“We hope that people seeing the movie might get affected by Mother Teresa and discover that they should also do little acts of kindness and be more compassionate and have more open eyes and be less about themselves,” he said.
Cagianut called Mother Teresa “an extremely strong character who we can only emulate and can only give us courage in our own travail in everyday life.”
As they began to make the movie, those involved thought it should be made “in the spirit of Mother Teresa” and that the proceeds from the film should go back in their entirety to the poor. Therefore, the Zariya Foundation (Zariya means “source” in Urdu) was created to accomplish this mission.
The Zariya Foundation aims to alleviate the suffering of the poor, abandoned, sick, and dying and uplift the standards of health and education for the youth around the world, according to its website. The foundation was founded by Jacqueline Fritschi-Cornaz, the actress who plays Mother Teresa in the film, and her husband, Richard.
The film was entirely financed by donations, allowing all proceeds to be distributed to the poor instead of having to repay outstanding costs with the money generated by ticket sales.
“From the first dollar — basically the money that comes in from ticket sales can go to the poor,” Cagianut said.
He explained the name Zariya was chosen because Mother Teresa herself was a source “of great love and compassion and the film will be a source, a well that will not go dry, where we will be able to alleviate poverty through people watching it.”
Cagianut hopes the movie reaches the “Kavitas of the world” and that they will be “moved” after watching the film, adding that they made the movie hoping that people will realize “you don’t need to start a foundation and give tons of money — most of the time little gestures, a little bit of time, attention that you give to someone … that makes a better world.”
Watch the trailer for “Mother Teresa and Me” below.
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