June 19, 2008

Faith on film festival

The first Faith on Film Festival will be held in Australian cities July 12 to 27.

Presented in partnership with Hoyts Cinemas, Heritage HM and the Grace: God and Humanity exhibition, the Festival is a non-denominational celebration of faith in its many forms and has two main components:

Faith on Film Festival

The Festival, which boasts two world premiers from Australian producers, features nine inspiring films on the subject of faith. Six of the films are Australian premiers.

The Festival will run in Sydney at Hoyts The Entertainment Quarter from July 12 to 27. A shortened season of the Festival will run in five other Hoyts cinemas across Australia from 23 to 27 July:

The films are distributed by Heritage HM, a company that asserts: movies change people, people change the world.

Heritage HM managing director, Rod Hopping says, “some of these faith-based films will challenge and surprise audiences. There is something for everyone here: an award winning South African drama, a ‘travel the world’ surfing documentary, a children’s animated feature and a hard-hitting ‘R’ rated drama about human trafficking.”

The nine films in the Festival are:

The I Heart Revolution – World premiere

Rating: YTC. Run time: 100 min. Genre: Documentary

A video documentary team travelled with the rock band Hillsong Untied for 18 months filming worship nights from all over the world. The project shows there is a like minded, like spirited generation of people all around the world – a generation already part of the revolution.

The Disposable Ones – World premiere

Rating: Exempt. Run time: 82 min. Genre: Documentary

Follows former Australian rugby league professional Jason Stevens to Columbia to find out how he can help underprivileged kids in crisis.

Trade – Australian premiere

Rating: R18+. Run time: 120 min. Genre: Drama
A thrilling story about the race to find a 13-year-old girl kidnapped by sex traffickers in Mexico City. From the writer of The Motorcycle Diaries, Trade is a story of courage and a devastating expose of one of the world’s most heinous crimes.

Walking on Water – Australian premiere

Rating: Exempt. Run time: 89 mins. Genre: Documentary

Join Tyler and Luke in a world adventure that most young surfers only dream about. Filmed in Hawaii, Peru, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa and France, this is an inspiring and beautiful story where the world becomes a classroom.

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers – Australian premier

Rating: PG. Run time: 115 min. Genre: Documentary

In the tradition of Michael Moore, this energetic documentary explores the collision of faith and culture in America and asks why the Gospel of Love is dividing that country. A provocative, funny and redemptive experience that will leave the audience talking for hours.

Faith Like Potatoes – Australian premiere

Rating: M. Run time: 122 min. Genre: Drama

This is a screen adaptation of the inspiring true story of Angus Buchan, a Zambian farmer of Scottish heritage who leaves his farm to travel south with his family to start a better life in South Africa. Ever mounting challenges and hardships test Angus who, like his potatoes, grows his faith unseen until the harvest.

Amazing Grace

Rating: PG. Run time: 118 min. Genre: Historical drama

Set in the 1790s and based on the biography of William Wilberforce by Eric Metaxas, this is the story of the great crusader for the British abolition of slavery.

One Night with the King

Rating: PG. Run time: 124 min. Genre: Historical drama

Starring Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif, this sweeping epic tells the story of Hadassah, the young Jewish orphan who becomes the biblical Esther, Queen of Persia.

The Ten Commandments

Rating: G. Run time: 88 min. Genre: Animated family

This film tells the miraculous story of Moses, the reluctant prophet, with narration from Sir Ben Kingsley, Christian Slater, Alfred Molina and Elliott Gould.

Session times and ticket details for all screenings can be found at www.hoyts.com.au.

A trailer for the Festival can be seen here.

“Hoyts is proud to present these extraordinary films,” said Festival director Fiona Pulford. “They aim to explore faith and spirituality in a way that engages, moves and inspires audiences.”

Grace: God and Humanity exhibition

The Grace: God and Humanity exhibition is an official World Youth Day event. Presented in association with Catholic Church Insurances and Hoyts Cinemas, the exhibition will run from July 7 to 27 in Sydney and from July 23 to 27 in other cities.

The exhibition, sourced from the world famous MILK collection of photographs, reflects a wide diversity of ethnic, cultural and social-economic backgrounds from six continents. The images also feature in the Grace series of books (Pearls, Salt and Heart) from St Paul’s Publications.

This presentation is a multi sensory experience and forms both a static exhibition in the foyer of Hoyts The Entertainment Quarter (Sydney) and as a moving digital presentation in Hoyts Cinemas across Australia.

The ten minute digital presentation of Grace will screen as a pre-show event before every film in the Faith on Film Festival program. The digital presentation will also screen daily in a series of stand alone, FREE sessions:

At Hoyts The Entertainment Quarter July 7 to 27 :

Weekdays – 11 am, 11.30 am, 12 noon, 12.30 pm, 4 pm, 5 pm, 5.30 pm

Weekends – 10 am, 10.30 am, 11 am, 11.30 am, 2.30 pm, 3 pm, 3.30 pm, 4 pm

In Blacktown, Belconnen, Eastland, Carousel and Tea Tree Plaza:

Weekdays/Weekends – 11 am, 11.30 am, 12 noon, 12.30 pm, 1 pm

Each life-affirming picture has been married with a quotation from the Bible – and the result is an exploration in images, text and music celebrating the connection between God and humanity. It also includes interviews with local youth who offer their person reactions to the photographs.

Mary Drum, creator of the series, said, "The exhibition will speak to people of all ages and backgrounds and invite reflection. It has been designed to evoke a sense of unity with all humanity and is a wonderfully gentle but powerful way of introducing the word of God through striking images.”