life journey can be overwhelming.

The author will always be an actress, and “I Live Here” will always be a book, not a miracle cure.

But it reassures its readers they will close the final journal with a new notion of “home.”

Source: ledger-enquirer.com