A homeless teen and a businessman dying in an alley; their only hope is each other in “Street Language.”
Stories are how we share our deeper feelings, fears, and hopes. Through powerful stories we are able to experience and express and engage the deeper issues that affect our lives and our communities.
Street Language is a short film resource that will be a catalyst for conversations and engagement. The story speaks to issues of homelessness, lonliness, poverty, mental health, and community. We are producing the film in partnership with Epicenter Pictures, another non-profit involved in mentoring students to effect change in their world through filmmaking.
Here’s a quick synopsis:
Jacob lives an unseen life in the midst of the crowded city. When he stumbles upon Michael, bleeding in an alley, he must decide whether he can take the risk to help. In this moving short film story, a teenage street kid finds the strength to open up his life after a wounded stranger opens his eyes to the possibility of love and beauty around him. Their journey together opens up both of their lives to the possibility of love and hope for the future.
Much more than merely another short film, Street Language is a collaborative mentoring project where we have built a team of professionals and student filmmakers who are working together to create a high-quality piece of cinema. And, we are telling the story through multiple media channels: film, internet, & social media. The goal is to bring a deep, compelling story to audiences and enable viewers to engage in making real-world change in their own cities.
We have a growing number of non-profit organizations who work in urban Denver on-board with us as partners to help bring the story to diverse audiences. Viewers may be at-risk teens, hospice volunteers, or suburban families who want to make a difference in their cities. We are working with our partners to develop study guides and resource links for groups who want to learn and engage.
Tags: at-risk youth, independent film, teens
The Maasai of East Africa share their stories in song. The En-Kata Choir in Tanzania sings their beautiful music to their Creator. This is just one song of ten for which we will be helping to make music videos so the songs can be shared all over East Africa. Enjoy!
AISIAYAKIYE (I Will Serve You Lord)
I will serve You, my God and Savior
I will not leave You, oh Father
I will not leave You, I will not stop serving You
I will serve You, my God and Savior
I will not leave You, oh Father
I will not leave You, I will not stop serving You
Even if troubles come on earth
I will serve You
Even if the cattle are all gone
I will serve You
Even if I go without clothes
I will serve You
Even if severe hardships come
I will serve You
I will sing to You, my God and Savior
I will not leave You, oh Father
I will not leave You, I will not stop serving You
I will sing to You, my God and Savior
I will not leave You, oh Father
I will not leave You, I will not stop serving You
Even if severe hardships come
I will serve You
Even if I go without clothes
I will serve You
Even if the cattle are all gone
I will serve You
Even if malaria comes
I will serve You
I will sing to You, my God and Savior
I will not leave You, oh Father
I will not leave You, I will not stop serving You
I will sing to You, my God and Savior
I will not leave You, oh Father
I will not leave You, I will not stop serving You
The En-Kata Choir’s music is available on iTunes: Hope of the Maasai (Mautmaini Ya WaMaasai) by the En-Kata Choir
Song posted here courtesy of the MAPED and Kahawa Records.
Tags: Africa, Maasai, Masai, music video, Pamoja Ministries, Tanzania
We have been through quite a transition on the heels of “The Enemy God” film project. Now we are in prep for a variety of projects including:
- Feature Film with the Maasai in Tanzania – script research and filming promotional material in June
- Feature Film/tv movie/web series (?) in Eurasia – doing research and developing partnerships
- Short Film in N. American urban setting as a collaborative/mentoring project – scripting is in good shape, doing pre-production, filming in late-July(?!)
- Filmmaking Class for homeschooled middle and high school students for Fall 2011 semester
- Visual Storytelling Training in Eurasia – early in conversations for a Spring 2012 event
- Various other audacious concepts are floating around out there; we’ll see which doors open, and when
Tom leads the Gemstone Media team in a story discussion
Tom recently returned from Germany where he led a seminar in non-verbal short film script development. It was a great experience all-around.
You can read about it from their perspective in this nice post from Gemstone Media
We are looking forward to seeing the short film they produce from the script we developed together. Production may happen this fall.
Tags: European film, Gemstone Media, Greater Europe Mission, training, visual story network
We’re please to announce a special screening of our film, The Enemy God, in Toronto on February 19th. That’s next Saturday night. It is hosted by MissionFest Toronto and will be held at Catch The Fire Ministries.
The Enemy God tells the amazing true story of a Yanomamö shaman and the spiritual battle for freedom for his people. If you are in the Toronto area, you won’t want to miss this special event. Here’s what ministry leaders have said about the film:
“This is an intense film. It is sometimes graphic; sometimes heart wrenching, but always engaging… expect to experience a perspective you’ve never felt before.” – Doug Lucas, Missions Leader, Team Expansion
“…the point of Shake’s testimony is very clear. Sinful man without Christ is frightening and abhorrent. Evil spirits control him. Jesus Christ brings health, peace, and prosperity, even to isolated people like the Yanomamö.” – Dr. Ted Baehr, Movieguide.org
More information about the screening can be found at: MissionFest Toronto – The Enemy God.
Tags: film distribution, film screening, Yanomami, Yanomamo