Often described as a faith-based version of the Oscar-winning ensemble drama Crash, I Am, a contemporary film about the Ten Commandments, released on DVD in November. John Ward, writer/director and producer, offered his thoughts on its making. 

In the film, how does the name God called Himself, "I Am," relate to the Ten Commandments?

When I set out to try and portray the Ten Commandments in the modern day, I was driven by a desire to try and understand why God gave them to us in the first place. In that journey, I really began to learn so much more about who God is—the great I Am, as He identified himself to Moses. It was in that mind-set that I tried to make a movie that shows how loving our God really is. He gave us these commandments only to see us fail miserably at upholding them, but somehow—through the great miracle that is God—He is still desperate for a relationship with us.

Tell us about the casting choices.

Without a doubt, the greatest challenge was trying to cast God—the I Am. Morgan Freeman and George Burns had famously played Him, but it was tongue-in-cheek. This was drama—as is. 

Our first rule was that we didn't want any recognizable face attached because we didn't want people seeing a celebrity instead of Him. Next, we decided that we wouldn't limit ourselves in any physical way, so we reached out to all the agencies in Hollywood saying, send us any age, race, gender—we simply wanted an overwhelming presence.

After hundreds of auditions, one of the co-producers showed me a tape from an actor who was so unknown and so broke he didn't have an address. The sample scene was so grainy and so raw, it was hard to even hear the dialogue, but I knew that was the person we were searching so hard for. I said to the guys in the office, "Where else would the person come from to play God than the most obscure place we can imagine?" His name was Tomas Boykin, and he did an absolutely phenomenal job.

What should Christian retailers know about this film?

Amidst that wall of DVDs in your store is a movie that strives to change everything. It tackles one of the most iconic pillars of not only our faith, but our entire civilization—the Ten Commandments—in our modern day, not with swords and sandals. It changes the way Christian films are made by not just preaching to the choir, but reaching out to those who've turned away from God. It makes the perfect gift from a believer to someone with whom they just want to start a conversation, but also can be a challenging introspection for the most mature of faiths. And, oh yeah, hopefully it's an entertaining movie, too.

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