Marco Carvalho
A thanksgiving Mass took place in the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady on the 14th of October to praise God for the success of the Living in Faith video series. The Eucharist brought together many of the protagonists of the 16short documentary films that were produced by the Macau Catholic Culture Association.
The celebrated video series depicts the way the Catholic faith is experienced in the Special Administrative Region, and since they were published, less than three years ago, the videos have been viewed more than one hundred times on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
To celebrate such a remarkable achievement, the Macau Catholic Culture Association, whose chairman is Bishop Stephen Lee Bun-sang, released a limited edition USB flash drive featuring the complete 16-part documentary series. More than a mere record of the way that local Catholics experience their faith, the Living in Faith video series is a historical document that offers a new perspective on the way Catholic culture permeates all the other aspects of daily life in Macau, says Joni Cheng, director of the Macau Catholic Culture Association.
“Since it was first broadcasted, the Living in Faith video series produced by the Macau Catholic Culture Association has surpassed 100,000 views. This is a milestone in our goal of promoting Catholic culture via contemporary new media. This video series integrates the historical characteristics of Macau’s Catholic culture into modern new media culture, where the collective memories derived from Catholic culture can be seen from a new perspective,” the director of the Macau Catholic Culture Association contends.
Produced over the last two and a half years, the 16 videos that constitute the documentary series offer a glimpse into the richness and diversity of Catholicism in Macau. The various ways faith is experienced in Macau by different communities, Joni Cheng argues, have always contributed to the enrichment of local society and helped to transform the now Chinese Special Administrative Region into a cultured and sophisticated metropolis.
“This Living in Faith short video series contains 16 episodes. The casting of each episode has its own characteristics, including local Catholics of different occupations, races and ages, which show that Catholic culture and charity is indifferent to these sorts of distinctions. The filming crew went to different places in Macau to shoot the scenes, from famous Catholic cultural heritage sites all the way to different kinds of Catholic institutions, capturing rich Catholic sentiments and memories,” Joni Cheng explains.
“The Living in Faith short video series aims to reveal the Christian lives lived by local Macau faithful who, through their testimony, help people experience authentic local Catholic culture. Macau has over four hundred years of religious history and customs that are not only an important cultural heritage, but also contribute to the enrichment of the local community. It is through these long-term collective experiences that the local Catholic Church and the local Catholics have gained certain peculiar characteristics. These characteristics are expressed in a distinctive way,” the director of the Macau Catholic Culture Association adds.
Besides Living in Faith, another video series produced in Macau titled Heaven in Daily Instalments is also set for release on platforms owned by the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation in Canada, North America
Next stop: Canada
The impact of and recognition received by the short film documentary series produced by the Macau Catholic Culture Association has already spread beyond Macau. The 16 short reels will soon reach one of the largest Catholic streaming platforms in North America. “Not only was the Living in Faith video series very well received locally, but also internationally. The documentary series will soon be broadcasted outside Asia, on the platform of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundations in Canada, North America. The video series will be broadcasted on major Canadian television network channels, on social media and on the online media service Salt + Light Plus. Salt + Light Plus is available on Roku and on Amazon Fire TV network set-top boxes,” Joni Cheng told O Clarim.
But the Living in Faith series is not the only audio-visual resource produced in Macau to reach North American audiences. The Macau Catholic Culture Association also produced an animated video series based on a book authored by Father José Mario Mandía, the former director of O Clarim. “The association has also produced an animated video series Heaven in Daily Instalments based on Father José Mario Mandía’s book of the same title. Through these short animated videos, this series hopes to lead the audiences to the path of holiness through the sanctification of their daily lives and ‘lay up for themselves treasures in heaven’ (cf. Matthew 6:20). The videos are shown in two separate versions, with English and Chinese narrations. The animated series is composed of a total of 24 short videos with English and Chinese subtitles,” the director of the Macau Catholic Culture Association says.
“This Heaven in Daily Instalments animated video series will also be broadcasted on the platform of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation in Canada, North America. As I said before, this platform comprises major Canadian television network channels, social media and the online streaming media service Salt + Light Plus, which is available on Roku and Amazon Fire TV network set-top boxes,” Joni Cheng concludes.
Among the local Catholics depicted in the documentary series are people from all walks of life, from environmental activists to social workers, housewives to photographers and well-known local chefs. The 16 mini-documentaries can be viewed at the Macau Catholic Culture Association’s website (https://www.macaucca.org).
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