For the Love of God is a 2007 short animation starring Steve Coogan and Ian McKellen, directed by Joe Tucker, and produced at the National Film & Television School.
Since creating the film, Joe Tucker has gone on to direct another three short films, and is also a writer for television.
The film tells the story of Graham, a balding man living under the glare of his overbearing mother and their pet talking jackdaw in their home and Christian bookshop.
Graham orders a blow-up doll, which explodes to form a mural of God on his ceiling. With the encouragement of his pet jackdaw, he calls a sex line and tells them he wants to have sex with God, after which they hang up. Graham then gets squashed by a bookshelf, and wakes up in heaven. God looks like his mother.
The film was put together as a graduation project at the National Film and Television School. It was inspired by media coverage of celebrity sex tapes.
The film was shot over three months. It took a long time, as it is shot cinematically, rather than with a static camera as is more traditional in stop-motion films.
In 2007, it was the only British film in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was in the Cinéfondation section, reserved for film school students.
The film won a number of international awards including a Silver Hugo at Chicago International Film Festival and Best Animation at Santa Barbara International Film Festival and Rhode Island International Film Festival.