John Papola of ‘Dad Saves America’
John Papola’s new quick movie “To My Father” tells the story of Troy Kotsur, the Oscar-winning deaf actor who credit his “beautiful” cop dad for giving him the power and inspiration to beat extraordinary hurdles.
“To My Father” celebrates the flexibility of a kid to overcome circumstance on the coronary heart of the Christmas narrative, filmmaker John Papola instructed Fox Information Digital in an interview.
The documentary is a strong tribute to the love between Leonard Kotsur and his son, Troy, who was born deaf but went on to grow to be an Oscar Award-winning actor.
“Leonard never saw his son as a victim. He saw his son as capable,” mentioned Papola, founding father of “Dad Saves America.”
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“The powerful fact of the Christmas story is that it’s the ultimate rejection of victimhood.”
“To My Father” was launched on YouTube this month, simply in time for the Christmas season.
The 23-minute documentary seems inside this text — see it slightly below — in its entirety, courtesy of the artist.
Leonard Kotsur was the chief of police in Mesa, Arizona, and a religious Catholic.
He raised his son to see himself as a victor and never a sufferer — a baby born within the picture of God regardless of what might have been a debilitating handicap.
“Leonard,” mentioned Papola, “told Troy to follow his spark wherever it would take him.”
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That spark took Kotsur all the way in which to the highest of the performing career.
He gained the Academy Award for Finest Supporting Actor in 2022 for his efficiency as deaf New England fisherman and father Frank Rossi in the 2021 movie “CODA.”
Academy Award-winning actor Troy Kotsur’s relationship along with his devoted cop dad, Leonard, is the topic of the brand new quick movie “To My Father.” The highly effective manufacturing debuted on June 8, 2023, on the Tribeca Pageant in New York Metropolis and is testomony to the significance of fatherhood. It is now out on YouTube. (Emergent Order Basis)
“My dad didn’t see me as deaf,” Kotsur indicators in “To My Father,” sitting alone in entrance of the digicam between quick vignettes of his life.
“He saw me as capable. And that was what was so beautiful about my dad.”
“My dad didn’t see me as deaf. He saw me as capable. And that was what was so beautiful about my dad.” – Troy Kotsur
Kotsur is the primary and solely deaf man to win an Academy Award — and simply the second deaf performer to assert Oscar honors.
Marlee Matlin gained the Finest Actress Award in 1987 for her function in “Children of a Lesser God.”
“Why am I deaf?” a pre-adolescent Kotsur requested his dad within the documentary’s dramatized account of the actor’s life.
John Papola, founding father of Emergent Order studios in Austin, Texas, and host of “Dad Saves America,” is preventing to defend fatherhood from a societal onslaught geared toward foundational establishments, together with households. He mentioned turning into a dad 18 years in the past was a “liberating” expertise for him. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox Information Digital)
“Hey, no one knows,” his dad indicators again. “But God always has a reason. And He has a plan. But what His plan is, what His reason is, we don’t know. Throughout life, we try to figure out what the reason is.”
Chief Kotsur realized signal language, coached Troy’s baseball workforce, helped different children study the fundamentals of signing — and created a regional soccer workforce round Phoenix for Troy and different deaf youngsters.
However life hit the Kotsur household with one other outstanding problem proper earlier than the longer term actor graduated from highschool.
“My dad — he was the best signer in our family, but he was in a car accident, and he became paralyzed from the neck down. And he was no longer able to sign,” Kotsur mentioned on the podium final yr throughout his Oscar acceptance speech, which was without delay triumphant and tearful.
“My dad didn’t see me as deaf. He saw me as capable,” Academy Award-winning actor Troy Kotsur says within the new quick movie, “To My Father.” (Emergent Order Basis)
Chief Kotsur was unable to maneuver his arms — and subsequently now not capable of talk along with his deaf son.
But he nonetheless discovered methods to indicate his devotion to his household — to “man up,” as Papola put it. He remained an inspirational determine to his deaf son regardless of sudden limitations.
The triumphant message of the Kotsur household, the victory of Christ over the standard circumstances of His delivery, and His final victory over demise itself, are extra necessary now than ever, mentioned Papola.
“The university system has grow to be a monastery of victimhood,” the filmmaker mentioned.
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“Nobody benefits from victimhood, from being told the system is against you or that the world hates you or that you don’t have the ability to succeed.”
Actor Troy Kotsur holds up a photograph of his father, Leonard Kotsur — a police officer in Mesa, Arizona, and later police chief — within the highly effective new quick movie, “To My Father.” (Emergent Order Basis)
The message of victimhood, Papola added, “is noxious poison to people born naked into the world unaware of what God holds in store.”
Police Chief Kotsur “did what we all need to do and pushed his son out into the world,” mentioned Papola.
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“Dad, I learned so much from you,” Kotsur signed in his Oscar acceptance speech.
“I’ll always love you. You are my hero.”
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