Ocean Avenue Entertainment is honored to release HOPE: Stories of Survival, the first-ever Eastern Territory Salvation Army produced full-length documentary focusing on Stories of survival in the face of adversity. HOPE is about survivors of human trafficking who let us into their day-to-day lives after their trauma recovery and show us how they’re taking back control of their destinies through empowerment, love, trust and hope. It’s about survivors who guide us through some of their darkest memories of fear of exploitation and provide HOPE for others through their ability to overcome obstacles with the support and effort of those around them.
OUR DEFINITION OF FAITH-FORWARD FILMS
Over the years of representing and distributing films in the faith category, I’ve found the term “faith-based” to be too limiting in describing the films in our catalog. I’ve finally landed on the term that I believe best describes most of our films, “faith-forward”. Let me explain the difference and conclude with my favorite, faith-forward film of all time.
First, let me start by explaining what I believe is a faith-based movie. This is a film that is more overt in its message of faith. This may include a literal, “Come to Jesus” conversion. A classic example of this would be most of the Billy Graham films that were produced in the 80’s and 90’s. Then a new genre of faith-based films came out which was popularized by FACING THE GIANTS. The intention of this movie was not to proselytize, but to challenge Christians to become better followers of Christ. I’m thankful to be associated with many of these films over the years including FIREPROOF and COURAGEOUS to name a few. These films unapologetically cast a wide net for anyone I would define as church-going Christians. This may seem like a very small percentage, yet the latest polls show that on average approximately 31% of Americans go to church at least monthly and 25% pray daily, so this is no small niche.
Before I get to my definition of faith-forward, let me also address two other categories. The first I define as “faith-lite”. In this type of film, the Christian message may get diluted or even added, but not in a way that will offend a general audience. Good examples are romcoms or Christmas movies that sprinkle just a little bit of faith, but are mostly family friendly stories that won’t offend Christians and will also appeal to a general audience.
Then this final category is not really a category at all, these are films that completely remove faith from the story. A WRINKLE IN TIME is a good example of this type of film. Madeleine L’Engle’s Christianity was a core part of her book of the same name. Yet, for some reason, Disney decided to steer clear of any mention of faith in the film. As a result, it was a movie that was gutted of its core purpose or meaning. It’s not surprising to me, that the movie was a flop when it was released.
Now we’re come to my definition of a faith-forward film. This is a movie where the faith is more nuanced in the unfolding of the story. It casts an even wider net than faith-based, yet it will still appeal to most church-going people and also entertain a general audience. For example, TO END ALL WARS is the harrowing true-story of Allied prisoners of war, who survived brutal conditions in a WWII Japanese internment camp. The unshakable faith of the hero of this story is what makes this one of the most inspiring war-time films of all time. This movie tells the whole story and doesn’t suppress or diminish the faith of the hero’s journey. It’s also R rated because of war time violence, which means that faith-forward does not mean the film will automatically be considered family friendly.
23 BLAST is another good example of a faith-forward film. It tells the true story of Travis Freeman and how he dealt with sudden blindness and what seemed like the end of his life as he knew it. This movie is inspiring precisely because of Travis’ faith in God, which helped him overcome depression and resulted in him accomplishing something remarkable that changed his life and those around him. It’s a story that resonates with practically everyone, including church-going Christians.
Recently, my wife and I watched FATHER STU, produced by Mark Wahlberg. It’s an incredible film, based on the true story of the boxer, Stuart Long, who became a Catholic priest. Because of the language, it’s not at all family friendly. If they had tried to remove all or even most of the language, you wouldn’t have been able to fully appreciate his transformation from a self obsessed boxer, to someone who sacrificially gave his life to everyone he touched. This is a faith-forward film.
That’s why I believe faith-forward is a more appropriate designation of the films we both represent and even my most favorite film of all time, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is always sacrificing his own dreams and desires, to help others in need. At the pivotal moment in the film, he’s lost his faith and is about to commit suicide. God intervenes in the form of Clarence, his guardian angel, who gives him a precious gift which was to see how his life of self sacrifice, transformed everyone he touched. At the end of the film he realizes he’s a very rich man, not because of his finances, but because of how much his family and community loved him. This is a movie with a happy ending, but the journey to get there gets very bleak at times.
For me, during the most difficult times in life, my faith in God was pivotal to help me overcome these trying times. That’s why I resonate so strongly with faith-forward movies. These are films that leave us uplifted. They inspire us to persevere. They can also call us to love and be loved more deeply. Now that’s a faith-forward movie I believe everyone can enjoy!
