Stepping Toward the Lion:
Finding My Story
An award-winning independent film by John Lyden, Children at the Well alumnus, featuring fellow storyteller Alaudeen Umar. Original score by David Bourgeois.
Winner of the Best Student Film award at the 2014 Peace on Earth Film Festival, this short documentary film compellingly demonstrates the power of story to heal and transform our world. It poignantly highlights the experiences of a young Muslim American man and the powerful benefits of his involvement in our unique storytelling program that brings together teenagers of many different religions and cultures.
John Lyden wanted to convey the power of youth interfaith storytelling with his film “Stepping Toward the Lion.”
John, then a 20-year-old filmmaker studying film at the College of St Rose in Albany, NY, had been one of our C@W participants. He worked tirelessly to make this film, with vision and a passion to portray the community-building and healing force that is C@W. A number of John’s fellow C@W interns assisted in various ways, as have staff members.
John called the film “Stepping Toward the Lion; Finding My Story”, which refers to the journey made, and the story told, by another of our former storytellers, Alaudeen Umar.