The film that won Best Documentary, and I felt should have won Best of Festival (it was the runner up) was clearly the best film I saw there, head and shoulders above the rest.
A Cry From Iran is a 52 min. documentary on the life and death of Haik Hovespian, a Christian pastor and head of the church in Iran who was martyred in 1994. The film is by his sons.
I can't say enough about how powerful it is. It doesn't attack those who martyred this man, but gives the story with hope, telling of who he was, and what he believed, and how his death has strengthened the church in Iran. The production values are wonderful (the brothers are film producers by profession) but the story is so powerful. When the film won Best Documentary the brothers received a standing ovation.
You can see the promo and trailer here.
Talks with several distribution companies are in the works, so pray for them. You can pre-order the film on the website.
2 comments:
A Cry From Iran really is the winner, and everyone who attended the SAICFF this year knows it should have won the Jubilee Award. The film that did win the Grand Prize didn't win because it was at all well produced, or for any other valid reason. It won for the same reasons that Al Gore's global warming video won an Oscar. The judges are gaga over the agenda. Even if the production quality was far inferior to other entries, all those considerations were cast aside in favor of giving the top award to a poorly produced film because it pushes the judges' personal political agenda.
The one and only problem with A Cry From Iran is that it doesn't push Doug Phillips' personal political agenda, and therefore line his pockets. If a film has any chance at all of winning at the SAICFF it has to push Doug Phillips' Vision Forum agenda of misogyny, patriarchy, full quiver, family integrated church, etc, and that's exactly what every year's top SAICFF films have done, push Doug Phillips' political agenda. If it doesn't push his agenda it won't help him peddle any "complimentary" Vision Forum merchandise. That's why Monstrous Regiment Of Women won the Jubilee Award this year. He'll sell the winning video and bundle it with other misogynistic Vision Forum merchandise.
Monstrous Regiment Of Women didn't win because it was well scripted, edited, or produced. It won because Doug Phillips hand picks the "judges" and all the "judges" are in his hip pocket. Doug Phillips decided it was the winner and his little cadre of "judges" rubber stamped his decision. The entire process is even more biased than any film awards that Hollywood hands out. At least Hollywood film judges actually have some film making expertise. Doug Phillips' "film judges" don't even know the first thing about how to make a film.
Doug Phillips loves to ridicule Hollywood, and maybe they deserve some ridicule, but Doug Phillips is a hypocrite to think he's any better. He's actually far worse because he calls himself a Christian. He ought to know better, and when it comes to film making he's one of the biggest frauds there's ever been. Doug Phillips is turning the Christian independent film making industry into a disreputable laughing stock. With this kind of leadership the Christian film making industry is doomed... unless Doug Phillips can be thrown out on the trash heap where he belongs.
Roger
While I agree with some of what you say, I totally disagree with the vitriolic language you use to say it. We all have our own problem and foibles; we're sinners after all, and it is easy to point fingers at people and call them hypocrites. Jesus said, take care of the speck in your own eye before pointing out the plank in someone elses, and also said to take care in how you judge, because you will be judged the same way. In my own life I know that I have deep failings, ones that I even point out in others. Please try to be a bit more kind and understanding of people, even if you disagree with them.
I disagree with some of what Mr. Phillips says and his approach, but I think he is genuinely trying to do something to change the culture, and I find I agree with him equally as much. I know him a little, and I find him to be smart, passionate and genuine, maybe a bit misguided. Instead of heaping abuse and accusations and vitriol, I try to love him, reason with him, and explain what I think and why, and acknowledge the good he has done and is doing.
Relationships matter more than ideology or being "right" all the time. Pray for him, and show him the path, don't spit on him and shove him away.
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