Mercer Island High School graduates Ross Laing and Alex Baron won a 2009 Bronze Telly Award for a 2007 documentary that they produced on the Ethiopian millennium.

The 20-minute documentary, titled “Generation to Generation,” aired on Ethiopian Television in the fall of 2008.

Laing and Baron shot the film while visiting the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, during the country’s millennium celebration in September 2007. Ethiopia follows the ancient Coptic calendar, which marks the year 2000 in our 2007.

Using the millennium celebrations as a backdrop, the documentary focuses on the social, political and environmental changes in modern Ethiopia.

Laing submitted the film to the Telly Awards earlier this year. It won a bronze award in the TV Programs/Segments—Cultural entry of the film category.

The Telly Awards honor the best local, regional and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, and work created for the Web.

This year, the Telly Awards marked its 29th anniversary. The international competition included over 14,000 entries from 50 states and five continents.

Laing and Baron graduated from MIHS in 1999. Laing is currently living on the Island, working on another documentary. Baron splits his time between Mercer Island and Nanjing, China, where he has been editing a scientific journal for Nanjing University.