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where faith and film are intertwined

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Sabaya – Rescued from ISIS

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The mission: go into a camp filled with Daesh (ISIS) supporters and rescue Yazidi girls and women held as sex slaves. Sabaya won the directing award for World Cinema Documentary for Hogir Hirori at the Sundance Film Festival. Billed as a docu-thriller, the film shines a light on the plight of thousands of young women and on people who are trying to aid them.

While fighting in Iraq, Daesh killed thousands of Yazidi men and took the Yazidi young women to serve as sex slaves (Sabaya). Some of the women have been held for five years. Now some of them are part of the 73,000 people held in the Al-Hol camp in Syria. We watch as Mahmud and Ziyad, two men from the Yazidi Home Center, aided by female infiltrators in the camp, make raids (usually at night) to liberate these women. The camp is filled with Daesh supporters (there are more in the surrounding countryside), so this is a hazardous undertaking. The men go in equipped basically with a phone and a handgun.

The film certainly has a thriller aspect with the forays into Al-Hol to find these women. It it also contrasts that tension with the daily life of Mahmud and his family—making meals, being together with children. Mahmud’s wife and mother help the rescued women transition back to the world of freedom before they are reunited with family.

The plight of the Yazidi has become an international cause. (A good film to learn about what has happened to this group is On Her Shoulders.) They are a minority within a minority. They are extremely insular, not accepting outsiders as part of their culture. That comes into play in one part of the film when one of the women rescued has a child who was fathered by a Daesh fighter.

We learn at the end of the film that the group saved 206 enslaved women, 52 with children. But 2000 still remain unfound.

This is an ongoing reminder of the inhumanity that is a part of war in general, and specifically as it is practiced by ISIS. While we may think battles have been won, the aftermath continues to be painful for many. That is clear in this film when at the beginning we hear an announcement on the radio that Daesh has been defeated in Syria, but as we see Mahmud and Ziyad on their raids we know that that defeat is less than final.

Religion (or more precisely, the exploitation of religious ideas) certainly plays a role in all of this. The reason Daesh uses to enslave these women is that because they are not Muslim, such treatment is permissible. That is not a general understanding within Islam. That is one of many examples of the ways that religious people misuse messages of goodwill to create malevolence.

Sabaya is opening in select theaters.

Photos courtesy of MTV Documentary Films.

Harriet: Prophet Motif

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“God showed me the way.”

Harriet Tubman was given a boost into the national consciousness when she was chosen to be put onto the $20 bill (a plan that has been put on hold by the Trump Administration). But being on money is not all we need to know about her. Kasi Lemmon’s biopic Harriet give us a chance to discover the inspirational story of a slave who not only fought for her own freedom, but risked her life to bring many others to freedom. But more than the struggle for freedom, Harriet portrays Tubman as a religious figure—a prophet that heard God’s voice and did God’s work.

Cynthia Erivo stars as Harriet Tubman in HARRIET, a Focus Features release. Credit: Glen Wilson / Focus Features

The film opens with a Sunday service on the Brodess farm in Maryland. The assembled slaves sing a spiritual, “Keep Your Hand on the Plow” (which in later days morphed into “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize”). Reverend Green (Vondie Curtis-Hall) exhorts the assembled slaves to obey their masters as Paul says in Colossians. All this as the master and his family look on approvingly.

Then John Tubman, a freeman, asks to talk to Mr. Brodess about freedom for his wife Minty (Cynthia Erivo), having talked to a lawyer about Brodess’s grandfather’s will that said they should be free. Tubman is banished from the farm. Minty determines to find her freedom and leaves. Her father (also a freeman) tells her to go to Rev. Green’s church. She is reluctant given his sermons, but discover that he can tell her where to go. She begins a harrowing journey with slave catchers in pursuit. When cornered on a bridge, she jumps, saying she will be free or die.

Cynthia Erivo stars as Harriet Tubman in HARRIET, a Focus Features release. Credit: Glen Wilson / Focus Features

The journey continues, with some help along the way, until she reaches Philadelphia, a journey of 100 miles alone. She goes to the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, where she meets William Still (Leslie Odem Jr.), who takes down her story and asks if she’d like to choose a new name for living free. She takes her mother’s and husband’s name, becoming Harriet Tubman.

After a year of living free, she wants to go back and get her husband. She is dissuaded, but will not give up on her plan. She has been coached in living as a freewoman by Marie Buchanon (Janelle Monáe) so she can pass as free while traveling in the South. She knows that if she is caught she will be beaten and returned to slavery. But she is determined. When she discovers her husband has moved on with his life, she finds that her family wants to go with her. She determines that God has led her here to free them. This was the first of many trips to free seventy people over a number of years.

Leslie Odom Jr. stars as William Still in HARRIET, a Focus Features release. Credit: Glen Wilson / Focus Features

The film is designed to be something of an action movie, with chases, and dangers in each escape. But just as it is a story of a journey to freedom, it is also has a deep spiritual journey as well.

Ever since she received a head injury as a child, Minty/Harriet has had spells where she doesn’t quite lose consciousness, but she sees images of things that will take place. During her escape and her heroic journeys back to the south, these visions serve to lead her to safety. She understands these to be messages from God. When she first arrives in Philadelphia, she tells her story to Still. Harriet says “The hole in my head just made God’s voice more clear.” Still writes in his book “Possible brain damage.” Such visions are not unlike the reports of biblical prophets. Such skepticism as Still exhibited is not unlike the way we treat those who make such claims today.

Cynthia Erivo stars as Harriet Tubman and Vondie Curtis-Hall as Reverend Green in HARRIET, a Focus Features release. Credit: Glen Wilson / Focus Features

The film is filled with religion, starting with that opening Sunday sermon. Harriet is a woman of great faith and trust in God. She believes that God has chosen her to bring people to freedom. As she makes more and more trips, she receives a nickname on wanted posters: Moses. The whites have no idea who Moses is—or even which sex—but they want Moses stopped. Meanwhile Harriet calls out to slaves in the field by singing “Go Down Moses” for them to come to her. Like the biblical Moses, Harriet sees herself as God’s messenger of freedom to an enslaved people. I’m sure that many will see this as a story of a hero, which it is, but it is really a story of God’s hero, bringing freedom to God’s children in a difficult time.

Cynthia Erivo stars as Harriet Tubman in HARRIET, a Focus Features release. Credit: Glen Wilson / Focus Features

Throughout her journeys to free more people, Harriet constantly trusts in God and the messages God sends her. She attributes her great success (eventually leading seventy people to freedom) to God’s leading. In her later life she became an important figure in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

I also want to mention, as a final note, the song “Stand Up” that plays over the end credits. Stick around and let that song inhabit you. It was written by Joshuah Campbell and the film’s star Cynthia Erivo. Erivo also sings the song. It is a wonderful blend of gospel and other music that evokes the spirit of Harriet Tubman and her mission of freedom.

Harriet is available now on Digital. Out on January 28, the Harriet Blu-ray combo pack includes special features “Her Story” and “Becoming Harriet” as well as commentary from Kasi Lemmons.

Harriet: Leader to Freedom

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Harriet Tubman was an incredible woman and remains an important part of our history. Born Araminta “Minty” Ross, and later changing her name to Harriet Tubman (inspired by her mother and husband), she would ultimately be nicknamed “Moses”, a leader to freedom. A conductor of the Underground Railroad, she not only escaped slavery herself, but is responsible for freeing approximately 70 other people. She was a vital player in the fight to abolish slavery in the American Civil War, acting as a cook, nurse, spy, and was the first woman ever to lead an armed assault. With that said, I was shocked to learn that Harriet (directed by Kasi Lemmons) is the first feature film made about this exceptional woman.

Harriet was able to tackle the enormous task of retelling a crucial story in history so successfully that I believe this film could (and should) be shown in classrooms around the world. This film is simultaneously real and emotional yet has an incredible hopefulness to it. I can still see Harriet (Cynthia Erivo) holding her hands up to frame the rising sun as she steps across the border to freedom for the first time. She wove her desperation into determination, proclaiming “Imma be free or die”, and did everything in her power to succeed.

Cynthia Erivo effortlessly embodies Harriet Tubman in such a special way. If her performance wasn’t telling enough, she brings her gorgeous voice to the role, highlighting various songs from that time period, which often acted as secret messages to other slaves. Just try not to have chills during the trailer of this film as “Farewell Oh Farewell” plays.

Painted across stunning landscapes, Harriet reproduces impressive costumes of that time period, and takes advantage of light and dark to convey emotion.

The only slight misstep was the story line surrounding Harriet’s visions from God. Harriet was known to be very religious, claiming to have had vision from God, and crediting Him for guiding her through her successful escape and subsequent missions. Although this was imperative to the story, I felt that, closer to the end of the film, they started feeling more like psychic premonitions rather than the voice of God. (Even so, this didn’t detract from the overall quality of the film.)

As a human being, I can barely find the words to express my gratitude to Harriet Tubman for her valiancy and single-handedly shifting the trajectory of history. As a woman, how do I convey my sheer inspiration? How do I convey my thanks for her role in my right to vote? Harriet Tubman was a down right warrior and I don’t want to begin to think where we would be without her.

“I made it this far on my own so don’t you tell me what I can’t do.”

TIFF’19: Harriet

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Harriet Tubman was an incredible woman and remains an important part of our history. Born Araminta “Minty” Ross, and later changing her name to Harriet Tubman (inspired by her mother and husband), she would ultimately be nicknamed “Moses”, a leader to freedom. A conductor of the Underground Railroad, she not only escaped slavery herself, but is responsible for freeing approximately 70 other people. She was a vital player in the fight to abolish slavery in the American Civil War, acting as a cook, nurse, spy, and was the first woman ever to lead an armed assault. With that said, I was shocked to learn that Harriet (directed by Kasi Lemmons) is the first feature film made about this exceptional woman.

Harriet was able to tackle the enormous task of retelling a crucial story in history so successfully that I believe this film could (and should) be shown in classrooms around the world. This film is simultaneously real and emotional yet has an incredible hopefulness to it. I can still see Harriet (Cynthia Erivo) holding her hands up to frame the rising sun as she steps across the border to freedom for the first time. She wove her desperation into determination, proclaiming “Imma be free or die”, and did everything in her power to succeed.

Being such a momentous figure in our history, Harriet will be well worth your time.  It will be released in Canada and the USA on November 1, 2019.

Invisible Hands – Meeting the Children Who Work for You

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“There are over 200 million children making the things we buy.”

If you look around your desk, or your pantry, you will almost certainly see products that come to you because of child labor (which is very often slavery). You may already know this (I did), but think that it’s probably unavoidable given today’s global economy. The documentary Invisible Hands seeks to open our eyes to what that means and perhaps goad us into taking action against the practice.

The film goes around the world to show us some of the places where children work, including Indonesia, where they work in the production of palm oil (it’s in everything you eat); India, where children are used in many industries (mining, carpets, jewelry); China, where children work in sweatshop to make our clothes; the United States (yes, right here) where children as young as 12 can legally work on farms (if you smoke, the kids who harvest your tobacco absorb more nicotine working than you do inhaling); and Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire where they work so we can have chocolate.

The film sets before us all the facts we need to know that this is a major global problem. But more than that it puts faces and voices before us. We meet children who are doing these jobs for little or no pay. Some are even trafficked as slaves. All are losing any chance at either a pleasant childhood, and more importantly, any chance of a future that is not impoverished. When a child works, they are not in school, so have no hope of improving their lives.

Early in the film a point is made that the major corporations look the other way, in spite of policies that say they will not tolerate child labor. They have supply chains that have so many levels that they cannot (i.e., will not) audit or police their suppliers. As one speaker says, it is “willful ignorance”. I think that is probably the case with the public as a whole. We don’t want to think about the fact that nearly everything we have traces back to child labor.

The film also shows a bit of hope. In China, the country has started compulsory education, so child labor has dropped. The film shows Apple to be a model for corporate responsibility and transparency in its recent moves to audit suppliers and publish the wrongs they find. It also takes us to a rescue organization in India that not only gets children out of bondage (sometimes those doing the rescues face violence), but also providing a healing environment for those who have been misused by “employers”.

When an issue involves such a global reach as this, we may feel overwhelmed and powerless. But because we see people who are taking action, we may feel encouraged to act in whatever manner we can to chip away at the problem. It may start with consciousness of the problem. We may start looking at the labels of our clothes and tell people in the store we won’t buy things from countries that allow child labor. Or maybe we’ll start letting our voices be heard at larger corporations, or support laws that demand accountability.

For those wanting a better idea of what they can do, and how you are involved, you can go to the film’s website (http://www.invisiblehandsmovie.com/) and see some of the ways you can act. One option is to check your own slavery footprint. (I have 40 slaves working for me.) You can also see companies with relative better records. (But keep in mind a score of 40 out of 100 qualifies as the top quartile.) We can begin to find the tools that will allow us to make a difference not only in this as a problem, but in the lives that the problem represents.

Free State of Jones: Reap What You Sow

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Newton (Matthew McConaughey) carries Daniel (Jacob Lofland) across an active battlefield

The Civil War wasn’t the greatest period in the history of the United States, as most people will attest.  A country founded on liberty fought over whether liberty was to be fully extended to all people. Yet in Mississippi, a unique situation developed—a group of runaway slaves and war deserters took over a sizable area of the state independent of either Union or Confederate control.  In director Gary Ross’s newest film, Free State of Jones, he chronicles its leader Newton Knight and the community he established.  There’s some good stuff to be found here, but the film doesn’t quite know what it wants to be and suffers as a result.

Ross begins with a riveting sequence where a company of Confederate soldiers march up a hill and face the Union in battle.  It’s bloody and graphic and sets the tone for the rest of the film.  Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey), a farmer turned Confederate nurse/medic, wants to help as much as possible.  But when his younger cousin Daniel (Jacob Lofland) is taken out by a sharpshooter’s bullet, Newton decides to take him home to his mother. This is known as desertion, putting a death sentence on Newton’s head.  To keep from having this happen, he flees into the swamp and meets a cast of other runaways—including slaves like Moses (Mahershali Ali), who wears a spiked collar placed on him by his former master.  Slowly, Knight begins to gather their trust and the group begins to add members while defending themselves. Knight’s wife Serena (Keri Russell) flees to Georgia with the kids while Newton begins to help a slave girl named Rachel (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) learn to read.  Slowly, she becomes a replacement for Serena.

The group continues to grow and finally has the attention of the Confederate army.  After watching one of his families surrender to the army (and later hang from a tree), they stage a well-orchestrated ambush of the Confederate company, earning a victory in the process.  From here, the Free State of Jones (named after Jones County, Mississippi) is created and its inhabitants—both slave and free—are treated as equals.

The resolution of the film is not what you’d expect—and that’s where Ross makes a major misstep. You see, Free State of Jones would play fantastically as an action film along the likes of a Confederate version of Robin Hood.  But Ross adds in significant elements of a documentary, altering the pacing and changing the feel of the film to a history lesson. As if this isn’t enough, Ross then adds a third aspect to the story—a court case 85 years later involving one of Knight’s descendants.  This is shown in short snippets and is thrown in irregularly, further breaking the flow of the film.  What started out as a battle film is changed into a question of whether Newton’s descendant is part African-American (implying he had a child with Rachel).  One piece on its own would’ve been fine, but all three become a disjointed mess.  Too bad.

FREE STATE OF JONESAs for the other aspects of the film, I think they were well done. The cinematography is outstanding and conveys the time frame well.  The music is subtle enough to impact yet not overpower.  McConaughey is fantastic as Newton Knight, revealing a noticeable and believable shift in becoming the leader and face of the Free State of Jones. Mbatha-Raw, likewise, does well as Rachel, adding an air of cautiousness and enthusiasm to her role.  Sadly, Russell is almost an afterthought in the film, seeing most of her screen time in an awkward conversation with Rachel over a crying baby. It’s unfortunate that the directing and editing let this film down.

For Newton, the biggest point for him involves sowing that which one reaps (Galatians 6:7), since he was a farmer. He even bases the newly created state on this principle, allowing all people to have land and care for it—including the freed slaves.  In addition, he helps to empower the least to be more than they could ever be.  Consider the following clip, where Newton asks Moses point blank what he is–a child of God.  When a person becomes one of God’s children, they are transformed into something they could not be on their own.  The apostle Paul puts it this way: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (1 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). They can’t be owned (as Newton says) and don’t have to worry about the past, but can look confidently toward the future and the hope Jesus offers.  You see this later in the film when Moses gets his family back and is seen cultivating a field all his own.  It gives freedom a meaning foreign to many of us today.  It’s also a good reminder for us to not take what we’ve been given for granted. Look confidently into an uncertain future and trust God.

Story Still Matters: Race, Film, & the Oscar Nominees

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straightouttaI’m a reluctant writer.  It’s a gift.  It’s a curse.  It’s a gift because God has given me the voice to express myself.  It’s a curse because of the toll it takes and the burden I have to carry.  Your fearless leader Jacob has been nudging me to write film commentary like we used to do at Hollywood Jesus.  The gift kept calling.  The curse kept weighing on me.  So I ducked and dodged him.

And then the Oscar nominations came.  

There was one nomination for the white screenwriters of Straight Outta Compton.  One nomination for the white superstar supporting actor in Creed.  Zero/nada/zip for Beasts of No Nation, Chi-Raq and the other African American centric films/actors/etc.  The question of diversity within the Motion Picture Academy is now on the table.  Blacks across America are furious.  Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee are calling for a boycott.

I can feel most of you sharpening your knives because you think you know what I’m going to say.  Allow me to disappoint you.

Sorry, Jada.  Nothing but love for you, Spike.  But I won’t be boycotting anything. I will spend my Oscar night in front of the TV like I do every year cheering the winners I loved and booing the winners I didn’t want to win.

creed-movieAnd while I’m being honest…here’s more of my $0.02 regarding the lack of diversity in this year’s nominees.

  • Creed was good…but it was nothing more than Rocky 7. The notion that Sly Stallone is nominated  for playing Rocky is a joke to me…but, hey…strokes for folks.
  • A note to filmmakers: if you’re using Netflix to launch your movie in the Oscar race, you’re a TV movie. Beasts Of No Nation getting snubbed is not a statement against Black actors. It’s a statement against a TV distribution system that  is attempting to destroy the motion picture theatrical experience. The video on demand industry is dedicated to shrinking theatrical release windows to the point of non-existence.  Within the next few years, movie theaters will be few and far between due to the fact that everyone can watch movies on their tiny smartphones.  I still love going to the movies.  Nothing beats sitting in the theatre with popcorn in hand and watching a story be told on a sixty-five-foot (NOT INCH!) screen.  Cry all you want about Idris Elba getting snubbed, but I’m doggone proud that the Academy chose to preserve my favorite national pastime!
  • Had Universal received the memo that Steve Jobs wasn’t playing to audiences and the guilds like it had hoped – and repurposed their 2015 awards campaign to ride behind Straight Outta Compton as they should have, Spike wouldn’t be boycotting and Jada wouldn’t be ranting. Harvey Weinstein does the same thing every year, which is why his films bag a gazillion nominations and wins year after year. Don’t blame the Academy. Blame Universal for betting on the wrong horse.

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  • And, as much as I loved Chi-Raq…and as much as I admire your body of work, Mr. Lee, you can’t call a major Hollywood studio a “plantation” and not expect any fallout or blacklisting. Yep.  Back in 1992, out of his frustration with completing his classic biography of Malcom X, Spike Lee called the film’s distributor Warner Bros. those very words.  Twenty-something years later, he’s expressed in news outlets his difficulties in getting the major studios to finance his projects.  I wonder why.  Yeah, we have freedom of speech, but that freedom ain’t necessarily free.  God Himself through the inspiration of Scripture reminds us to be wise, slow to speak and, by all means, watch that flaming inferno called The Tongue.  Unfortunately, many have not heeded this warning – Mr. Lee included.   Speak your mind…but be willing to pay the price!
  • As I shared my thoughts on my Facebook page, I undoubtedly received my fair share of dissention – particularly from an old buddy from my old South Central LA neighborhood.  This particular gentleman called me a sellout because I wanted to see films that were off the beaten path.  I will never forget how he read me the (uncensored) riot act because I wanted to see the U2 documentary Rattle & Hum in the 80’s.  Dude lost his mind back then…and lost his mind again today as I took my anti-boycott stance.  He’s not the only one who gave me grief in  our “hood.” I got ridiculed for saying that Clint Eastwood was a better actor than Eddie Murphy.  My constant pleas to see a movie at the larger than life Hollywood movie theatres were ignored.  While everyone else was living the 70MM life, I used to take the bus to a piece of crap three-screen shoebox across the street from USC’s campus. Once I got a driver’s license, I made my way to Hollywood Boulevard and haven’t looked back in thirty years! I still march to the beat of my own drum.  I don’t explore EVERY film that’s off the beaten path, but I take pride in the fact that I will have seen every one of this year’s Best Picture nominees.  I will not allow my old pal, or anyone else, to use my color or race to define who I am as a person. The fruit of my life transcends my color. I am a child of God and a lover of cinema FIRST!  That’s never gonna change.

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  • Lastly…there’s one way to fix the diversity problem at the Oscars: make a film SO DOGGONE GOOD that the industry can’t take their eyes off of it. Make a work of cinema so decadent and impactful that it simply will not be denied. Steve McQueen did in 2013. The result: 12 Years A Slave. Winner of Best Picture…and many Black folks refuse to even watch it because we won’t grieve the pain and scars of slavery. In order to heal, we must go back to the pain and discover that, in spite of what we went through, we must first realize that we WENT THROUGH – and SURVIVED. Props to the writers/directors/actors taking number one spots from Star Wars. But I’d rather see Sam and Denzel taking shots at each other as opposing attorneys in a courtroom judged by James Earl Jones than Cube and Kevin Hart shucking and jiving across the streets of Miami!

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  • That same sentiment goes to the world of Christian film, too.  I have ZERO INTEREST in the US vs. THEM mentality set forth by stories like God’s Not Dead.  The success of War Room was based on the fact that the story was centered in actual reality.  Like 12 Years A Slave, War Room was so doggone good that it would not be denied.  Let’s see more stories like that!  Yes, we as Christ followers stand for what is right in pure in the eyes of God.  But we need to see more gritty and real stories of transformation through His power.  Let’s see the story where the lead starts out as a foul mouthed, train-wrecked mess of a man and, two hours later, we see the spirit of God upend his life and transform his soul. Let’s see the story about the sister who uses sex to gain acceptance from the world only to discover that, through Christ’s love, she has the acceptance that she longs for.  And please don’t make it PG rated.  That’s not real.  

We live in an R-rated world (X…if we wanna be truly honest).  Are we too proud to take the Apostle Paul’s example of becoming all things to all men in order to save some?  Or are we too concerned about our image?  I don’t know about you, but my journey with God has been decidedly R-rated.  I was the foul-mouthed trainwreck.  I was the one who used sex to gain acceptance from the world.  But His love continues to transform me.  My story of redemption is not pretty…but I know He has taken my ashes and made them beautiful.  Can we get more stories like that on screen instead of incessant preaching to the choir? God doesn’t need us to create sanitized classroom scenarios to prove that He’s not dead.  The harvest is in the muck and mire of the world.  And that harvest is sho-nuff ripe.  But the laborers are few.  Hopefully, in this artform that I love, that will one day change for the better.

Editor’s note: Chris Utley is a forty-something writer, director, (sometime) actor, songwriter, singer (only at church!), husband, and father to three beautiful children. Hailing from Los Angeles, he shares his love for film and Jesus Christ with everyone he can.