Shaping Humanity: Six Million Years In One Minute

Memory Is Our Homeland Project - Important News

This post is a follow up on the project "Memory is our homeland" of which I wrote two years ago in this blog (click here). I am very happy that things are moving forward in the project. Below is the full letter I have received this morning from Jonathan. I will be very happy if you could spare a few minutes of your kind attention to read it carefully and act on it. Jonathan needs our support. The story he so passionately wants to narrate in his movie is very important part of our Polish history and must be preserved for next generations. I would be very grateful if we could support this project in any way we can - either by prayer and well wishes or through donations. Let us come together to help this young, caring and dedicated filmmaker to fulfill his dream and the need of his heart.

Jonathan's letter:

To the friends, family, and supporters of Memory Is Our Homeland,

I hope this email finds you all well. I figured it was a good time to send out a bit of an update on my film project. Almost four years after my first trip to Poland and Belarus in 2010, there have been many ups and downs to get here, but the project has now been picked up by a producer, here in Montreal, who is going to help me try and find the funding to complete it. There's still work to do, but I wanted to let you all know where I'm at, and thank you for helping me get this far.

If you're receiving this email, you should know that it's because I count you among those who’ve made an important contribution towards helping me work on something that feels both like a long-standing dream and a family obligation. Whether it's through a financial contribution that's helped me travel or work on the film, helping with translation, shooting, or photographing, or support in the form of a meal or an encouraging conversation, you've each had a role in helping me work on something that's bigger than me. If I'd known at the beginning how much work it would be to get to this place I would have found it daunting, but it's your support that's helped me stay with it.

People don't make documentaries to get rich quickly, they do it because they have something that needs to be said, even if it takes time. Over the last four years, I've travelled to England, France, Tanzania, Kenya, Amsterdam, Germany, and Poland in search of a story that belongs not only to me and my family, but to countless others. I've interviewed more than 20 people, been in touch with hundreds of others, and share these stories with many, many more. And after being able to travel to Belarus, and stumbling upon the village where my grandmother was born, I was even able to find people who fondly remembered my great-grandparents and their family.

Whatever reception this film may have when it’s done, it already feels like an accomplishment to have gotten this far. It feels significant to have been able to reassure my grandmother, before she passed away, that not everything had been lost when she was deported as a child: the memories had endured. I am grateful to have been able to give those who shared their stories with me a sense that they were being heard and documented. To see the trailer, that shows some of their stories and how the film is coming together, please visit this link: https://vimeo.com/99573982

As for the good news, a few weeks ago I signed a contract with a Montreal-based producer named Frederic Bohbot to find the funds to complete the film. Frederic runs Bunbury Films (http://www.bunburyfilms.com), a production company that won an Oscar a few months ago for a documentary called "The Lady In Number 6". He's the perfect producer for this project: smart, savvy, respectful of the story and my approach, and even a graduate of Eastern European and Soviet Studies. In Poland, we will also be working with producer who has worked with the Andrzej Wajda Film School and The Polish Film Institute. 

Having these people onboard with the project is a huge step, and we hope to have funding sorted out by this autumn. Frederic has applied to the Canadian Media Fund (a TV broadcaster-supported fund), and met with several Canadian and American broadcasters, and we should hear back by September. In the mean time, he is willing to put his equipment and his expertise at my disposal, towards continuing the work, until we secure financing. 

In the immediate future, my goal is to spend the next couple of months working on it, and getting to Europe this summer to work on the film, since there are important interviews to shoot in the winter. To that end, I am looking to find the means to travel to Europe, and to cover the expenses of a small shoot in Poland and Belarus. With equipment in place, and translators and a cameraman in Poland willing to work for free, I just need to find a way to make my way over there. I’m asking for help to figure out how to do that, so if you know people who can help (or have travel agents in the family, or air miles you won’t use!), please let me know. If you know of people who might be able to figure out how to get me there, please let them (or me) know. There are only two months to cover until we hear back about funding, but they are important ones. Any ideas are appreciated!

In the end though, what I am contacting you for is to say thank you again. Please take the time to check out the short trailer. It's just over 2 minutes out of 50 hours that I've shot in North America, Europe, and Africa in the last several years, but it's a good representation of what it is I've been trying to do, and of the people whose stories I've been trying to tell: https://vimeo.com/99573982 

And it's partly thanks to all of you that I've been able to do it. 

Warm wishes,

Jonathan 

The movie trailer:

Memory Is Our Homeland (Short teaser trailer) from Memory Is Our Homeland on Vimeo.

Kiabakari 1991-2014 - Polish Language Version

Proudly presenting a concerted effort of Prosonica Studio to prepare a Polish language version of the original Kiabakari 1991-2014 documentary movie of the history of Kiabakari mission and its planned future I made with my friend Mr. Aldimilablis Novatus in April this year.

The work of recording the Polish narration was done very nicely in my humble opinion and synchronizing with the movie scenes and English narration in the background is done well as well.

Here it is for the first time published publicly in my channel on YouTube:

Why?

Why is it that among all holy women and men of the Catholic Church, only Saint John the Baptist's birthday is celebrated solemnly in the liturgy of the Church? Of course, apart from Our Lord and Blessed Virgin Mary birthday celebrations. Not even Saint Joseph got his own birthday noted and celebrated in the liturgy. Weird. This speaks volumes about the importance of the life of Saint John the Baptist in the history of salvation. Apart from the birth of Jesus himself and his Mother, the birth of John the Baptist is the third most important birth in the scheme of redemption...Wow.

Shabby Tools

Going through my photo albums, I came across these pictures (below). Twenty years passed since I took the first one in January 1992. The remaining two are the recent ones (taken a couple of years ago). Looking at them I cannot but pray in gratitude to God who made all this possible using us, shabby tools. Surely, there is nothing impossible to God. Please, praise the Lord with me for His power and might, for His love and patience towards us, for His eternal plan towards Kiabakari and all people who have been already touched by the Message of Divine Mercy here. Misericordiam Domini in aeternum cantabo!...

When women didn’t eat eggs, wear trousers...

Monday, being an easy and laid back day off for me today, helped me to infuse my mind with some great stories I came across the web. It is sometimes a futile catch-up chase with the modern world for me, with poor internet connection in Kiabakari and busy schedule, which hinders my 'get in touch' with the world attitude. This time though, I have ample time on my hands as my beaten up truck undergoes repair and service and I sit with my macbook and go slowly through interesting pieces of journalism one by one. Among those I read an excellent and inspiring article, which comes along well with the just a week ago celebrated Women's Day and my Brother's art exhibition on the woman's theme. I copy and paste the full article for your convenience.

The Kingdom Of Far Far Away

I am not exactly sure if it even remotely possible to mold my feelings and magical experiences of yesterday pilgrimage into any sort of words and ideas poured in to the form of this post... Mission impossible, I reckon... Yet I feel an urge in my heart to share with you how yesterday's mystical encounter with the Kingdom of Far Far Away has touched the very core of my existence and changed me...

Ellis Park

These two words have become familiar to every soccer / football fan across the globe. Famous Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, the venue for the opening and closing of World Cup 2010 and some of the games during the month long tournament. But its history reaches much  further in the past...