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San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival Announces 2005 Jubilee Award Winners

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — October 31, 2005 — More than a thousand participants representing states from New York to Washington and foreign countries from New Zealand to Romania were on hand for the presentation of the Jubilee Awards during closing ceremonies at the second annual San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, held at the Lila Cockrell Theatre in downtown San Antonio this last weekend.

“Our goal with the Jubilee Awards is to reward the work of Christian filmmakers who have artfully communicated a Christian worldview through their film production,” explained Doug Phillips, founder of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

“With more than 130 film submissions to this year’s festival, selecting the winners was no easy task” noted Phillips, who also served as one of the five film competition judges. “Yet we are now delighted to recognize our winners — all worthy films that give glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

The “Best of Festival” Jubilee Award — a $10,000 grand prize — went to No Greater Love, a sixteen minute film produced and directed by Arthur and Hanna Rasco of Ideal Images. Set in Hungary during the refugee flight of 1956, the short film, which is based on a true story, contrasts two fathers: one who is willing to sacrifice for his family and one who is not.

“This project has been a catalyst for my wife and me to launch into a new ministry of filmmaking,” observed Mr. Rasco, “and we would be remiss if we did not cite and thank Vision Forum for inspiring this focus.”

The top honor in the “Best Documentary” category went to A Journey Home, a forty-four minute film which follows the extraordinary path traveled by Tommy Waller, his wife, and their eleven children. The film spans Tommy’s journey from eighty-hour work weeks to a remote community in rural Tennessee.

“Although the Wallers ... [strip] away all of the conveniences most of us equate with contentment and happiness, they [possess] a joy and contentment quite unlike the ... average American family,” explained Ken Carpenter, who produced and directed A Journey Home. “I was captured by their story, and I set about to make a film to similarly encourage and challenge audiences.”

Intent, an eighteen minute film that explores the current crisis in the Federal Judiciary, took first place in the “Best Political” category.

“Our hope is that Intent will help break down any barrier between Americans and their courts,” stated Ed Litton who, along with his sixteen-year-old son, Tyler, wrote, produced, and directed Intent. “The average citizen is key to keeping the courts in line and preserving government by the consent of the governed.”

The Littons were unable to attend the Jubilee Award ceremonies. Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker received the Littons’ trophy on their behalf.

Growing Up, another father/son collaboration, overwhelmingly swept the ballot for this year’s “Audience Choice” Award. Produced and directed by Russ Pond and starring his son Caleb, this humorous seventeen minute short film brings to life a home school boy’s quest to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The “Best Creation” Award went to Journey Thru Creation, a forty-four minute film directed by Christian Hidalgo of Navigation Advertising. “This video project boldly features numerous [geographic] locations that evolutionists use to justify their beliefs to prove the truth of Creation,” explained Hidalgo. “[While] numerous films have been made on this subject, we believed that we could add a level of quality and insight not seen in most pro-Creation films.”

Bluestate: Tolerance for All received the “Young Filmmaker’s” Award. The film, which tells of one family’s sacrifice in a world where “tolerance” has been mandated by law, was directed by seventeen-year-old Colton Davie of Matthew, Alabama.

“The making of Blue State ... is one of the most rewarding things I have ever undertaken,” remarked Davie. “What a great cause: to challenge the culture for the glory of God.”

The Narrow Path, produced by Miss Dalanglin Dkhar, took the runner-up award for “Best of Festival” and “Best Documentary.” Using old archival photographs and footage shot over many years, the film chronicles the life of the producer’s grandmother as she came to Christ in Northeast India and brought up her five children in the faith as a single mother. The film features inspiring footage of the last words spoken by the great Christian woman before her death, as she gathers her family around her and prays over multiple generations of her progeny.

The “Best Narrative” runner-up award went to Her Last Prayer. Directed by twenty-three-year-old Daniel Nunez of Rock Steady Films, this gripping eleven minute short tells the true story of a young girl in 1970s communist China who is ordered to spit on the Bible or die.

Other winners include For God, Family, and the Republic, which garnered the runner-up award in the “Best Political” category; and Why Did the Duck Cross the Road?, which took home the “Young Filmmaker’s” runner-up award.

The “Best Trailer” Award, an honor for the trailer that best promoted the festival, went to Digitally Remastered, produced by Joshua Moore.

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Press Contact:
Wesley Strackbein
Vision Forum Ministries
press@visionforum.org
Phone: (210) 340-5250, ext. 222
www.independentchristianfilms.com