Meet the filmmakers
Dr. Jonathan Bornman
Social Anthropologist / Producer
Jonathan grew up in a Mennonite family in Indiana working on local farms and in his father’s masonry business. When he graduated from high school his eyes were opened to the world through a one-year cross-cultural service and learning opportunity in Brazil where he discovered a love of language and culture. Jonathan and his wife, Carol, served in Burkina Faso (1991-94) developing water resources. There, Jonathan learned French as well as a smattering of local language greetings and gained an understanding of African Traditional Religion, Islam and Christianity in Africa by living in a mixed community.
After earning a master’s degree in intercultural studies with a focus on Islam, Jonathan served with his family in Senegal from 1999-2009 as a Bible teacher. In 2013, Jonathan joined Eastern Mennonite Missions’ newly formed Christian-Muslim Relations Team and was privileged to be mentored by Dr. David W. Shenk (author, speaker and innovative thinker on interfaith relations). This work expanded his international experience to 37 countries and four continents.
His expertise includes nonviolence in Islam, Sufi Islam, missiology, immigration, and Christian-Muslim encounters. Jonathan is a connector who works to build bridges and equip people to participate in Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation, peacemaking and seeking the common good. He has a PhD from Middlesex University (Social Anthropology).
Inspired to harness the power of cinema to create a better world for people of all backgrounds, Jonathan founded Dove Tale Productions in 2021.
Filmography
Producer - The Allies for Peace video series www.emm.org/peacemakers/resources
Producer and Host - A search for peace, a Palestinian perspective on nonviolent conflict resolution
Ehab Assal
Cinematographer / Producer
Ehab started his career in cinema in the early 1990s, working as a first camera assistant on more than thirty feature productions including iconic Hollywood films such as The Insider, The Apostle, The Body, and Sling Blade. He has worked with multi-award-winning cinematographers such as Vilmos Zsigmond, Dante Spinotti, Barry Markowitz, and David Burr.
Meanwhile, Ehab continued to work as a cinematographer in Palestine, lending his talents to a variety of short projects and documentaries before expanding to take on the role of producer. He eventually established his own company, Yellow Dawn Productions. Its first production was 2009’s award-winning period drama The Time That Remains by Elia Suleiman, followed in 2010 with the production Amazing Love by Kevin Downes. Ehab served as Executive Producer on Yellow Dawn’s first feature films.
In 2013, Ehab served as Cinematographer on Omar with acclaimed director Hany Abu Assad. The production was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Annual Academy Awards, and Omar’s cinematography was recognized with a Silver Frog award at the 2014 Camerimage International Film Festival. Ehab subsequently served as Director of Photography with Hany Abu Assad on his 2015 film, The Idol.
D. Michael Hostetler
Director / Producer
Michael is an award-winning producer, director, and a communications consultant with more than 30 years of international experience. He is a deeply committed to peace and social justice work, with experience helping people from diverse cross-cultural settings communicate their stories.
Michael has a proven ability to bring projects in on budget. He was one of the founders of the production group Sisters & Brothers (1981) and served in a variety of production roles on their slate of films including The Weight (one-hour shot on super 16mm), The Radicals (full-length historical drama shot in central Europe), and a variety of children’s shorts.
In the early 1990s, Michael produced video that interpreted themes focusing on nutrition, health care, literacy, education, and community empowerment for the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services in Cairo, Egypt. Later, he served as producer and director for the awarding-winning video series, including Reflections on the 23rd Psalm for People with Cancer for Vision Video, Pa., USA, on location in Israel/Palestine and produced and directed a series of videos on building mental wellness, for use in the educational setting.
From 1996 – 2005 Michael commissioned and gave oversight to feasibility and market studies conducted by Coopers & Lybrand, based in Tel Aviv, Israel. The study was commissioned for the creation of Nazareth Village, a full-scale recreation of Nazareth, as it was in the first century. Nazareth Village is a visitors’ center in Nazareth, Israel. He also commissioned and gave oversight, in collaboration with the University of the Holy Land, to four years of research in the anthropological, historical, archaeological disciplines to build a clear and strong foundation for construction of and the interpretive work of Nazareth Village (www.nazarethvillage.com). He served as the center’s first Executive Director during a time of economic and political unrest. More than one million visitors found their way to the Village since it opened its doors to the public.
Michael then moved back to Canada where he worked as the director of marketing and communications for Ontario charity KidsLink, until 2011.
He went on to develop and produce independent productions for Jacaranda Communications, as well as working with a variety of businesses and non-profit organizations.
