Five Facts about the New Version of Tetelestai
By Cynthia Isaak
2024.02
Date:
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Five Facts about the New Version of Tetelestai
By Cynthia Isaak
1. Same Content
The Tetelestai series (Greek for “It is Finished”) traces God’s hand from the Garden of Eden to the risen Christ in eleven 30-minute episodes. Over a thousand actors make the eternal story of redemption come to life in this award-winning series.[1] Twenty-four key biblical narratives unfold the breathtaking story of the God who passionately loves humanity and paid the ultimate price for our rescue.
2. New Host
While the script and biblical scenes are the same, we filmed a completely new host in this exciting new version of Tetelestai. Aware of the potential barriers western hosts—and a woman on the screen, in general—could cause, our new host, Mr. Ibn Massih,[2] offers a more culturally appropriate appearance for many of our future audiences in India, TurkMENA, and SE Asia.
3. Same Locations
The new Tetelestai hosted by Ibn Massih was filmed in all of the same breathtaking locations as the original Tetelestai series. The original version of Tetelestai is already broadcast in more than 35 countries in multiple languages. This new version maintains the same standards of quality and artistic production. Ibn Massih delivers the entire series in his winsome British English, a strategic universal language for our translation and dubbing partners.
4. New Borders
Already available in Burmese and Bengali, with many more languages—such as Turkmen, Hindi, and Hausa—underway, our partners around the world are already working with this new version of Tetelestai. Not only is there an immediate advantage with the appearance of the host, but only one male voice artist is needed for each language project, making it far easier for new dubbing projects in minority languages, especially in restricted countries or tribal locations.5. Same Power
Among many of the minority languages we hope to reach, the translation of the Bible has not yet been completed. In one of these languages, the national Bible society’s translation team chose to partner with Light in Action to translate all of the biblical passages that appear in Tetelestai. Not only did they view Tetelestai as a powerful tool for Scripture engagement, but they have reported that working on the translation itself has been an incredible journey for their local Bible translators. Paulo Texeira, the consultant and director of translation, reported that the translators themselves have gained a deeper understanding of the Bible and how it all fits together (especially the Old Testament), as a result of their work on these passages for Tetelestai.As a team, we at Light in Action are praying this partnership with Bible translators will be the first of many stories around the globe. We are the humble servants of these heroes and only desire to serve those on the frontlines who are providing the Word of God in the heart language of each people group. Want to know more? Write to arlen@lightinaction.org for the availability of all current languages[3] as well as the possibility of new translations.
[1] Tetelestai won the Gold Crown at the ICVM annual red carpet ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, at NRB, the world’s largest gathering of Christian communicators. Tetelestai also won first place for best series at the FICC film festival in São Paulo, Brazil.
[2] Ibn Massih is his screen name to protect his identity. “Ibn Massih” is Arabic for “Son of Messiah,” which actually happens to be his father's real name (Messiah). So this worked out really well as a screen name!
[3] All language versions are available to be watched for free.
Cynthia Isaak, along with her husband, Arlen, both grew up on the mission field—Arlen in aviation and Cynthia at a boarding school for missionary children. Light in Action, the mission that Arlen and Cynthia helped found, was formed together with other missionary kids who had a passion for creating useful media resources for reaching the unreached. Arlen and Cynthia currently serve in Brazil with their five children. You can follow them on Instagram @arlencynthia or write to Cynthia to find out more about Light in Action at cynthia@lightinaction.org.
Email Margaret Doll if you would like to attend.
Envoyez un courriel à Margaret Doll si vous souhaitez participer.
A video series on a new media training tool has been published. Check out the latest blog post to learn more and watch the videos on our YouTube channel.
French Reviewer Needed / Besoin d'un réviseur en français
The IMN is in need of someone fluent in French and English, to review the translations of the IMN from English into French. If you or someone you know might be interested, please let us know at ims_imn@sil.org.
L'IMN a besoin d'une personne parlant couramment le français et l'anglais pour réviser les traductions de l'IMN de l'anglais vers le français. Si vous ou quelqu'un que vous connaissez est intéressé, veuillez nous le faire savoir à l'adresse suivante : ims_imn@sil.org.