BELIEF

Confronted with formal notice from the board of education, a mother ignores destructive messaging about her son, Lennox, and relies solely on her instincts to guide him.

She takes a bedroom door off its hinges, makes space for a desk and assumes the schooling needs of her son. Her decision tests her faith, confidence and strength raising the question, can a mother’s unshakeable belief in her son alter his life’s course?

  • Christian Loubek
    Director
  • Christian Loubek
    Writer
  • Christian Loubek
    Producer
  • Erika Hamilton
    Key Cast
    "Mom"
    Out of Tune
  • Mykee Selkin
    Key Cast
    "Adult Lennox"
    Scentsational Christmas
  • Blake McLennan
    Key Cast
    "Teen Lennox"
    Triple 9
  • Barrett Hamilton Loubek
    Key Cast
    "Young Lennox"
  • Tia Robinson
    Key Cast
    "Makela"
  • Charley Harper Loubek
    Key Cast
    "Kai"
  • Derek Bauer
    Key Crew
    Two Yellow Lines
  • David Michael Max
    Key Crew
    The Fourth Kind
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 58 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 30, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    4,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Alexa 35
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Christian Loubek

Christian may be the most experienced first-time director in history. Having worked his entire life in various film roles, he has shot in 18 different countries and worked in 9 different languages. He was once diagnosed with Dengue Fever thanks to his work in film. He is known for capturing saavy performances with visual sophistication. Where Christian is most at home is in telling emotionally resonant stories through the eyes of children.

BELIEF is his first film. It marks the first-time he has ever written and directed a story of his own telling. He found inspiration for the material in the strength and sacrifice of his wife and actress, Erika Hamilton, after she gave birth to their children. The story took on greater personal depth as time passed. The irony is not lost on him that it took so long to make his first film. For that, Christian credits his own personal struggle with BELIEF.

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Director Statement

My wife Erika was fired by her Hollywood manager when he learned she was pregnant with our first child. In his words ‘Congratulations…I’m gonna save you a second call and let you know we’re dropping you..’ Erika is an actor and that moment seeded this story with a deep intention to tribute the strength, sacrifice and unsung nature of Motherhood.

After writing the script, Erika and I waited for our children to grow old enough to play the film’s central roles alongside her. I believe the performances have a deeper resonance as a result of this authentic bond. For us, this film isn’t entertainment as much as it is a mission statement for a mixed family blessed with learning challenges.

The challenge we faced in telling this story was distilling down all of the key contributing elements a mother gives her child. The language we developed to tell this story seeds a bunch of (seemingly) disparate and unexplained moments early in the film and as the film progresses, lets the viewer connect the dots on all the decisions that shaped her son, Lennox.

This approach paralleled my own mother’s lessons gathered from seemingly innocuous moments. Including moment’s where my own mother flat out rejected the prevailing voice of the time. The Mom's decisive moment in our film was inspired by an Angela Y Davis quote: ‘I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.’ This film elevates, against all odds, the transcendent power of a mother’s unyielding BELIEF.