On November 1 2025, young filmmaker Louis Banda will premiere his debut narrative film, Run for Your Life.
Louis directed and co-created the film to honor and worship God, the ultimate Creator, and hopes it sparks spiritual conversations among those who watch it.
“Run for Your Life is about a man who’s striving for significance. He’s on a cross-country road trip, and he encounters some supernatural forces that make him think twice about his endeavor,” Louis says.
Louis thinks the film will appeal to Christian and non-Christian audiences alike. “It’s for everyone. First and foremost, I just want to tell a good story,” Louis says. The film speaks to the Christian experience while also touching on themes relatable to anybody. “It comes from personal experience. It comes from my own walk with the Lord, the failures and successes,” Louis says.
Christian artists’s path to his debut film
Though this is Louis’s first narrative film, he has done other work in the industry. Louis went to film school at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He served as a director of photography for Streetlights, a Chicago ministry that communicates the gospel through discipleship resources and outreach. With Streetlights, Louis made several documentaries and music videos.
Louis’s friend, Tyler Biggs, connected him to an Indigitous community in the U.S. seeking a videographer for a series of worship music reviews. “I think they just needed someone with a camera,” Louis jokes. But while shooting that episode, Louis talked about the short film he felt inspired to make. From those connections, Tyler convinced Indigitous U.S. leadership to support his film. “Without their mentorship, resources, and financial generosity, without their platforms, the artistic integrity of this film would be lackluster. Quality art takes a lot of time and energy,” Louis says. “Without them, I don’t know if this film would’ve seen the light of day.”
Louis and a five-person crew shot Run for Your Life over one weekend in the small town of Gibson City, Illinois. The story required all of the scenes to take place during sunset, so the shooting had to be done during the golden hours at sunrise and sunset. As the protagonist deals with the supernatural forces around him, Louis hopes the audience will relate it to their lives. “A large hope that I have for people viewing it is that it would minister to them, that they would be able to draw parallels and metaphors from the story to their everyday walk with Jesus,” he says.
Finding inspiration
Louis says Run for Your Life was inspired by the suspense and payoff of Jordan Peele’s Get Out, and the eerie atmosphere of the unknown in Vincenzo Natali’s In the Tall Grass. “Those were inspirations in terms of clashing innocence with supernatural elements,” Louis says. “I love getting roped in. I love the movies that put you on the edge of your seat.”
In terms of his own filmmaking, Louis tried to seek God throughout the process. “What I often tried to do early on is just create things for God’s sake,” Louis says. Though that’s not necessarily bad, he found that he was often doing his own thing and invited God into it.
Instead, Louis tried to let the Spirit guide him. He spent a lot of time in prayer, communing with God, listening to Him, and attuning his ear to God. “I believe God has something to say to me about this. I don’t think I would be as passionate about it if it weren’t from Him,” Louis says.
Though he admits it’s easier said than done, Louis advises all Christian artists to do the same. “I would say, don’t just try to bring God into what you’re already doing, but let God motivate and overflow through the medium that you’re doing.”
Run for Your Life will premiere on November 1 2025 at New Life Community Church in Chicago and will be livestreamed for those who can’t attend in person. Louis and the crew will be onhand in Chicago to talk about the film and answer questions. His hope is that everyone who watches the film, Christian or not, will be inspired to ask deep faith questions. “I hope it will stir questions and thoughts and maybe lead people to pursue some of the questions they have, especially the deeper questions, especially the ones about God and faith,” Louis says.
Try this
- Check out the livestream of Run for Your Life
- Pray about how you can serve God through your art or other passions