So Powerful is a touching and genuine short film by Isabel Miranda and Emmanuel (Manny) Lopes. It is a documentary about two individuals from very different cultural backgrounds, Max and Shoghi, who build a deep friendship through music.
So Powerful is a joy to watch and a sweet film to derive inspiration from. I’m grateful to Isabel and Manny for taking the time to tell us about their 17 minute documentary. Here’s what they shared with us: Continue reading
I had the fortune of taking part in the 2022 World Conference which recently took place in Brisbane, Australia, and on the opening night of the conference, a short film was shown called A Deeper Calling: Reflections on the Transformative Power of Prayer. The film features five young people from Brisbane, and it shares their personal reflections of how prayer has affected their lives.
I found out that the film was created by my friend, Devina Saberi, who also happens to have taken part in some of our very first Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions (“Shine Ye” and “Sorrow Shall Pass“), and she agreed to publish the film on Baha’i Blog’s Youtube channel, and also answer some questions about the film. Here’s what she shared: Continue reading
“Life’s Springtime” is a short film made by a group of friends involved with the junior youth activities in the Gold Coast, Australia. The film was premiered at the World Conference Gold Coast (1-3 April, 2022), one of hundreds of global gatherings called upon by the Universal House of Justice.
I was fortunate enough participate in this conference, and it was incredible to see the short film shared with everyone there and the way the crowd was moved. We just published the film on Baha’i Blog’s Youtube channel, and so I asked my friends who were behind the film, Aidan Ashford and Hyde Hassall, along with Leily Moghbelpour, who played the main character, to hear more from them about the whole experience. Here’s what they shared: Continue reading
One of the prayers revealed by the Bab is a prayer often referred to by many as “Say God Sufficeth”, and it reads:
“Say: God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth but God sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.”
Over the years, as a part of our Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions, we’ve shared several recordings based on this prayer that are sung in different languages by Baha’is and their friends in different locations around the world. We thought it would be nice to share some of these songs based on this prayer. Here they are in no particular order, and we hope you enjoy them too. Continue reading
Baha’i Blog’s Studio Sessions series just reached the massive milestone of having published 400 Studio Sessions!
For those of you unfamiliar with our Studio Sessions, it’s a musical initiative where we invite Baha’is and their friends in different parts of the world, to come into a studio to sing an original song based on the Baha’i Writings or letters of Shoghi Effendi or the Universal House of Justice (though we’ve made some rare exceptions to this rule such as this tribute to Mona Mahmudnizhad by Tom Francis where he sings a cover of Doug Cameron’s “Mona With the Children”). We then make these videos and audio recordings available on our YouTube Channel and SoundCloud page for everyone to listen to!
Studio Sessions started around five years ago and we were partly inspired by a letter from the Universal House of Justice which stated: “We long to see, for instance, the emergence of captivating songs from every part of the world, in every language, that will impress upon the consciousness of the young the profound concepts enshrined in the Baha’i teachings.”
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Abdu’l-Baha: The Mystery is a new six-part documentary series about the life of Abdu’l-Baha, the eldest son of Baha’u’llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith.
Produced by Fred Badiyan and Ramin Khadem in honour of the centenary of the ascension of Abdu’l-Baha, these six films cover the life of Abdu’l-Baha in chronological order, from His childhood and imprisonment, to His travels and ascension.
Fred Badiyan and Ramin Khadem have created many wonderful films relating to the Baha’i Faith such as the Hands of the Cause of God documentary series, and others such as Crossing Frontiers featuring the life of Ruhiyyih Khanum.
Baha’i Blog was given the Rights to distribute “Abdu’l-Baha: The Mystery” on our YouTube channel, and we are extremely grateful to Fred Badiyan and Ramin Khadem for honouring us with this privilege.
I got in touch with Fred Badiyan to find out more about this new documentary series about Abdu’l-Baha, and here’s what he shared: Continue reading
The Universal House of Justice has commissioned a feature film called Glimpses of a Hundred Years of Endeavour that reflects on the efforts and learning carried out by a burgeoning Baha’i community since the passing of Abdu’l-Baha in 1921, and it outlines the journey that has led to the community’s current efforts to contribute to the emergence of a world organized around the principle of the oneness of humanity.
The film is available in seven languages and can be streamed or downloaded.
As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the passing of Abdu’l-Baha, we thought we’d highlight all of our Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions that put excerpts from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha to music. To date we’ve released 128 Studio Session songs based on the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, and we hope you enjoy them! Continue reading
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Passing of Abdu’l-Baha and the Universal House of Justice has said that it will be a time for “profound reflection on the life of Abdu’l-Baha and the strength of the Covenant of which He was the Centre.”
We’ve shared a diversity of content relating to Abdu’l-Baha on Baha’i Blog’s Youtube channel over the years, ranging from podcast interviews and talks, to animations and short films. While not every resource dedicated to Abdu’l-Baha on our YouTube channel is a video per se (some are only audio), we’ve nevertheless compiled them into this list. We hope you find these resources useful and inspiring as we prepare to commemorate the centenary of Abdu’l-Baha’s passing.
So here are 33 videos you’ll find on Baha’i Blog’s YouTube channel relating to Abdu’l-Baha: Continue reading
As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Passing of Abdu’l-Baha, we wanted to let you know about our special video made in His honor called ABDU’L-BAHA – Servant of Glory.
We typically interview artists and creators about their work and ask them what inspired them, what challenges they faced, and what words of encouragement they might offer others. I realized it would be really wonderful to pull back the veils and tell you a little bit about what goes into some of our own projects so in this interview I asked Naysan Naraqi, who produced ABDU’L-BAHA – Servant of Glory, to tell us more about the film. Continue reading