Josh Vis and Sally Vis are RCA mission partners supported by Hope Church, and their current film project was supported through the recent Community Partner grants from Hope Church. This recent update shares both encouraging progress on the film project and connects to insights and resources on issues of justice in Palestine/Israel.
Dear friends/partners:
We have something special with this film. I believe that. I had doubts and fears along the way, but they have subsided. We chipped away at it, not always knowing if we were heading in the right direction. But it slowly took shape. Things began to fall into place. Narratives emerged. Ideas coalesced. The creative process is hard to describe in hindsight. I felt the same way about my doctoral dissertation. I felt quite lost at the beginning, and then something clicked. The ideas came, but it wasn’t clear how.
With this film, I was grateful to have a creative partner. Eric has really poured himself into this project. We have a good working chemistry, and beyond that, we have become friends, confidants. Not all partnerships work; this one did.
We had great material to work with. The people we partner with in Israel/Palestine are wonderful people—kind, brave, smart. We knew they had so much to offer. We knew that their stories and ideas were powerful and true. We only hoped we could find a way to do justice to them. We believe that we have.
Your generosity made this possible. We exceeded our fundraising goal of $122,000, and have nearly reached $130,000. We are so grateful. You gave because you believe in the struggle for justice for Palestinians. You gave because you believe in the individuals in the film. You gave because you believe in us and in our work. Thank you. With the extra funds, we have chosen to have original music produced for the entire film. This will greatly increase the impact of the film.
The conversation around Israel/Palestine is shifting. We may be releasing this film at just the right moment. I am as hopeful about the prospects for justice for Palestinians as I have been since engaging this issue in 2003. I hope our film can play some small role in this just struggle.
We are beginning to target film festivals, both in the United States and abroad. We are feeling hopeful, cautiously optimistic. If we get into one of the top festivals, the world premiere of the film must be at the festival. This may mean that it would take longer than we would like for all of you to see the film. We would like to do some private screenings, but we need to make sure it does not disqualify the film for these festivals. Entry into a top festival would get the film in front of some influential people. And then, who knows what could happen.
Our short film, Lifta, was nominated for a Michigan Emmy! We didn’t win, but it was so encouraging to be nominated. Our next steps for the film are the finishing steps. We are working on the sound mix, the music, the graphics, and the b-roll footage. We will begin submitting the film to festivals at the end of this month. We will let you know how that goes. We only need to get into one good festival to raise the profile of the film.
In the meantime, we have put a couple of new short videos on the film’s Facebook page. Gerard Horton, Military Court Watch, stresses the importance of international law. Yahav Zohar, Green Olive Tours, discusses the export of Israeli occupation technology around the world. Check those out and please share them!
So many opportunities lie ahead of us. And we have all of you to thank. This is just the beginning. We are so excited to see where this takes us.
With gratitude,
Josh, Sally & Marlin