Category Archives Videos

Baha’i Blog Presents “Una Serata con NAIM (An Evening with NAIM)”

Music, Videos Leave a comment

Baha’i Blog is excited to share a new music initiative called “Una Serata con NAIM” which is Italian for “An Evening with NAIM”.

In this live concert filmed in his hometown of Genoa, Italy, Italian singer and songwriter NAIM takes us on a musical journey where he shares music from his album Libero, and interweaves principles of the Baha’i Faith and the inspiration behind the songs.

A couple of years ago, the team at Baha’i Blog wanted to experiment in creating a music video series called “Baha’i Blog Presents An Evening with…”, where we would film and record live Baha’i-inspired concerts featuring various Baha’i musicians and bands. I had just interviewed NAIM about his album Libero (which you can read here) and he was organizing a concert based on the album. It was as if the stars aligned. He graciously accepted to be the first to help us try out the idea of filming “An Evening with…” and so “Una Serata con NAIM (An Evening with NAIM)” came to life! Continue reading →

New Video Commemorates the 40th Anniversary of the Destruction of the House of the Bab

History, Videos 1 Comment

The Australian Baha’i Community has just released a video commemorating the 40th anniversary of the destruction of the House of The Bab in Iran called Sacred Space: Impressions in Retrospect, 40 Years Since the Destruction of the House of The Bab. In this video, three Australian Baha’is reflect on their pilgrimage to this sacred spot, which was destroyed as part of a widespread campaign orchestrated over many decades aimed at extinguishing the life of the Baha’i community in Iran.

The House of the Bab was identified as a critical historical and holy spot for Baha’is, and the release of this video has come at a time when Baha’is around the world have been celebrating the bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab, Whose revitalizing message prepared the way for the coming of Baha’u’llah, the Founder of the Baha’i Faith.

I wanted to find out more about the video, so I caught up with my dear friend Mehrzad Mumtahan, who works with the Australian Baha’i Office of External Affairs and was not only a part of the team behind the video (serving as producer and director), but he was also one of the three people featured in the video who shared their experiences of visiting the House of the Bab before it was destroyed. Here’s what Mehrzad had to say: Continue reading →

An Introduction to the Baha’i Faith by Rainn Wilson – A New Animation!

Resources, Videos 3 Comments

I’m super excited to let everyone know about a new animation called An Introduction to the Baha’i Faith by Rainn Wilson that Baha’i Blog had the pleasure of working on with our dear friends at BahaiTeachings.org, SwissVBS, and of course, actor Rainn Wilson.

When Rainn first called to chat about the idea of making an animated introduction to the Baha’i Faith, I was excited because of what was learned when Baha’i Blog made this short video about the Baha’i Faith, and because sadly, there’s still not that much out there when it comes to introductory Baha’i materials online. Seeing as how 57 percent of the world are actively online these days, there’s definitely a need for videos like this.

Over the last year or so while working on this project, I’ve had a number of conversations with friends about what goes into making an animation about the Baha’i Faith. Here at Baha’i Blog we’re passionate about the creation of Baha’i-inspired content and exploring the processes involved, so I thought perhaps it would be a good opportunity to share a little bit about some of the considerations made, and the questions we asked ourselves, such as where to find the resources, what animation style we should use, how to write the script. After all, the goal was to create an animation that introduces the Baha’i Faith to a wide audience. Continue reading →

Bicentenary Events at Baha’i Houses of Worship Around the World: A Roundup of Live-stream Recordings

Holy Days, Videos Leave a comment

As celebrations in honour of the bicentenary anniversary of the Birth of the Bab, Prophet-herald of the Baha’i Faith, unfolded around the planet special events held at the Baha’i Houses of Worship were live-streamed from the official website for the Bicentenary, bicentenary.bahai.org. The majority of these events were recorded and can now be watched at any time on the Baha’i World Centre’s YouTube channel and we definitely encourage you to take a journey around the world by watching them! Continue reading →

Music Inspired by the Heroes Teaching Conference in Brisbane, Australia

Music, Videos 1 Comment

In April this year, some 1,000 Baha’is and like-minded friends from all over Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales, Australia, gathered together in the city of Brisbane to attend a historic conference aimed to help its participants find their place in service to Baha’u’llah and humanity.

The conference was called ‘The Heroes Teaching Conference’, and woven throughout the two-day program were beautiful songs performed by conference participants who were inspired by stories of heroism in the Baha’i Faith’s history, and from the spirit generated at the event. Within a few weeks after the conference, these songs were recorded live in a music studio in Brisbane, and we’re so excited to share this wonderful collection of inspiring songs! Continue reading →

19 Animated Videos by the Baha’is of Ireland for the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab

Interviews, Videos 9 Comments

The Irish Baha’i Community is creating a series of 19 short animated videos in honor of the bicentenary anniversary of the Birth of the Bab, Prophet-herald of the Baha’i Faith. These charming and succinct videos share warmly-told stories about the early days of the Baha’i Faith and about some qualities of the Bab. I was delighted when Trisha from the Irish Office of Public Affairs graciously agreed to tell us a little bit about them. I hope you enjoy our conversation:

Continue reading →

Aerial Footage of the Shrine of the Bab Now Available in Baha’i Media Bank

Resources, Videos 6 Comments

As Baha’is around the world prepare to commemorate the Martyrdom of the Bab in a few days, and with the bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab around the corner, I wanted to share that five new video clips of aerial footage of the Shrine of the Bab, located in Haifa, Israel, have recently been added to the Baha’i Media Bank, and from what I can tell, it’s the first time video has been added to the collection. Continue reading →

The Race Unity Speech Awards: A Platform for Students to Express Ideas on Improving Race Relations

Art & Creative Works, Videos Leave a comment

I wanted to share an awesome initiative spearheaded by the Baha’i Community of New Zealand called The Race Unity Speech Awards. Having started back in 2001, the event is an annual public speaking competition for senior high school students in New Zealand, and although the topic varies from year to year, the theme is always around race. Students are given one or two quotes and several bullet points relating to the particular topic, and asked to consider them when preparing their speeches. Regional heats are held in 14 locations around the country and around 25 of the regional participants gather in Auckland each year for the national semi-finals and finals. The speech awards provide a nationwide platform for students to express their ideas on how we can improve race relations, and the theme for 2019 was “Speaking for Justice, Working for Unity”. In conjunction with the speech awards are also gatherings called Race Unity Hui. These gatherings are also organized to give young people an opportunity to be heard when it comes to race relations issues, and they provide a space for young people to advance the conversation about race relations in New Zealand.

This year’s finals of The Race Unity Speech Awards just took place last month, and Robbie White of New Plymouth Boys’ High School won the competition; he cited examples of past and present New Zealand leaders who have helped to forge unity in New Zealand, and confidently wove the Maori language into his speech (which you can watch here). Nina Gelashvilli, a Year 12 student at Kuranui College in the Wairarapa, was the national runner-up and Michael Echague, a Year 12 student from St John’s College in Hamilton, was a national finalist. I was excited to hear from these three participants about their experience with this incredible event, and here’s what they shared with me:  Continue reading →

Top 10 Baha’i Blog YouTube Videos of the Year! (2018-2019)

Baha'i Blog, Videos 2 Comments

Over three years ago we launched Baha’i Blog’s YouTube channel, where we set out to create our very own original Baha’i-inspired video content. Now, with over 350 videos on our channel, we have a variety of content to offer, including informative animations like What is the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program?, our popular music series called Studio Sessions, Baha’i-inspired talks, our short film series on creatives called The Art Of…, and the funny What’s That Word? educational series aimed at junior youth.

We are excited to be a part of the steadily growing ecosystem of Baha’i-inspired video content online, and we also contribute to this ecosystem by helping and collaborating with others to make specific videos such as The Last Time I Saw My Father and the short film Switch.

Over the last Baha’i year (from Naw-Ruz 2018 to Naw-Ruz 2019), Baha’i Blog’s YouTube channel had over 1.4 million views, and we thought it would be interesting to count down our 10 most popular YouTube videos of this last year, starting with number ten: Continue reading →