Deal W. Hudson

A Call for Pro-life Films

Marjorie Campbell, marjorie@marjoriecampbell.com

There's a new kid in town . . . opening in San Francisco on March 7, 2008:  the Cinema Vita Film Festival.   "The Cinema Vita Film Festival has been established to encourage young, emerging filmmakers and to showcase movies about contemporary issues concerning the meaning and value of life. Coordinated by the San Francisco Archdiocesan Office of Public Policy, the Oakland Diocesan Respect Life Ministry, Marriage for Life, and Ignatius Press, the festival is based on the recognition that art, especially the medium of film, shapes the popular imagination and has a tremendous influence on culture." (read more)

Inspired by the success of Bella, the organizers are putting their money where their hearts are and have established three categories for submission of 3-5 minute, original "visionary works that focus on the dignity of the human person from conception to natural death".  The categories are (1) high school (2) college and (3) open classification.  EVEN BETTER the prize in each category is $250 AND a Canon HG10 High Definition Camcorder (value $1100).  You can read the submission criteria here.  Entries must be postmarked by February 14. 

The winning films will be shown at the festival on March 7, 2008 at the Delancy Street Theater in downtown San Francisco, along with the award-winning feature film After the Truth, a provocative look at a fictional trial of Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious Angel of Death at Auschwitz.

Off the record, I've heard a rumor that our very own Deal Hudson will attend and weigh in as a judge on the film entries.  Is San Francisco becoming the new hotbed of pro-life activity for the West Coast?  Maybe I can stay here after all!

The Golden Compass (Updated)

Marjorie Campbell, marjorie@marjoriecampbell.com

For those who, like me, are trying to decide whether to haul the kids to The Golden Compass this holiday season, I found the USCCB review by Harry Forbes and John Mulderig the most helpful, and reassuring, yet. 

BUT WAIT.  "Today [December 11 2007]the U.S. bishops withdrew the review of the film “The Golden Compass,” which opened in theaters in the United States Dec. 7.

No reasons were given - but see the comments below following my earlier post.

Nor can I find a "corrected" or "revised" review from the bishops, though calls for them to fire Harry Forbes, the director of the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting abound. 

I, for one, often consult the USCCB movie reviews - and have done so for years.  But, I have to admit, the story of the Catholic reaction to The Golden Compass has gotten far more entertaining than most reports suggest the movie only aspires to be.  I'll content myself with that for now.

I only hope and pray that I am watching a charitable Catholic drama.

The Abortion Thread: Ellen Burstyn

Marjorie Campbell, marjorie@marjoriecampbell.com

Bella's indisputably "simple" - a tender story of tragedy, conflict and survival, touched with tears and humor.  The plot neither confuses nor obfuscates; it has, as Roger Ebert says, "charm," as the "not profound" story of an unborn child unfolds.  Mr. Ebert calls the characters "lovable people having important conversations"; the movie, "the best-liked film at the 2006 festival, and I can understand that." 

So how can such a guileless, award-winning, popular movie provoke passionately negative reviews?  Take, for example, Stephen Holden NYT review today.  He calls it "a mediocre cup of mush and a saccharine trifle" whose success with audiences "suggests how desperate some people are for an urban fairy tale with a happy ending, no matter how ludicrous."  New York magazine calls the characters so "relentlessly thoughtful and attractive that it’s hard to worry about their problems."

The dichotomy, of course, swings on the "abortion thread", a term offered by 74-year-old Ellen Burstyn (of The Exorcist and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore fame), during a radio interview when she described her own "wrong, young and dumb" choice to abort.  That "choice" - made at 18 years old - was "the lowest moment in her life."  Understandably curious how a decision made over 56 years ago could still deeply trouble Ms. Burstyn, the antsy male interviewer then asked, "Do you ever get over that?"

No, cautioned the accomplished Ms. Burstyn, gracefully, elegantly explaining that the choice to abort has "ramifications for the rest of our lives" - it becomes a "dark thread" in our tapestry.  Such stories of pain and regret abound these days.  Listen to the voices at www.abortionchangesyou.com.   

With current abortion statistics reporting an estimated "43% of all women will have at least 1 abortion by the time they are 45 years old", a veritable web of dark threads capture and filter how we view movies like Bella.  Detractors like Mr. Holden, no doubt, have their own "dark thread" that hurts, perhaps even haunts, their thinking. 

Such reviewers betray their pain, expressing hope to "forget you’ve seen [Bella] before it’s even over".  We should include all these people in our prayers for the born and unborn harmed by abortion.

From Eduardo Verastegui

Marjorie Campbell, marjorie@marjoriecampbell.com

The movie Bella opens on October 26 throughout the country.  The breath-takingly handsome star of this movie, Eduardo Verastegui, has sent the following email to his many supporters.  My daughter Carol - featured here with Eduardo - heard him speak recently in Washington DC, about living his faith, dedicating his career to Christ and witnessing God's love to the world.  While many of us present were moved to tears, my 17 year old daughter mumbled, "Where do I find a guy like this, Mom?" 

I am so overwhelmed with joy by the support we have received all year, and
most of all this week. Finding investors to finance "Bella" was the first
miracle, the film completed was the second. The third and biggest miracle was
when "Bella" Won the Toronto Film Festival, but the most touching of all has
been traveling the country and meeting all of you, and your support this week
has been inspirational.

We have hundreds of theatres pre sold and many supporters are buying a 100
tickets for family, and others 10,000 to bless a whole city, anything to
adopt these theatres, all in support of our film and it's message.

I want you to know how grateful I am, and I hope when it comes out in
theatres this Friday, you can sit in that chair, watch it on the big screen and
know you were part of a miracle in action. It is a beautiful film that to me
was created by something bigger then us all, and I will never forget all of the
passion, support and life this film has inspired.

If you can walk with me just a few more weeks and help us get the word out
so this film can get it's place in time and into the hearts and minds of as
many people possible.

I have pasted below ways in which you can help, most of all by adopting a
theatre or asking others to co-adopt a theatre.

Every email you send, blog you post, call you make, has a tremendous impact.
As we all work together amazing things are happening.

God Bless,

Eduardo Verastegui

p.s. I am amazed by the unending genorocity of the people we have met
through Bella. A young girl who can not afford her own rent, took all of her
savings to adopt a theatre.

p.s. Our group sales Director says she has never seen anything like this.
This is a testament to you.
www.BellaTheMovie.com

"Knocked Up" Get Knocked for Not Being PC

Deal Hudson

Film critic Ann Hornaday in today's Washington Post reviews "Knocked Up," a film about couple who decide to have the baby resulting from a one-night stand.

Hornaday decries the "political implications" of a film where only one person suggests to the couple they have an abortion (this part is cut out of the electronic version linked above).

She slaps the movie around for its "happy ending" and for aspiring "to end with a hug, it ends with a shrug."

Cute to say, of course, but I bet there will be another audience that will be laughing and applauding.