Sowers Group album cover
The Sowers Group is an up-and-coming musical group from East Africa. Their roots are in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Their personal stories of survival in the midst of civil war, of hope, and of faith, are powerful influences in their music. Their musical style blends modern and traditional East African and gospel influences to create a powerful presence on record and stage.
We’re privileged to be working on the early stages of production of new music videos for The Sowers Group, in partnership with their African representatives, Pamoja Ministries. This co-production is part of our mission to come alongside strategic partners like Pamoja to help them increase their effectiveness and ability to create powerful media tools in places that are far from the media centers of North America and Europe.
Stay tuned for more news as we begin development on this exciting project.
Tags: Africa, music video, Pamoja, Sowers Group, Tanzania
Below, I’ve posted a link to a great review of our film, The Enemy God.
Doug Lucas, of Brigada.org says,
Hear me well: This is an intense film. It is sometimes graphic, sometimes heart-wrenching, but always engaging. My advice for professors of seminary classes looking for something related to spiritual warfare, anthropology, world religions, and Cross-cultural communications: Run, don’t walk, to order a copy. To anyone working in folk religions, you finally have an inside view to what goes on “inside their heads.” I can’t even put into words the “point of view” from which the story is told… because it seems to be totally Yanomamo… cross-cultural. I felt as if I was living inside the body of a Yanomamo tribesman. I spent much of my time fearing what might come next. Honest — this movie is stirring. If you have a missionary working among tribal peoples, this will give you a new perspective on prayer and its potential to make a difference. Don’t expect a heart-warming, feel-good story like something from a Disney kids’ film. Expect to be sobered. Expect to experience a perspective you’ve never felt before.
Here’s the link to the whole article: One of the Most Unique and Engaging Movies Ever Made.
Tags: Amazon, film distribution, VSN
All of a sudden, I feel like a Producer again!
Today we’re talking with partners in Tanzania to schedule a production & training trip this summer. They work with a well-known singing group and would like us to come and help them produce some music videos. We’ll make it a mentoring co-production so that, when we leave, they’ll be able to produce more, with higher quality than in the past.
Also, this weekend we’re filming some vignettes for a video that will help raise awareness and prayer for the Arabian Peninsula. The final video will be distributed virally via YouTube and other sites. We’re creating it to be translated into multiple languages.
I had the privilege to meet with a small group of people involved in visual storytelling recently. The group represents a variety of organizations, both for-profit and non-profit, who have a passion for visual story in many forms. We gathered to help give direction to the Visual Story Network. Here’s a quick video summation of the meetings, created by Clyde Taber, the lead facilitator of VSN.
Find more videos like this on Visual Story Network
Tags: visual story network, VSN
We got our first look at the new web site for the release of The Enemy God in India. It’s almost ready for the public, so I’ll wait to post the link ’till they work out the last bugs. It’s pretty cool – multiple languages, lots of animation, very professional. The same distributor is also working on our release in Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia, then Scandinavia. Odd mix, but we’re cool with that.
We are also fielding inquiries from other territories. We’ll get a report from our sales agent very soon about what they heard at the summer and fall film and television markets. We know of some deals, but are hoping to hear more definite news. It is a long process; we’ve been told by many people that indie films can go through two or more entire cycles of film markets before all of the rights are sold or there’s no more interest.
Patience is something we have learned – we’ve been working on the film for almost eight years already!
Tags: film distribution, India film