Our Woman of the Week, Elizabeth Thomas, was nominated as being one of the rare Orthodox seminary graduates who is also a prize-winning filmmaker. We asked her to tell you about herself:
"I was born and raised in the city of Mumbai, the cinema and entertainment hub, and the financial capital of India. Although I grew up as a priest’s kid, my interests were more inclined towards the art of filmmaking, acting, media, entertainment. Even though I was taught to put Christ as the center of my life--giving utmost importance to the prayers, and sacraments of the church, fasting, giving alms, so on--for me, everything was mechanical. I was afraid that if I didn't do as I was told to do I will have to hear from my parents.
"That changed one day while I was traveling along with my parents to the interiors of India visiting some of the parishes. On our way back home to Mumbai, our car left the road and somersaulted 21 feet down a hill. Visualizing the height that the car fell, if we had been in a movie, there would have been a blast which no one survives. But nothing of that sort happened. Needless to say, our car was smashed, but we came out from that same car like we were some superheroes. Except for some very minor injuries, nothing happened to us. This was the first and the greatest miracle I experienced with my naked eye. From it, I learned that there is a Divine Power that is watching over and taking care of us. The hand of God is always there on God’s children. That’s when I built a personal relationship with God.
"There has been a series of miracles that I continued to experience in my life, which is when I realized God is calling me for His purpose. In my college days, I started taking a deep interest in various activities like sports, photography, films, music, and the Scriptures. My college mates used to gather at the college chapel to have the Praise and Worship Service; I was actively involved in playing the guitar or jimbe and, I must say, it is the place where I learned music from my fellow classmates.
"My journey to Orthodoxy began when I got enrolled in a Greek Seminary -Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, to do my theological education. The reason why I joined the Greek Seminary was that I was very much fascinated by Greek culture and second, I strongly believed God was calling me to learn the word of God and know His purpose. Life in a Seminary was challenging but It is the place where we are trained to be ‘good soldiers for Christ’ because the outside world is even more challenging and, as St.Paul says in his letters, we ought to ‘put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.’ For me studying theology was important because ‘Thy word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path’ for the rest of my life."
Axia!
Elizabeth Thomas, our Woman of the Week, was nominated for her achievements as a seminarian and as a filmmaker. We asked her about her work in film:
"Filmmaking had been my first love and I got trained professionally as a filmmaker from St.Xaviers College, Mumbai. Later on, I went to get further training in Hawaii, where I was very much involved in a Protestant setting. My entry into the film world began with an internship at a Bollywood blockbuster film ‘Ghajini,’ which gave me a heads-up as to how the film industry operates. My choosing Filmmaking as my profession was a culture shock to some of my family members and some parishioners, because they felt it was not a decent profession. According to them, a decent profession is either to be an Engineer or Doctor, and I had to fight my way out to be a Filmmaker.
"My projects include working on films, videos, commercials, and docu-dramas for NGOs. People started accepting me as a filmmaker when I won my first international award for one of my short films,’Anand,’ at the Universal Film Festival in Kansas City, MO. Although I’m still emerging in filmmaking, I’m thankful to God for all His blessings showered on me and that I pray I may be able to fulfill His purpose for the glory of God.
"During my theological studies at the seminary, I generally have to set my secular filmmaking life aside. But whenever I get a chance and time permits, I do help out in the media ministry. For example, I worked for Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) while I was at Holy Cross. I also did a project for St. Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary as part of the celebration for their jubilee anniversary, which is one way I connected seminary life and filmmaking.
"As of now, I'm full time occupied by secular filmmaking projects as I await my theology grades and graduation. I don't know where God will lead me to after this."
As always, we asked our Woman of the Week, Elizabeth Thomas, about her routine:
"‘Variety is the Spice of Life’ and so is my daily routine in this pandemic but it all starts with the sign of a cross and personal prayer followed by family prayer in the morning and evening. Then I make some juice or a milkshake for my family while the rest of the family members help in preparing breakfast, which varies every day. After breakfast, I try to either work on some of the film projects that are on my plate, discuss and have meetings with my fellow filmmakers and colleagues, which will go on for an entire day and often late evenings too. In the afternoon and late evenings, I sit on my terrace garden and work on the book that I’m writing on, about a saint’s life. Also at times, I work on some graphic designing assignments. We have our evening prayers and some family time together and sometimes I sit up late at night to finish my work. Since I’m also a movie buff, I try and make it a point to watch at least one movie a day. Other than that, during these pandemic times, my other hobbies include playing my guitar, listening to music, cooking (I try to make one new dish every alternate day and update my food blog on Instagram). Had it not been a lockdown, I would have been traveling and filming some of my projects that are planned!
"During this pandemic times, I certainly miss going to church, attending the Divine Liturgy, and fellowship with one another. I always love and prefer attending prayers and Divine Liturgy at the seminary more often because of the beautiful experience I had and the variety of tunes used in prayer services, which is very different from local parishes where I live in Mumbai."
