Tony Blair Faith Foundation

My experience in London started as the airplane was making its final descent through the clouds hovering over the British capital. All of the monuments and landmarks that I’ve seen a million times on postcards and in coffee table books now looked like miniature models in a studio. The entirety of central London was in my view. And all of the people in it were tiny and invisible from where I was.

Once I landed, I became one of those tiny people. And the next day at the home of BAFTA, I saw the names of my heroes on the walls as being a part of this amazing institution: Alfred Hitchcock, Carol Reed, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Michael Powell, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, etc. I couldn’t believe that I was there to accept an award for my own film thanks to the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. I can’t even begin to describe what an honour it is to have received that award from such a great foundation that was started by such a beloved and gracious man, Tony Blair. But the highest honour I feel is that I was there because of a film I made in the name of my faith which is so rarely expressed in an well-done, artistic manner in the film medium. My goal was to show that it was in fact possible to be engaging with the Christian faith and not be boring or sappy. To have a confirmation of that was not only surreal, but when looking back on it now, my experience in London feels like a very long daydream.

The only realities that did in fact settle in were the people that I met. Everybody who worked at the foundation was so genuine and heartfelt. I made some dear friends in the fellow filmmakers whose films were absolutely extraordinarily smart and beautiful. I always admire filmmakers making personal films. It is the only way that a true emotional connection can be made in the film medium between artist and audience. I made a connection with each and every film and I felt extremely proud to be in competition with those movies.

The fact that my mother was able to share this experience with me is so fitting. She not only shined in the film but her presence was definitely felt by everyone at the event and she deserves no less than all the praise that was given to her.

And, what can I say about London? Just that it is one my favourite cites that I’ve ever been to. Such a rich history, beautiful architecture, and an endless list of things to do make it a city that I want to keep visiting over and over and definitely work in one day.

I have to give my appreciation and gratitude to all of the judges who saw my film and liked it. But most of all I want to give a thank you to Tony Blair. Not only did he make this experience possible, he was also incredibly genuine when watching and admiring the films and when meeting us and congratulating us for our accomplishments. He deserves the credit for creating this competition. I am honoured to be part of the first group of winners and I look forward to the future of this competition.