The Sultan and the Saint: A New UPF Film Project

The Sultan and the Saint is a new documentary film project addressing an urgent global need: support for the positive role that religion must play in ending rampant violent religious conflict and in promoting reconciliation across the lines of religious difference, especially between Muslims and Christians.

The Sultan and the Saint tells one of the great, lost stories from history. Set in a past period of East-West conflict, it speaks with urgency to our present. Two men of faith, one a Muslim hero and the ruler of a Muslim Empire, nephew of Salah ad-Din, the other an itinerant Christian preacher who would become one of Christianity's most revered saints, bucked a century of war, distrust, and insidious propaganda in a search for mutual respect and common ground. It is the story of the Sultan Al-Kamil of Egypt and Francis of Assisi, and their meeting on a bloody battlefield during the period of Christian-Muslim conflict known as the Crusades. This is big history, important history. Not only does it speak directly to the conflicts of today, the story itself is very dramatic with many fascinating twists and turns, and with central characters who are more compelling than even their legends claim.

With so many causes to support out there, and with numerous important campaigns competing for your attention, we decided to make our pitch short and sweet. Watch our video above, and if you like what you see, which we hope you do because we worked really hard on it, you can scroll further down to read more about the film and to watch an extended video with more information about the story, set, and everything that goes into making a film! 

WHAT IS THE STORY?

The film will tell the story of a little-known encounter between Saint Francis of Assisi and Sultan Malik Al-Kamil, who met during the Fifth Crusade and were each transformed in notable ways. Told with cinematic-style reenactments and interviews with renowned historians, art experts, religious thinkers, and brain scientists, the film centers on these two men of faith, who had an improbable meeting during a terrible period of religious conflict between their faiths, and discovered a way of finding peace between them. 

In 1219, during the worst days of the Fifth Crusade, across a grim battlefield groaning with death and horror, Malik Al-Kamil, nephew of Saladin and Sultan of Egypt, welcomed two odd-looking Christians into his well-appointed tent. They were humble friars, men of a religious order pledged to poverty and nonviolence, dressed in rough robes and bare feet.  They had risked everything to cross these battle lines. But the lead friar, a man named Francis of Assisi, modeled his whole life in the imitation of Jesus Christ, and was seeking to bring an end to the decades-long war between Christians and Muslims. And so, the powerful Sultan welcomed Francis and engaged him hospitably and with kindness. Francis remained for a week, during which the two engaged in one of the great moments of interreligious dialogue. 

When Francis departed, he left with a deeper understanding of Islamic spirituality that was reflected in later writings that urged Catholics to treat Muslims with greater respect. Al-Kamil continued to welcome all opportunities to engage and discuss with the Christians, and a few years later, he succeeded in concluding a treaty with the Holy Roman Emperor that finally ended the suffering of the bloody Fifth Crusade.

SOUNDS AWESOME, BUT HOW WILL YOU MAKE SURE PEOPLE WATCH THIS FILM?

That's an excellent question! Prior to broadcast, UPF will coordinate 40 film screenings in collaboration with various national and local partners, including local PBS affiliate stations. UPF has a proven premiere model, having already conducted over 100 premieres for previous films, and we expect up to 20,000 attendees for this film. 

WHY SHOULD I HELP UPF? 

Unity Productions Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational foundation. This basically means that we rely on being funded by generous donations from people like you. This also means that your donations are tax deductible. 

This is a grand-scale production, and we are going to need your help to make this happen! This is not our first rodeo, UPF films have been viewed by an estimated 150 million people worldwide and have won dozens of national and international awards. UPF has partnered with prominent Jewish, Muslim, Christian and interfaith groups to run dialogues nationwide - with more than 80,000 participants in classrooms, community centers, living rooms, government offices and religious congregations. Check out our website to see a complete list of all of our films. 

Watch to learn more about the story, the film set, and everything that goes into making a film: