WARNING: this film contains realistic depictions of the ancient Roman form of execution called crucifixion. The intended audience is teenagers and older.
My Last Day is a 9-minute animé-style short film capturing the story of Jesus’ crucifixion through the eyes of the thief who hung next to Him.
Adapted from the original JESUS film created by The JESUS Film Project®, the film was animated by Tokyo’s STUDIO4°C, and written by Barry Cook.
“Animé, although a bit of a niche, is still a big deal,” says Barry. “I believe that there are people whose heart language is animé.”
Barry wrote the screenplay based on dialogue from JESUS.
“My intent, as a writer,” he says, “was to show JESUS in a new way. I took an element from the original and built a new media idea out of it.”
The team wanted My Last Day to have the DNA of JESUS, keeping the relationship close to the film but telling the story in a different way.
“I like to think about how a story unfolds through a different character’s eyes,” says Barry. “I like taking one character, like the thief on the cross, and looking at a series of events through their eyes. I wrote MLD as a first-person narrative from the point of view of the thief.
“I really believe visuals and pictures are significant to this generation,” Barry says.
In his 22-year career with Disney, Barry is known for directing Disney’s Mulan and supervising the visual effects for Beauty and the Beast.
April 21, 2011 was the official release for My Last Day, approximately one month after the earthquake in Japan. Staff members there have been showing the short with success.
Ministries in America, like Bridges International, were also excited to use this new animé film with students on campuses.
Charlie Brent, staff member with Bridges at Texas A&M says, “My Last Day is by far the best video tool for evangelism that we have used in 4 years of ministry at A&M.”
My Last Day is available for free at www.globalshortfilmnetwork.com (search for “My Last Day”).
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