Leap of Faith – Director Nicholas Ma

Director Nicholas Ma’s LEAP OF FAITH follows 12 diverse Christian leaders, who over the course of a year, struggle to find hope and fellowship at a series of boundary-breaking retreats in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Brought together by Michael Gulker of The Colossian Forum, five women and seven men explore some of today’s most contentious issues; Immigration, Race, Gun Control, Gender Identity, Class, Abortion, Racism, and Same Sex Marriage. The divisions between them become apparent and test both their common belief in the universal importance of love and kindness and the bonds they build over the course of a year. LEAP OF FAITH explores whether we can disagree and still belong to each other in a divided world. Director Nicholas Ma joins us for a conversation on what led up to his decision to move forward with this project, how he was able to capture the awkward, disquieting and the transformative moments, gaining the confidence and trust of 13 individuals who came their to be honest and vulnerable and working again with his Executive Producer Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom, Won’t You Be MY Neighbor). 

 

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Featuring:
Michael Gulker, President of the Colossian Forum
Molly Bosscher, Rector, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
Kim Delong, Pastor, Wyoming Park United Methodist Church
Ashlee Eiland, Co-Lead Pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church
Troy Hatfield, Co-Lead Pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church
Ben Kampeier, Campus Pastor City Harbor Church
Artie Lindsay, Pastor of Spiritual Formation, Tabernacle Community Church
Tierra Marshall, Pastor of Formation and Strategic Leadership, Fellowship Reformed Church
Chase Stancle, Lead Pastor, Unison Christian Church
Dr. James Spokes, Senior Pastor, New Life Tabernacle Church of God
Cornelius Ting, Pastor, Grand Rapids Chinese Christian Church
Joan Vandessell, Associate Pastor and Director of Community Outreach and Mission, Grand Rapids First United Methodist Church
Andrew Vanover, Lead Pastor, Thornapple Covenant Church

 

About the filmmaker – Nicholas Ma is an award-winning director, writer and producer based in Brooklyn. He produced the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? about the life of Fred Rogers, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and most recently the WNBA documentary Unfinished Business, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.His feature directorial debut, Mabel (San Francisco International Film Festival, 2024), which he co-wrote with Joy Goodwin, was awarded the Sloan Prize. Previously, he directed the award-winning short documentary Suite No. 1, Prelude (New York Film Festival, 2019). Nicholas has been a DOC NYC fellow and Film Independent Fellow. Prior to his career in film, he covered global economic policy on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, after working as a consultant in New York and Shanghai. He received his M.F.A. from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and is a graduate of Harvard College.

About the filmmaker – Morgan Neville, the filmmaker behind Focus Features’ upcoming animated documentary Piece by Piece, which recently played the Telluride Film Festival as well as the Toronto International Film Festival, is an Academy Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award-winning director and producer known for his work as a cultural documentarian. His acclaimed film Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, a documentary about Fred Rogers, was released by Focus Features in 2018 and has become one of the best-reviewed and highest-grossing documentaries of all time. His 2013 film, 20 Feet From Stardom, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Music Film. His film, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, premiered theatrically in 2021, and was the highest grossing documentary of the year. Other films include the Emmy-winning Best of Enemies, about the debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, about the production of Orson Welles’ final film and Keith Richards: Under the Influence, about the rock legend. Recent projects include STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces for Apple TV+, The Saint of Second Chances for Netflix and Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming with Dave Letterman, and a docu-special for Disney +. For TV, Neville directed Shangri-la about music producer Rick Rubin, Watch The Sound with Mark Ronson, Abstract: The Art of Design, Song Exploder, Ugly Delicious, and The Painter and the Thief.

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Reviews:

“‘Leap of Faith” features stunning cinematography (shot by four different camera people). Even the interiors showcase beautiful compositions and lighting. It makes for an engaging visual side to what is frequently a talk-filled movie.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today

“‘Leap of Faith’ is exactly that – a leap of faith, a calling of sorts into choosing love over not just via some artsy t-shirt but by wrestling with the conflicts, taking off the masks, choosing to be present, and willing to be transformed.” – Richard Propes, TheIndependentCritic.com