Mien Yockmann has spent the last six months editing the Faustina film. Here he reflects on what this experience has meant to him:
If you were to tell me just a year ago that I’d be working for a Catholic organization on a film about a mystic saint, I would’ve looked at you cynically, and said, “Yeah, right!”
On July14th, our 21-year-old daughter Lucy married Michael Duchesne. We had a wedding reception here in our backyard, with more than 200 people attending.
It’s been an emotional time for me. Lucy is the second to the youngest, and I’ve never had a wedding for a daughter before. I felt, as we began the process of preparations, completely confused about what my role should be.
As he came on stage for the curtain call after a Tennessee high school performance of Tolton actor Jim Coleman looked out into the audience and saw a young girl about 15 years old, wearing a head wrap. She was crying.
Afterwards, as the students were filing out, she walked up to the stage with a few of her friends.
“Thank you so much for telling this story,” she said.
"Throughout my career as a composer, I've written mainly concert works, video game soundtracks, and most recently, operas. While fulfilling, these were nothing quite like creating the score for Tolton. From studying Father Tolton's journey, to incorporating spirituals of his time, the process brought me even deeper into my relationship with Christ. It's been nothing but a blessing to provide my God-given gifts back to the Lord through Tolton: From Slave to Priest!"
Since the beginning of 2018, actor Jim Coleman has been playing the role of Father Augustus Tolton,. Our Backstage Crew got a chance to talk to him. Here is an excerpt from that talk:
SLP: How did you end up performing the role of Father Tolton?