Definitions of Catholic filmmaking, like any art, can be subjective. But for Dan Tarrant, the essence of true Catholic filmmaking is simple. He calls it a pure act of obedience.
“When I flew to Uganda for our first film there, I told God that He was the filmmaker and I was the cameraman. He was the interviewer and I was the mouthpiece,” said Tarrant, a resident of Warminster in Bucks County.
“I often tell people I am not the filmmaker at all in our films. I’m just a disciple with a camera. When a person knows God personally, they understand. When they don’t, it just sounds like impractical piety. But it’s the truth.”
This philosophy often leads Tarrant – the founder of Personally Catholic and the director of family ministries at Saint Andrew Catholic Church in Newtown – to create powerful, soul-moving content that he calls “overtly Catholic.” This has included films such as Rescued from Darkness, the story of a Catholic school in Uganda and Completion: The Father Picard Story. He’s now filming Mercy at the Gates: From Addiction to Mercy in Kensington. This film highlights the work of the Mother of Mercy House in helping those suffering from addiction.
While most of his film work covers difficult, and even dark subjects, the films also show the redemptive power of Christ. This approach is not exactly a popular one in the secular entertainment industry.
“I’ll never forget telling the guys, ‘Just so you know, this film is not going to get on Netflix. It’s not going to get on Amazon. It’s not going to get on anything because it’s Jesus. It’s too much about Jesus,” he said about Rescued from Darkness.
“And then I said, ‘We’re going to go make a Jesus film.’ And then we did that. And then it got on Amazon.”
It also got on Apple TV, TubiTV, and YouTube Movies all while garnering 18 awards at both Christian and secular film festivals.
That kind of recognition, however, isn’t the point for Tarrant.
“It’s just what’s in my heart,” he said, “and I think that’s what shows up in my filmmaking.”
Of his approach, he added, “That’s Jesus laying on the street on Allegheny Avenue. Let me show you Jesus. Let’s talk with this guy. Let’s listen to him. Let’s meet Jesus together right here.”
Even Tarrant admitted that his approach can sometimes be off-putting to others.
“He came in with Jesus, like practically on the shoulder,” said Dianne Hoffmann, executive director of Mother of Mercy House. “And then after a while, I realized, wow, this is a guy with Jesus.
“I thought I’d be turned off, to be honest with you, because I thought it’s going to be a lot, but Dan brought a whole new presence. It actually changed me into a different way of thinking.”
The point, he said, is to tell stories that point people to God in the midst of adversity.
This point fuels how Tarrant approaches each aspect of his storytelling, along with a focus on developing relationships with people.
“Great Catholic filmmaking is all [about] relationships,” he said. “It springs from a relationship with God that bleeds over into relationships with people.”
It means truly building authentic friendships, something key to being able to open the interviewee to showcase where they feel the Lord is working in their lives.
As he tells dealers and addicts in Kensington, “‘I only film friends. I’m happy to film you if you want to tell your story. If it’s something you want to do. If you don’t want to tell your story, it’s okay. But I only film friends. And you’ve got to be my friend so I can film you, and I’m going to treat you like a friend.’”
“That’s what Jesus says to us. He said, ‘I no longer call you servants. I call you my friends.’ So, I think that’s the hallmark of great Catholic filmmaking. It comes out of relationships.”
“Dan just comes down and starts talking to whoever, doesn’t ask them much about anything that would be disturbing, gets to know them on a different level,” Hoffmann adds. “And then everybody loves Dan.”
To be authentic in friendship, such filmmaking demands a sense of humility – both with the subject matter and to God.
“Let God use that story to shape the Church and the lives of others,” he said. “And that’s just really how I film.”
In Tarrant’s eyes, that means simply telling the story of Christ in their lives and giving audience members something to take away that’s tangible, “What doing ministry is.”
“If there is a God and we’re living in the world, then Catholic filmmaking is God in the world,” he said. “So Catholic filmmaking, I think, is the most real filmmaking that there is.”
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Faces of Hope is a series of stories and videos highlighting the work of those who make the Catholic Church of Philadelphia the greatest force for good in the region. If you know someone you’d like to see featured, please reach out to editor@catholicphilly.com.
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