I would say that I went through my very own personal Renaissance between the years 2006 and 2009. In 2004 I had a strong reversion to the Catholic faith; I fell in love with Christ, the Word of God. During that time, I had aspirations of furthering my studies at UCLA; I was accepted to the School of Letters and Science. It was there where my love for God fused with my love for the arts. Through the study of literature, film, art, linguistics, art and music I rediscovered the beauty of world culture, but most importantly I discovered the hand of God working carefully and lovingly in artists and intellectuals throughout history. Shortly after graduation, I had the opportunity to travel. It was always a dream of mine to visit countries in Europe, Latin America and the Holy Land. God gave me the opportunity to travel to these places through my work and these experiences enriched my perspective of myself and others; I saw how different America is from the rest of world, but also how alike we all are. This period of my life was a time for personal, artistic and spiritual growth.
Renaissance Humanism in Europe during the time after the Middle Ages was similar to my own experience; it was an awakening to the rest of the world, of countries travelling to other continents and comparing and contrasting cultures, ideas, goals. It was also a time in which blossoming Christian nations rediscovered ideas from Greek and Roman antiquity and married the two, giving birth to a whole new civilization.
My goal is to continue to discover God in the work I do every day and in the people I encounter. Where there is beauty, truth and goodness, there, to some degree is the presence of Jesus Christ, in whom human history converges.
Edgar Avendano @latinofilmmaker