Documentary Short Film Review “The Sanctity of Faith” Up from the ashes, a song of acceptance, surrender, and newfound hope arises
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First, the Recap:
What is the makeup of belief in the face of tragedy? For all the world offers that might bring us the most satisfying, fulfilling elements to enjoy, there is the unavoidable truth that at some point, it takes away. Usually, this is NOT remotely a voluntary loss or forfeiture, but rather born from things outside our control which simply come to be, wrecking havoc on us, causing devastation we would too easily think we can never find a way back from.
Yet, is it not IN those moments of total doubt that the seed of something greater can manifest? Instead of ascertaining that all is lost, we choose to embrace a different truth….that if we would all COME TOGETHER, things CAN and WILL be able to turn around for the BETTERMENT of everyone. In early January 2025, the areas of Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu experienced the tenth deadliest overall, third worst CA-based, and worst ever Los Angeles-based wildfires in history. Yet, from it, came something unexpected…an anthem…of faith.
Next, my Mind:
To discover genuine peace of mind in the midst of losing everything you have does indeed seem impossible to comprehend, especially when you aren’t someone who’s directly experienced that degree of directly impactful ruin. But for the residents of the Pacific Palisades region of Southern California in early 2025, that concept was all too true as they helplessly stood by while fire consumed their homes, their belongings, and more tragically for some, their very lives. It is precisely the kind of total obliteration that none of us would ever hope to confront. As mentioned in my synopsis above, however, there ended up being something fresh birthed out of those ashes of tragedy, slowly but surely spreading through the minds, hearts, and souls whose existence was so involuntarily and brutally burned away….a different kind of spark….one of conviction, ideology, and the fundamental beauty of what basic human connection should create….HOPE.
This is what is explored in the new documentary short film from prolific director/editor Stacey Stone, executive producer/cinematographer Diane Mellen, and producer William Stephen, the latter representing a voice of these stalwart people from the affected region who did what extreme circumstances do often do…support one another, BE THERE for one another, HELP one another, and have a literal song to illustrate a devotion to confidence, newfound expectation, heartfelt acceptance, shared mourning, and equally inspired optimism that ALL WOULD BE WELL because of it. In the film’s very abbreviated five minute twenty-three second runtime, we’re entreated to the what amounts to a music video that takes us through imagery of the Palisades fire’s damage and the rebuilding that followed. BUT….the film ends up being a statement and cry for action beyond just this. A LOUD cry.
The other imagery we are given as the song proceeds, while finding its core within the realms of the fires, briefly but so stirringly stretches into a much farther reaching place, encompassing the grander but deeply relevant subjects that are the rich vs. poor dichotomy, the ideas of having a steadfast belief in something larger than ourselves, plus the state of political and social unrest and polarization we’re encountering in this day and age. There is a magnitude of challenge being put forth here, that we as people might come to a deeper recognition that our ability to aid our fellow men and women doesn’t have to taper off or even end in the aftermath of the immediate disasters that so radically shift our mindsets to come to contemplate and appreciate each others’ welfare. We need to arrive at a point of consistency in mutually beneficial interaction as the whole of humanity, and this film’s song, its message, and the compelling nature of it speaks to this fervently.
This critic is always constantly and consequently profoundly boosted in spirit when witnessing films, even ones as short as this one, that can send grateful tidings AND persuasive invitations so magnificently, and to REMIND the rest of us that the requisite compassion we should desire to attain for those who are forced to rebuild like those affected by the Pacific Palisades fires is paramount to see a much more constructive and unified world again. The interview with the documentary’s foundational “Still We Have Faith” song’s writer/producer/composer William Stephen, which leads off the film, is so uncomplicated and simple, yet absolutely penetrating in the context of what he’s explaining about the events that influenced him to create the work. Additionally, the beautiful vocals provided by 20-year veteran and venerated recording artist Lois Mahalia delivers such a potent air of emotive force that I was crying by the end of the song’s final notes.
Frankly, this SHOULD BE the reaction we have to something that so deftly highlights strength, resilience, and a wholehearted dedication to bring people into common community and alliance in times of trouble. Any time we try to convince ourselves “Oh, but I don’t have the time” or “I don’t have the means”, etc, it is in those instances we DO need to take just such a moment and earnestly pause to contemplate what we CAN do to be of assistance to others, again especially in times of total calamity, so that everyone who’s feeling that sense of sweeping physical, mental, financial, and/or spiritual deprivation can KNOW they are NOT alone. The people of Pacific Palisades can attest to this, this film can attest to this, and therefore WE can also ascertain and put into action SOME way to be about building those in need UP, rather than ignoring the issues or just pushing them aside in a “glad it wasn’t me” attitude.
So, in total, “The Sanctity of Faith” is yet another unequivocally necessary glimpse into the human heart, the will to survive, the manner in which to rise up, and the conquering triumph of what we ARE capable of even IN the clutches of what appears on the surface to be a seemingly endless “dark night of the soul”, outwardly and inwardly. It’s life lessons such as what’s portrayed in only five minutes time that can have a lasting ripple effect that could change reality, one country, one state, one city, one person at a time. Let’s get to work making it so.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
