Torbay filmmaker's story of faith shortlisted for Tony Blair award

Ala Elhoudiri's short film about how her faith inspires her life was shortlisted by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation

By Kevin Dixon, on Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Ala Elhoudiri (right) with Tony Blair

Ala Elhoudiri of Torbay Inter-Faith Forum 4 Youth, produced a short film about how her faith inspires her life, entitled Hope and Justice, for the international Shorts 2011 competition of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation.

Ala’s entry was shortlisted and she recently attended the award ceremony with her family at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in Piccadilly, London.

The judges included Dawn French, Hugh Jackman, Nik Powell and Lord Puttman and, of course, Tony Blair, who said: ‘The stories these films tell are incredibly powerful, some challenging, others uplifting. They all confront head-on many of the prejudices and damaging stereotypes that often surround religion and are full of conviction and hope.”

Ala’s film recorded her despondent reaction to the Libyan crisis in which her cousin died and the resulting realisation that her faith challenged her to use her voice to promote hope and justice in the world.

Although she did not win an award, Ala said it was a wonderful experience because she met so many people from the world of film and has made lots of useful contacts. Further, to her surprise and delight, her film was submitted to the Insight Film Festival in Manchester, where she was awarded the Best Short award for Framing British Muslim Awards.

Ala, who now reads English at Plymouth University, is determined to develop her filmmaking interest and skills. Ala said: “I cannot believe my simple message was judged by some of the most successful people and managed to spread around the world.

“That’s enough to prove to me that justice through faith means a lot to many people. This experience has encouraged me to continue film-making to launch more messages of goodwill to our community and the world.”

Ala has already participated locally in the making of an excellent DVD It Matters to Me, produced by Devon Faith and Belief Forum for use in Religious Education in Devon schools, where she explains the difference that her Islamic Faith makes to her life. She is grateful for the inspiration generated by this project.

Ala is a great credit to Torbay’s Inter-Faith Forum 4 Youth which aims to cross cultural and faith boundaries in order to promote a more harmonious society.