This year’s
San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (SAICFF) was by all accounts, a fantastic event. SAICFF has become the largest independent Christian film festival in the world, and awards the largest prize for
any independent film festival – the $101,000 Best of Festival Jubilee Award. SAICFF Founder Doug Phillips proclaimed "Our mission is to inspire, encourage, reward and ultimately to build a replacement industry for Hollywood. Too many simply complain about Hollywood's darkness. Our mission is to light candles of hope by affirming those films that exalt what is true, good, and noble."
The
Christian Filmmakers Academy ran for three days before the film festival, and was a great time of learning and networking. Students at the CFA were treated this year to talks by film industry veterans like Kirk Cameron, Stephen Kendrick, Geoff Botkin, Tryg Jacobsen and others. There was more emphasis this year on the business side of filmmaking –
film promotion and distribution – which is much-needed from our perspective as one of the only alternative film distribution companies around. We’re excited that there is now more discussion of this fourth part of the
SAICFF mission statement: “To facilitate the development of alternative and independent vehicles for producing and distributing films outside the Hollywood machine, which will build, bless, and benefit the American family.”
The
Film Festival was an exciting lineup: six semi-finalists for Feature Film, 25 semi-finalists for documentary, seven semi-finalists each for Creation and Great Commission categories, 16 semi-finalists for short film, nine semi-finalists for Young Filmmaker, and five semi-finalists each for Promotional Media and Commercial Advertisement.
The 2012 SAICFF Jubilee Award Winners included:
Courageous producer Steven Kendrick gave a moving acceptance speech. "I want to take this opportunity, as we made a movie about fatherhood, to honor my father," Kendrick stated. "He was the chainbreaker in our family . . . and there's no one who's had a greater impact on our lives [as] his sons."
"The motto of [Courageous] was: Dads need to stand up and turn their hearts toward the Lord and say, 'As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,'" continued Kendrick. "And it was our Dad that taught us to do that, and it's an honor to pass on that legacy to our children."
Three of these Jubilee award winners are currently scheduled to be screened nationwide in the coming months through
National Movie Night, a project of
Freedom Film Distributors designed to enable grassroots promotion of independently produced films. We are working on adding other finalists and award winners to the National Movie Night schedule and our catalog of
independent Christian films.
The nationwide premiere of the SAICFF Best Documentary winner
IndoctriNation is scheduled for March 16-18
th.
IndoctriNation takes a hard look at the true state of public education in America, its humanistic origins, and whether Christians should be giving their children over to the state education system.
IndoctriNation producer Colin Gunn stated that Indoctrination was made for "others out of genuine love for the concerns of children in America. We were so blessed to give this message. And at the end of the film [we] make it clear: The problem with public schools is that [they] drive children away from Christ. And that was the real reason for making this film, and we pray that the Lord was glorified in it."
The nationwide premiere of the SAICFF Best Great Commission film winner
Two Hats is scheduled for March 30
th – April 1
st. This moving documentary about Brad and Deborah Wells and their 7 children leaving Idaho to go to the missions field in Papau New Guinea follows them through both setbacks and accomplishments as they share God’s Word, raise a family, and establish the country’s first Christian radio station.
Two Hats producer/director Andrew Garcia accepted the award, saying "This is an incredible honor, and I want to start by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without Him, this film would never have come to be. . . . And then, of course, the missionaries who were in the film . . . and the thousands of missionaries all over the world. Even as we sit here tonight, who are faithfully serving — not with eye-service as men-pleasers — but as unto the Lord. This award is dedicated to them."
The winner of the SAICFF Best Creation film
Crying Wolf will be screened nationwide for “Earth Day” weekend April 20-22.
Crying Wolf is about exposing the lies and proclaiming the truth about what the movement to bring back wolves to Yellowstone – and the rest of America – was, and is, really about, examined through the lens of biblical stewardship and conservation.
"[T]his project wasn't [fundamentally] about wolves or wolf re-introduction," remarked producer Jeff King, "but about reintroducing to the world biblical concepts of stewardship and dominion."
You can be a part of these nationwide screenings in your community by signing up to
host a movie night in your home, church, or other venue. National Movie Night provides Movie Night Hosts with planning and promotional tools to set up and promote their movie night, and with discounts for the DVD. Please consider being a part of helping promote these award-winning independent films in your area.
What SAICFF films do you most want us to distribute and promote through National Movie Night? Please let us know in the comments.
