LIVING BRICKS and GOLD MEDALS

Craig Detweiler — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:45:06 -0700

Two years. Two Student Academy Awards. For aspiring filmmakers wondering how to get noticed, how about noticing the suffering of others? Friends of mine have won the gold medal at the Student Academy Awards by focusing their camera upon the plight of those on the margins of society. Their compelling films are not a calculated stunt to win prizes but a heartfelt conviction that we must care for the poor, the hungry, and the hurting.

American University student Laura Waters Hinson won best documentary in 2008 for AS WE FORGIVE, a moving portrait of reconciliation in Rwanda. It highlights both the harrowing genocide and the profound healing that has come to a fractured country. To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan horrors, As We Forgive will be screening on PBS stations around the country, including PBS WORLD on July 15th. Check the PBS schedule for stations and times near you. In the meantime, you can join the Living Bricks campaign, designed to rebuild houses for the victims’ families. Murderers and survivors live alongside each other in a stirring example of forgiveness in action.

Bricks also serve as the central metaphor in Gregg Helvey’s USC thesis film, KAVI. Last weekend, Kavi won the Academy’s gold medal for best narrative. Kavi focuses upon bonded labor, a modern form of slavery still haunting children in India. A young boy longs to escape the brick kiln that binds him to the land (and those who exploit him). Helvey’s award winning drama is rooted in stories of poverty that have appeared in places like the New York Times.

These are stories any young filmmaker could have told. But do we have eyes to see and ears to hear such harsh realities? Gregg Helvey did. He made the movie to inform audiences about a heartbreaking, real world situation. Get involved in the movement to abolish modern slavery via the Not for Sale Campaign and International Justice Mission.

Congratulations to these young filmmakers who combine artistry with social justice. May their success inspire the next wave of faith-fueled filmmakers.