A cinematographer from Steinbach has been working on an incredible project that can be viewed this weekend.
Cullen Klassen is the Director of Photography for the six-part documentary series called ‘Missionary: Obeying the Great Commission’.
“Each episode features a different historical missionary. These are people who would have lived and died and went and served in different places around the world. They had a huge impact on missions at that time but also missions today and how the church does missions. So, their stories are worth following and learning from their examples of how they lived out their faith.”
Klassen says he had a connection with the Director and Producer of the series, Stephen McCaskell. He was invited to be the Director of Photography and had the opportunity to be the eye behind the camera and travel to 13 countries over the last year.
He explains that they spent close to 60 days travelling and filming. Some days were half days and others were 11 to 12 hours of filming.
The trip that had the most impact on Klassen is when they traveled to Vanuatu where missionary John Paton served.
“We were able to locate the grave of his first wife and child that died there, and it wasn't long after he landed on the island to go preach the gospel to this unreached people group, that his wife and child died from sickness. It was really powerful because we found this grave. But the story behind it is that he actually, in his grief, he laid down on the grave and he actually had to protect it from the cannibals on the island.”
He describes it as a dream project, noting how incredible it was to travel to so many new places while capturing beautiful footage.
“One of the most rewarding parts was being able to work on something of this scale and it is a bigger project than I've ever worked on and to be able to work with such a talented team. From directors to the guys giving the information on camera, to many people who are involved in post-production who are just masters at their craft.”
He adds, “It was really cool to just be one part of the whole picture and I've been able to see all the episodes and I'm just really excited about how they have turned out. They just really turned out quite beautifully. And I think the stories are powerful too.”
Klassen shares that he’s very humbled to have been invited to take part in this project and says it feels too good to be true at times.
They are hosting a hometown premiere of the documentary in Steinbach and the Keystone Cinema Theater on November 17 at 7 pm and two episodes will be shown. Tickets can be purchased through his website, rootvisuals.ca.
The series will also be available for purchase in early December on other streaming services.
Moving forward, Klassen says he has a number of smaller projects in the works and there are plans in the future to work on more episodes for the series.
“Next summer we have planned for two more beyond that. One script is already completed but it was in a location that right now is not safe to travel so we were unbale to go but we hope to at some point.”
He concludes, “We will be capturing more episodes as time goes on as a part of this series and I am also excited to see what other opportunities may open up as a result of this.”
With files from Carly Koop
