Meet Yuseff and Andrea – two people who represent billions who communicate, learn, and connect in a post-literate world.
Meet Yuseff and Andrea – two people who represent billions who communicate, learn, and connect in a post-literate world.
This is a short film, created for the Visual Story Network, that explains the urgent need for compelling visual stories to communicate the fullness of God’s love for the world. I’m a part of VSN and share this vision.
I was looking at the release schedule for our film in Australia. The company that bought the DVD rights there is set to release our film mid-September, right alongside two other films, “Universal Squadrons” and “Stripper Academy”!
I’m kind of excited to be there. Rather than being stuck in a faith-based film ghetto, a unique story of God’s grace and power is getting out to places we’d hope it would go.
…this is an official thank-you to my friends and those I will never meet, who are poets.
It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.– From Asphodel, that Greeny Flower by William Carlos Williams
This quote came from an invitation to subscribe to a poetry magazine. Guess I’m on the right list; it helps me to nurture the image I have of myself as a deep, thoughtful, avant-garde sort of person. And I really do like good poetry.
Poetry seems to me to be even less practical than most other fine arts. If you’re a painter, you can at least do portraits for rich people or, worst case, make a living as a corporate graphic designer while you wait for the world to appreciate your real passion. Dancers can get reality tv shows or teach little girls at the rec center. We filmmakers can hope to work on commercial projects that at least have a semblance of creativity – or else infomercials if we’re desperate – while our indie art film dukes it out for audiences at film festivals in mid-America.
Poets? I guess they have the greeting card industry.
So this is an official thank-you to my friends and those I will never meet, who are poets. I’m trying to teach my kids to love poetry, even if they can’t make a living at it.
The Arts can serve as one of the most effective mediums to build bridges of respect, understanding, sharing and friendship between East and West, Muslims and Christians.
What if we really listened to each others’ stories, saw things through others’ eyes; would it make a difference in the world?
Here’s an encouraging arts festival, beginning Feb 3 in Cairo. I wish I could be there!
Caravan Encouraging East and West, Muslims and Christians, to journey together through the Arts
The Arts can serve as one of the most effective mediums to build bridges of respect, understanding, sharing and friendship between East and West, Muslims and Christians. Therefore, Caravan was started by Paul-Gordon Chandler as an informal catalyst to explore and encourage the interplay between Faith and the Arts—and more specifically within the context of interfaith, encouraging Muslims and Christians to journey together through the Arts…thereby seeing the Arts used to facilitate intercultural and inter-religious dialogue.
Check out the web site: Caravan Festival of the Arts
There is a great book by Don Richardson called “Eternity In Their Hearts” that talks about the ways every culture has remnants of God’s truth remaining from creation. The book approaches the subject from a point-of-view of cross-cultural missions, but I find that it helps me to think about how my own multi-faceted culture also bears the fingerprints of God in its stories, even if God is rejected on the surface.
Our film, The Enemy God, tells the story of the Yanomamö people in the Amazon and how there were seeds of truth about God present in their own traditional stories. However, these truths were twisted until they became a curse to the people.
Rather than merely react and shun the creative work of our culture, is it possible to use the stories and myths and passions that we find in Hollywood and independent films to point people to Christ? The article below by Garrett Brown encourages us to look into popular film to see the points of connection, the ways ‘Common Grace’ may be found, as a means to build understanding and relationship. These conversations, in relationship, may be the beginning of a journey to faith, even if the starting point of the story is despair. Perhaps, especially when the story begins with despair?
Article: Temple of the Unknown God
What ways do you see bridges to conversations about God in the popular culture around you, in the lives of your neighbors and friends?
I’d rather people at large be influenced by my work, not just Christians.
Great article on Collide Magazine about a photographer who uses his talents for international music stars as well as earthquake victims in Haiti. I am inspired when I see truly gifted people with a larger picture of how to use their gifts.
via Collide Magazine | A Voice for the Voiceless.
Cowart said he feels that Christians, especially in the creative field, are called to reach others by presenting work that is excellent and compelling. Focusing on his life calling to make a difference in the world with his work, Cowart is continually sharpening his skills as a photographer and delving into new projects. And though he loves the church and the strong community within, he also wants his work to impact people from all walks of life.
“I’d rather people at large be influenced by my work, not just Christians,” Cowart said. “For me, it’s about being progressive and using your gifts to make an impact.”
MindSoulStory 