Praise for “Hannah’s Dream”

Awards:

On September 19, 2020, “Hannah’s Dream” written by Shelly Paino and Hannah Ratnam was awarded Best Screenplay at the Canadian International Faith and Family Film Festival via their virtual awards gala in Toronto. 

The event’s executive director, actor/producer Jason Barbeck said of the script, ”Hannah’s Dream takes you on a journey of not just self discovery but revelation of one’s spiritual walk.  It is a glimpse into where we might be heading when we embrace our faith in something bigger than ourselves.  This screenplay was well received and our audiences at CIFF look forward to seeing the movie one day.  A very inspirational piece.” 

The script went on to win Best First Time Screenwriter at Content 2020 Film Festival and Media Summit at their live awards event in Texas in February 2021 followed by eight more awards (and counting) since! More detailed information on these awards can be found on the News tab. And be sure to subscribe so you can stay up-to-date with our progress!

Further Praise for Hannah’s Dream:

J.W. Kitson, award-winning author of book and now motion picture “Song of the Tree Frogs” said of Hannah, “I am writing this brief information about Hannah Ratman because of the wonderful inspiration she has been to me in the time I have known her as a Christian friend in the entertainment business.  Hannah’s Dream is an amazing story about her personal experience with something extraordinary. Divine inspiration was certainly at work in and through her. Hannah has a heart of gold, and a true love for her Savior.  Audiences will be mesmerized by her dream that changed countless lives by pointing them toward a God who is able to do all things above what we can ask or think—and in this case—what we can dream!  Hannah is a blessing to all who know her.

Pastor Carl Willis of CLA Church in Langley, Canada said of the project, “Hannah’s Dream is cutting edge to what is happening in our society and is recommended to all audiences to get a world perspective on these issues.”

Judy Cochran, a New York-based screenwriter featured in the National Writer’s Workshop book “The Script Doctor” said of the story, “Hannah’s Dream is a multi-award winning screenplay about a little known fact.  Christians in Pakistan suffer under great oppression.  They are consistently persecuted for their faith.  Hannah’s Dream recounts the actual story of God intervening in this persecution by giving Hannah a prophetic dream days before it occurred of a church being attacked.  This is a heartfelt story of God’s recognition of their suffering on His account and a call to action for Christians all over the world to help stop these atrocities in Jesus’ name.”

London, England Pastor Carlton Smith calls Hannah’s Dream, “A very inspiring project that seeks to highlight the challenges that Christians are facing especially in some parts of the world.”  He adds, “We here in the U.K. are in full support in whatever ways we can and pray that God will bless this vision in a mighty way.”

Dale Norman Green said, “I’ve had the honor to meet Hannah Ratnam and share many inspiring conversations.  I find her story “Hannahs Dream” uniquely moving and vastly significant, and one that needs to be seen. This would be a worthwhile and rewarding project to fund, not only for the potential audience it would attract but also for those working together to make it happen.  I would strongly urge those who are able to green light this project. There is a buzz and a momentum out there that cannot be ignored. “Hannah’s Dream” must become a big screen reality.” 

From the Authors:

A fifth-generation Christian born in Pakistan, Hannah credits God with helping her earn her MBA degree and ultimately emigrate to Canada where she lives today.  Asked how she feels about the success of “Hannah’s Dream”, she said, “I have no words to express my feelings.  I am so thankful to God for honoring me with Shelly, this script, our many nominations and six awards to date.  It is ONLY because of God’s grace and mercy upon us.  It was God’s dream and He used me to bring it to the world.  My desire is to take this story to the ends of the earth.  In order to help accomplish that, we are seeking volunteers in all areas of filmmaking including production support, fundraising, online marketing, crowd-funding, administration, human resources, customer service, public relations, office management, sponsors and donors.”

Hannah partnered with screenwriter Shelly Paino in 2019 and the pair quickly began work on the script, completing it in May, 2020.  Of the award, Shelly states, “I’ve written about a dozen feature scripts, but the one that won a statue was the script God wanted me to write.  I’ll always write scripts, but maybe none as important as the ones I write with Hannah because these are God’s stories.  And if you don’t know Hannah, you will because she is unstoppable and I’m glad I partnered with her.”