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By Kayla DeKraker
Writer and director Sean McNamara, the creative behind movies like REAGAN, SOUL SURFER and THE MIRACLE SEASON, opened up about why he loves creating projects that uplift audiences.
“I was just somebody who loved movies, loved inspirational movies, and so I started in television. Did a lot of television show for like Disney and Nickelodeon, and at one point, the book for SOUL SURFER ended up in my hands,” he explained in an interview on Catholic Radio, reflecting on the 2011 movie. “Bethany Hamilton’s manager was walking on the beach when I was shooting a TV series there called BEYOND THE BREAK. And I read this book, and I thought this would be a great movie.”
McNamara explained how Hamilton’s amazing story inspired him, and as a surfer, he could relate to it personally.
“Here’s a 13-year-old girl who lost her arm, and she goes back into the waves and surfs again. Like, I would never go back in the water again. And I’m a surfer, and I love surfing, but I was like, ‘Wow, there is something about the passion of this, this young woman who, no matter what adversity she’s up against, she will go back and fight to achieve her dreams and she did.”
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The movie went on to win a Movieguide® Teddy Bear Award®.
He added, “So when I did that movie, and I had to learn about what a faith-based movie is, or a faith adjacent movie, and it was new to me, because I was always thinking with movies, you can do anything.”
The director’s heart for stories of faith comes out in his movie THE MIRACLE SEASON as well.
“A lot of the stories I tell are true stories,” he explained. “So, we don’t like to add much to it. It’s just that movie, like with MIRACLE SEASON…this family was devastated, and the father was like a spine surgeon. I mean, he explained, like, when he would operate on somebody’s spines, it was like a cantaloupe inside, like that sort of mastery. And she broke her spine when she was in that crash,” he said, adding “So you sit there, you go, ‘How do you come back from that? How do you come back and be a part of society that actually, you know, does something.”
His next movie, BAU: ARTIST AT WAR, arrives in theaters Sept. 26.
The movie tells “The inspiring love story of Joseph Bau, artist, forger, holocaust survivor. Using his artistic skills, humor and hope in the camps, Joseph stays alive and helps hundreds to escape. Miraculously, he finds love in the midst of despair.”
Movieguide® praised BAU’s “Very strong moral worldview from a Jewish, biblical perspective, with some strong redemptive elements.” Part of the review reads:
BAU: ARTIST AT WAR is a moving depiction of the incredible true story of Joseph and Rebecca Bau. It is both humorous and heartbreaking. Lead actors Emile Hirsch and Inbar Lavi, deliver incredible, heartfelt performances as the two leads. What makes the movie so extraordinary is a script that includes the pain and suffering but punctuates it with real humor and heartfelt romance. Of course, Emile and Inbar’s performances have a lot to do with that, as does Director Sean McNamara. MOVIEGUIDE® advises strong caution for teenagers and adults because of some intense violence and brief foul language.
Faith-based films like McNamara’s truly bring light and truth into Hollywood, and it’s encouraging that people like McNamara who doing the hard work to make these films happen.
Read Next: THE MIRACLE SEASON Interview: Erin Moriarty & Danika Yarosh
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