Stephen Kendrick, producer of such films as Fireproof and Courageous, shared six messages, including, “The Superior Mindset of a Christ-Honoring Filmmaker” and “12 Reasons Why Christian Movies Fail.” Kendrick emphasized the need for excellence, “Filmmakers are a dime a dozen. But filmmakers who are making excellent films for Christ are priceless. . . . Nobody gets excited about mediocrity — pursue a vision worthy of God.”

Veteran filmmaker Geoffrey Botkin also gave six talks, covering such topics as “Creating the World of Your Film” and “Editing Fundamentals of Documentaries.” Botkin noted that Christian filmmakers will only be good storytellers if they carefully study God’s Word and read widely: “You must be far bigger than the world of cinema to have anything worth saying at all. . . . Our dominion assignment [in film] is to bring forth the meaning of man, morality, and the universe.”

Botkin’s eldest son Isaac presented five lectures, including, “Shooting for the Edit” and “The Importance of Theme.” Isaac explained that “every film should have one central theme, and the clearer the theme, the more powerful the story can be. The consistency of your theme will give your film power.” Composer Benjamin Botkin, brother to Isaac, gave a helpful address on music composition for film. “Music’s role in film is to be servant and subject of the film’s story,” Benjamin remarked. “If story is king, then music is queen.”

Pat Roy, the creator of the popular Jonathan Park Radio Drama, offered twelve steps for effective scriptwriting and storytelling. Even as he explained character development, story arc, and different plot concepts that can be employed to tell a compelling story, he stressed the need for humility and for seeking a larger kingdom purpose, “Don’t write a story to draw attention to yourself, but to communicate an eternal message. Check your motives.”

Philip and Chris Leclerc, established filmmakers in their mid-20s, shared “Camera, Lenses, and Style,” along with key filmmaking lessons they’ve learned. The two brothers got interested in filmmaking at age 17 and 15 and bred and sold puppies to purchase their first camera. They encouraged aspiring filmmakers to embrace an innovative mind-set, to seek out sound mentors, to study theology and be kingdom-focused, and to work hard to pursue excellence. “Once you commit to a project, give it all you’ve got and go the extra mile,” they stated. “Don’t make it look like everyone else.”

Marketing expert Tryg Jacobson outlined principles of branding in his two messages; and Justin Tolley, producer of numerous television and film projects, spoke on “Preproduction Planning” and “Managing a Camera Department.”

The Academy faculty also highlighted several filmmakers whose productions are currently in process. Among them were Chad Burns, director of the 2008 film Pendragon, whose new film Beyond the Mask was recently shot and now is in post-production. Stephen Kendrick commended Chad and his team for their humility. “They were willing to receive counsel,” Kendrick observed. “They honored their fathers and submitted to a board of advisers, [and] they have rapidly made good decisions.”

Academy founder Doug Phillips spoke with J.D. King, the 22-year-old producer of Crying Wolf, about his new film project, Axed: The End of Green. The upcoming documentary will expose the agenda of the radical environmental movement and promote wise stewardship in keeping with the dominion mandate given in Genesis.

“You’ve seen the polar bear floating on a mini-iceberg in the melting waters. There are actually more polar bears now than ever before,” King said. “The Green Movement’s claim that if only man wasn’t on Planet Earth, things would be better, is foolish and not true.”

Phillips chaired several other panel discussions and delivered three keynote addresses at the CFA. In his final keynote, titled “Authenticity,” he urged filmmakers to only make movies on themes that burn inside them. “You cannot be a good filmmaker if you are not authentic,” he remarked, “You seek to know God. You long for Him. . . . Only then can you say something to the world.”

Yet an “authentic” idea is not enough, Phillips underscored. It must be rooted in the truth of God’s Word, a principle championed throughout the week at the Academy: “As Christian filmmakers, every frame should be taken captive for Jesus Christ.”

R.C. Sproul, Jr. said, “The Sanctity of Life Jubilee Award goes to that film which practiced true religion most faithfully and passionately defends the life given by the Lord and to all those who bear His image.

Runner up: The Birth Control Movie

Winner: The Drop Box

Brian Ivie, the Director of The Drop Box, said, “I want to thank my parents and my girlfriend Amanda who encouraged me to be in San Antonio just in case.

“I became a Christian while making this movie. When I started to make it and I saw all these kids come through the drop box - it was like a flash from heaven” - just like these kids with disabilities had crooked bodies, “I have a crooked soul. And God loves me still. Faith in God is the only refuge for people who are deemed unnecessary.
“This world is so much about self-reliance, self-worth, and self-esteem. It’s a total illusion that we can be self-sufficient. Christ is the only thing that enables us. I know I sound like a preacher, but this is what I wanted to say. I’m so honored by this.

“My identity used to be as a filmmaker. But now I feel like I’m glorifying God. I would dare any people in the world to look these kids in the face and tell them that they are not pitiful; they are masterful.”

After Ivie left the stage, Doug Phillips, who seemed very pleased indeed, smiled and said, “That’s why we are here!”

Read all of the blog posts about the Film Festival and the Christian Filmmakers Academy here.

Ted Pettinger said, “Samaritan Ministries has been standing with Doug all eight years; every year it feels a little bit like a family reunion. Some of you have said, ‘We’ve been members for five years, three years or four months. We are coming into ObamaCare and the three healthcare-sharing ministries have an exemption written into the law.

“We may be the only choice for Christians to have a pro-life option that doesn’t pay for abortion and doesn’t pay for abortifacient pills.

“We are going to be working with Colin Gunn to help him produce the documentary ‘Wait ‘Til it’s Free!’ That phrase comes from the expression, ‘If you think health care is expensive now, wait ‘til it’s free!’

Watch the ‘Wait ‘Til it’s Free!’ trailer.

Peter Spencer said, “Oh goodness! You have made it a blessed moment. I dedicate this award to the 175,000 of our precious brothers and sisters who will give their lives for Christ. We want to do this in remembrance of the martyrs of the faith. There is nothing like the perseverance of the saints. Thank you for your support. It’s inspiring. We might just make another movie!”

Read all of the blog posts about the Film Festival and the Christian Filmmakers Academy here.

Kendrick said, “I’m thrilled to pieces about this. Making feature films costs more, requires more planning. There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears in production. It’s so exciting to see the diligence of these young filmmakers. They are getting better and better.”

The finalists included: Dumo (Keepsake), Indescribable, The Lost Medallion, Remember, Resistance Movement, and Return to the Hiding Place.

Kendrick said, “Because of the high standards of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, if you are one of the finalists, you are a winner because of your commitment to excellence.

Runner up: The Lost Medallion

Winner: Return to the Hiding Place

In Holland during World War II, Corrie ten Boom’s army of untrained teenagers including Hans Poley, Piet Hartog, and their friends navigate a deadly labyrinth of challenges to rescue the Jewish people in their panicked exodus from death.

All the while, they embark on a nonstop, action-packed hunt with the Underground involving Gestapo hijacks, daring rescues, codes in windswept old windmills, and stunning miracles in one of history’s most famous dramas. Climaxing in the true, breath-taking rescue of an entire orphanage of Jewish children marked for mass execution by Hitler’s assassins, audiences will both cheer and weep at this exciting, sobering true tale of Hans and the youth resistance movement that dared to resist one of History’s cruelest tyrants.

Last night, when she accepted the award, Petra Spencer, the producer of Return to the Hiding Place, asked, “Can you hear my heart beating?” when she got to the podium.

“Thank you Jesus! Thank you guys so much. This was a project 17 years in the making, a family project. By the grace of God we did it. I want to thank my brother Josiah Spencer. He was the editor of the film. He’s in the blizzards of New York City. Also thanks to my sister Rachel who played Aty van Woerden, my mom who did wardrobe and my daughter Megan who followed me around the set for three to four months in Michigan. I want to thank our fabulous cast and crew as well as the investors who saw our heart, came forward and supported us.”

Peter Spencer, the director and Petra’s father, said, “When Stephen Kendrick said ‘these young filmmakers’, my heart paused. I’m not exactly young!

“God has been so gracious to us. I thank my master Jesus Christ. I love Him and adore him as virtually all of you do as well.

“I want to thank Hans Poley. We spent many days together and organized a few hundred people to shut down an abortion mill here in San Antonio once.

Spencer said that during the Nazi Holocaust, the moral litmus test was what would you do for the Jews. Today a different question faces us. “What would you do for the children to rescue them from abortion?

“Hans is with the Lord. I’m not sure whether he is watching us from heaven. I don’t want to get into the hermeneutic of end times.

“Poley said, ‘Never, never forget that with religion there are tens of thousands of them. Never forget the truth that the Christian faith is not a religion. It is a revolution against the kingdom of darkness.’

Spencer concluded, “May the glory go to Christ the King. Amen?”

Read all of the blog posts about the Film Festival and the Christian Filmmakers Academy here.

This is the story of redemption, ordinary people who become unlikely heroes, Cambodians rising up with compassion to take back their country and a town’s process of rebuilding from the inside out. Mien gives hope in the midst of a blinding darkness. In a world where it is estimated that there are over one million children held captive and sexually abused, a flower blooms in the heart of Cambodia.

Wearing a suit with sneakers last night as he accepted the Jubilee Award for the Best Documentary, Joel Sandvos, the director said, “This thing - the Jubilee Award — weighs like 15 pounds. Wow! This is amazing. I’m trying to open up my notes. First of all, we’d like to thank the Film Festival for accepting this film and allowing these girls’ stories to be told. It’s not just about telling these stories, but giving a call to action. Thanks to my wife and my kids who are at home and mom - ‘Hey mom!’ On behalf of heroic women and heroic organizations like Agape, we humbly accept this.”

Read all of the blog posts about the Film Festival and the Christian Filmmakers Academy here.

On June 19, 2011, Brian read an article in the Los Angeles Times with this headline: “South Korean pastor tends an unwanted flock.” It went on to say, “In a country that prizes physical perfection, Pastor Lee Jong-rak, his eyes opened after caring for his own disabled son, has been taking in unwanted infants, who if not for his drop box would be left in the street.”

Most drop boxes collect school supplies, canned food or clothing. This one was made back in 2009 to collect unwanted babies.

That one article inspired Brian to put together a Kickstarter campaign in which he hoped to raise $20,000 to cover the cost of the airfare to Korea for his small crew, some cameras, lights and editing equipment.

In his Kickstarter campaign, Ivie wrote, “In countries around the world, babies are abandoned due to poverty and domestic violence, among other reasons. Children with disabilities, however, are the most vulnerable and even the most ‘disposable.’ Our belief is that every child deserves to live and be loved.

“Since 1998, Pastor Lee Jong-rak, leader of Jusarang Community Church in Seoul, South Korea has saved nearly three dozen infants, all of whom were abandoned because of their disabilities. Pastor Lee installed the 24-hour ‘drop box’ on the side of his home where parents can leave their unwanted babies. The following words can be read on the drop box: ‘This is a facility for the protection of life. If you can’t take care of your disabled babies, don’t throw them away or leave them on the street. Bring them here.’

“We hope to build a ‘barrier-free home’ for Lee’s children, which will be a beacon of hope for all victims. This is Pastor Lee’s dream. A barrier-free home is a facility that meets the special needs of his children. It would not have stairs. It would have a working ventilation system. It would be close to hospitals and special education schools. And it would be safe. Currently, Pastor Lee and his staff must carry certain children up the stairs because they cannot use their legs. No one can match Pastor Lee’s compassion, but a larger, more appropriate home would result in a better quality of life for these children. They deserve it.”

The world looks to the Oscars. Yet when it comes to Christian filmmaking, the Jubilee Awards has set the standard for recognition of films that honor Christ and tell faithful stories with artistic and technical excellence. On the night of February 9, tune in free of charge via the web to watch the Jubilee Awards Ceremony — to be broadcast live from the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

Click Here to Reserve Your Free Jubilee Awards Livestream Pass

Join Stephen Kendrick for $101,000
Grand Prize Awards Ceremony

Join Stephen Kendrick and other leading Christian filmmakers from around the world for this special evening of honor. Featuring live musical entertainment and dramatic stage performances, the Jubilee Awards Ceremony will recognize film winners in a host of categories, with the top film going home with the $101,000 Grand Prize Jubilee Award — the largest cash prize given by any film festival in America.

Sixty semi-finalist films will compete for an array of awards, including: Best Dramatic Short, Best Documentary, Best Promotional Media, Best Feature Film, Best Original Score, and the always-popular Audience Choice Award.

Tune in at 7:30-10pm CST via the web for the free Jubilee Awards Livestream Presentation, to be hosted February 9 in San Antonio’s Lila Cockrell Theatre.

Click Here to Reserve Your Free Jubilee Awards Livestream Pass

The 2013 Christian Filmmakers Academy:
Attend Live, or Watch From Your Own Living Room!

On February 4-6, hundreds of Christians passionate about movies, storytelling, and the arts will gather in San Antonio, Texas for the Christian Filmmakers Academy.

Featuring three days of formal instruction from the top-notch staff of Christian filmmakers, directors, script writers, score composers, and marketing/distribution experts — including Fireproof and Courageous co-creator and producer Stephen Kendrick — the 2013 Academy can be watched online from the comfort of your home, at a very special price, and on your own schedule.

With over twenty hours of formal instruction and diverse topics, the Christian Filmmakers Academy is streaming all the General Sessions from our main ballroom, direct to you. Listen to lectures from veteran producers such as Geoffrey Botkin, Doug Phillips, and Stephen Kendrick, or delve into the world of marketing and owning a film studio with industry expert Tryg Jacobson and the LeClerc brothers.

For just $295, your entire family can watch all the CFA’s main room sessions LIVE online from your own living room. That’s a huge savings over the in-person CFA registration fee of at least $525 per person, not to mention all the travel expenses you save.

Register Now for the CFA Livestream Experience!

The 2013 Christian Filmmakers Academy: Attend Live, or Watch From Your Own Living Room!

On February 4-6, hundreds of Christians passionate about movies, storytelling, and the arts will gather in San Antonio, Texas for the Christian filmmakers event of 2013 — the Christian Filmmakers Academy. From experienced film producers, to young aspiring filmmakers, and students of all ages, this year’s Academy will be educational and instrumental for networking, growing skills, and interacting with industry professionals. Students attending the event will enjoy more than 32 General Session lectures and break out messages, with hands-on opportunities. Visit online to view the complete schedule and register to attend.

Register for the 2013 ‘On Location’ Christian Filmmakers Academy

Announcing the Inaugural CFA Livestream Experience!

If you can’t make it to San Antonio for the 2013 CFA, we have the perfect solution! This year, for the first time, we are excited to offer Live-streaming of the Christian Filmmakers Academy. This will include over 22 sessions which we believe will be our strongest and most diverse collection of topics to date (this includes all general sessions and main-room breakout sessions).

Register Now for the CFA Livestream Experience!

Top Notch Instruction You Can Enjoy on Your Own Schedule — Just $295 for Your Entire Family!

Featuring three days of formal instruction from a top-notch staff of Christian filmmakers, directors, script writers, score composers, and marketing/distribution experts, including Fireproof and Courageous co-creator and producer Stephen Kendrick, the 2013 Academy can be watched from the online from the comfort of your home, at a very special price, and on your own schedule. With over twenty hours of formal instruction and diverse topics, the Christian Filmmakers Academy is streaming all the General Sessions from our main ballroom, direct to you. Listen to lectures from veteran producers such as Geoff Botkin, Doug Phillips, and Steven Kendrick, or delve into the world of marketing and owning a film studio with industry experts Try Jacobson and the LeClerc brothers. View the complete Academy livestream schedule and register to attend at the special price of $295 — over 50% off in-class tuition of $595 per person.

Learn to script, cast, act, produce, and direct, and much more — all from a distinctively Christian perspective — online, from the comfort of your home!

Academy Faculty includes a powerful cast of Christian Film industry leaders:

• Doug Phillips, President of Vision Forum / Founder of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival
• Geoffrey Botkin, Veteran Writer, Director & Producer who has written and directed some of the most controversial and widely watched public affairs films of the last twenty years
• Justin Tolley, Production Manager, Assistant Director and Producer (Fireproof, Letters to God, Courageous, October Baby; Lost (TV series)
• Stephen Kendrick, Writer/Producer of Fireproof and Courageous
• Tryg Jacobson, nationally-recognized branding expert and the founder of the Jake’s Cafe
• Isaac Botkin, Director & Associate Producer, Visual Effects Technician (including with WETA Workshop), author of Outside Hollywood
• The Leclerc Brothers of Leclerc Brothers Motion Pictures, multiple Jubilee Award-winners
• Curtis Bowers, former Idaho state representative, businessman, producer, director, Winner of the 2010 SAICFF "Best of Festival" Jubilee Award.
• Colin Gunn, Best of Festival Award Winner 2007, and Best Political Film Award Winner at the 2004 SAICFF
• Benjamin Botkin, Christian composer, composed the soundtracks for Ace Wonder, The Mysterious Islands, and for the documentary Return of the Daughters, among other visual media projects
• Pat Roy, Writer & Producer, Jonathan Park ,Christian radio and media expert.
• Chad Burns, Director of Pendragon, Sword of His Father, and winner of multiple awards, Chad is founder of Burns Family Studios.

Register Now for the CFA Livestream Experience!

For just $295, your entire family can watch all the CFA’s main room sessions LIVE online from your own living room. That’s a huge savings over the in-person CFA registration fee of at least $525 per person, not to mention all the travel expenses you save.

Once you register, your confirmation email will have the details and links for joining the classroom sessions online. If your schedule won’t permit you to watch every session live, don’t worry, we will archive each live stream session for you so that you can go back and watch anything you missed at a later date (archived sessions available through March 29, 2013). Take advantage of the Academy Livestream option and sign up today.

Based on Tracy Leininger
Craven's riveting novel.
Available now wherever
books are sold.

Pursued by a relentless and cunning warrior, Barbara and her three fellow captives must cross over two hundred miles of raw wilderness in their effort to reach friendly territory. Will their courage and trust in God be enough to see them through? And if they do succeed, will they find their family? Will Barbara ever see her sister again? Alone Yet Not Alone depicts the riveting true story of a family at a critical juncture in our nation’s history.

Production Notes. Length: 109; Producers: Barbara Divisek, George Escobar, Mike Snyder, Cynthia Walker; Director: Ray Bengston; Co-Director & Co-Writer: George Escobar; Writer: James Richards.

Visit the website to view the film trailer: aloneyetnotalone.com.

• Develop your worldview, improve your craft, build your team through strategic networking, and learn to market your films at the Christian Filmmakers Academy
• Largest Single Grand Prize in America for Christian Film to be Awarded: $101,000
• More than 70 Finalists and Semi-Finalists Films to Be Screened
• Register to attend today!

In light of this development, the SAICFF has officially extended the deadline for all film submissions for the 2013 Film Festival to October 31 (the feature film deadline remains November 15th). Next year’s festival will be held on February 7-9, 2013 at the Gonzalez Convention in San Antonio, Texas, culminating with the Jubilee Awards Ceremony to be hosted the evening of February 9.

“We are thrilled by EchoLight Studios’ sponsorship of our Best Short Film Award,” noted Doug Phillips, founder of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.”

“This sponsorship is not only a vote of confidence regarding the significance of our festival, but it’s also a boon of enablement for a Christian filmmaker who has demonstrated excellence through a dramatic short film to now be better poised to produce a full-length dramatic feature. This exciting development could well serve as the means to help a Christian filmmaker’s long-term dream come true. The message is this: Those who are faithful in the little things will be better equipped to pursue bigger projects.

EchoLight Studios is a 21st century studio, producing and distributing family-friendly entertainment. EchoLight has a full film distribution platform servicing theatrical, home video, digital/VOD, and broadcast in both US domestic and international markets. EchoLight’s sponsorship of the Best Short Film Jubilee Award is a new step for their studio as well as for the SAICFF.

“We have long aspired to not only showcase the best in independent Christian filmmaking at our festival, but to actively invest in the movement by helping dedicated Christian filmmakers reach for greater heights in their craft,” Phillips remarked. “One of the ways we’ve done this in past years is through our $101,000 Grand Prize Jubilee Award, and we are now pleased to extend another large financial opportunity to the winner of our Best Short Film Jubilee Award, thanks to EchoLight’s generous sponsorship.”

The San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (SAICFF) and Jubilee Awards was founded by Doug Phillips in 2004 and is held each year in the Alamo City, drawing film submissions from around the world. Among the awards bestowed at each year’s festival are: Best Dramatic Short Film, Best Commercial Advertisement, Best Documentary, Best Promotional Media, and Best Feature Film.

Submit your film now to compete for the $101,000 Best of Festival Jubilee Award.

The final deadline for submissions will be October 15th (November 15th for feature film submissions), but you can take advantage of discounted early bird submission prices on all films submitted prior to September 15th. Full details, including submission fees, entry rules, and materials needed are available on the website, so head on over and submit your film.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to register to attend the Christian Filmmakers Academy, to be held February 4-6, 2013. A special discount is available for the first 150 people registered, so sign up now to reserve your spot!

The ‘Best of Festival’ Jubilee Award — with its $101,000 cash prize — went to Courageous, the fourth feature film produced by Sherwood Pictures and the Kendrick Brothers. This cash prize is the largest to be given to an individual filmmaker at an independent film festival in America.

“Courageous is arguably the most successful independent Christian film with a distinctively Evangelical worldview in the history of the cinema,” said Doug Phillips, president and founder of the SAICFF. “With the DVD hitting #1 in sales its first week of release, more than 34 million in box office receipts, and wildly enthusiastic audiences, the Kendrick Brothers have made their mark in history and proven to the world that Christian filmmaking has come of age.”

The Jubilee for ‘Best of Festival’ given to Courageous occurred before an audience of 2,100 just one night before the Hollywood Oscars.

“Our mission is to inspire, encourage, reward and ultimately to build a replacement industry for Hollywood. Too many simply complain about Hollywood’s darkness. Our mission is to light candles of hope by affirming those films that exalt what is true, good, and noble,” noted Phillips.

“This weekend, the Oscars celebrated male perversity by awarding Woody Allen’s escapist libertine romp, Midnight in Paris, and heralding a homosexual ‘coming out’ story in Beginners,” Phillips observed. “In contrast, the Jubilees celebrated male virtue and sacrifice by awarding Courageous with ‘Best of Festival’ and giving the Kendrick Brothers the largest cash prize bestowed by any film festival in America.”

Courageous follows the lives of four police officers who are confident and focused on the job, yet failing as fathers. When tragedy strikes at home, they resolve to draw closer to God and to their children. This 129-minute action-packed drama — which also garnered the ‘Best Feature Film’ Award at the festival — tells the story of everyday dads who long to lead their families as courageous fathers. Stephen Kendrick, who co-produced Courageous with his brother Alex, was on hand to receive both awards.

“I want to take this opportunity, as we made a movie about fatherhood, to honor my father,” Kendrick stated. “He was the chainbreaker in our family . . . and there’s no one who’s had a greater impact on our lives [as] his sons.”

“The motto of [Courageous] was: Dads need to stand up and turn their hearts toward the Lord and say, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,’” continued Kendrick. “And it was our Dad that taught us to do that, and it’s an honor to pass on that legacy to our children.”

The top honor in the ‘Best Documentary’ category went to Indoctrination, directed by award-winning filmmaker Colin Gunn (Best Political, 2004 SAICFF / Best of Festival, 2007 SAICFF). In Indoctrination, Gunn traveled with his family across America in an old yellow school bus on a quest to uncover the origins and social impact of our modern public school system and gauge it against God’s Word. Featuring interviews with whistleblower teachers, administrators, students, and parents, Indoctrination takes a hard look at the true state of public education in America. The film was also named runner-up for ‘Best of Festival’.

Upon receiving the ‘Best Documentary’ award, Gunn noted that Indoctrination was made for “others out of genuine love for the concerns of children in America. We were so blessed to give this message. And at the end of the film [we] make it clear: The problem with public schools is that [they] drive children away from Christ. And that was the real reason for making this film, and we pray that the Lord was glorified in it.”

Two Hats, a foreign mission documentary which highlights the ministry of Brad and Deborah Wells and their seven children in Papua New Guinea, took home the ‘Best Great Commission’ Award. The film was directed by Andrew Garcia.

“This is an incredible honor,” remarked Garcia, “And I want to start by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without Him, this film would never have come to be. . . . And then, of course, the missionaries who were in the film . . . and the thousands of missionaries all over the world. Even as we sit here tonight, who are faithfully serving — not with eye-service as men-pleasers — but as unto the Lord. This award is dedicated to them.”

The ‘Best Creation’ Award went to Crying Wolf, an exposé of one of the most covered up big-government and environmental frauds of this generation. The 60-minute film, directed by 18-year-old Jeffrey King, exposes the lies and proclaims the truth about what the movement to bring back wolves to Yellowstone and the rest of America is really about.

“[T]his project wasn’t [fundamentally] about wolves or wolf re-introduction,” explained King, “but about reintroducing to the world biblical concepts of stewardship and dominion.”

The Jester, an 11-minute drama, got the nod for ‘Best Short Film’. The film follows a court jester who, after being banished by the king, finds himself homeless and without a sense of purpose. In his defeat, he discovers hope in hopelessness.

The much-anticipated ‘Audience Choice’ Award was given to Seasons of Gray, an 88-minute film that portrays the life of a modern-day Joseph. Upon receiving the honor, producer and director Paul Stehlik remarked, “Thank you for all of you who took the time to be here to watch the film and take the time to vote.”

“[W]hat we wanted to do [with Seasons of Gray] was to create a film that would be edifying to the believer, that would equip the church with an opportunity to engage culture, and that would allow us to engage the hearts of non-believers with the life-transforming truth of God’s Word,” noted Stehlik. “Our hope [is that] this [film] would be a doorway and opportunity to engage people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The ‘Best Promotional Media’ Award went to The Promise of Sheboygan County, a 9-minute film that highlights the many positive opportunities that Sheboygan County has to offer to entrepreneurs and families. The promotional piece was produced and directed by Philip and Chris Leclerc of Leclerc Brothers Motion Pictures, who also recently completed production of Dominion, Risk, and Manhood, a series of three dramatic shorts shot in Iceland that promote the Hazardous Journeys Society which was officially launched at the SAICFF last Friday night. This is the second win in a row of this Jubilee Award by the Leclerc Brothers, who won ‘Best Promotional Media’ for The Cripple Effect at the previous festival.

Commenting on their latest award, Philip Leclerc stated: “Sheboygan County is a marvelous example of God’s beautiful creation! This award wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the entire team at Jake’s Cafe who worked hard on this film, as well as the fine businesses that were highlighted throughout.”

Liberty Day took home the top honor in the ‘Best Commercial Advertisement’ category. The 60-second promo for the annual Liberty Day event held in northern Illinois was received by producer and director Matt Blick. In receiving this honor, 24-year-old Blick hearkened back to encouragement he received several years ago by festival judge Geoff Botkin when Blick was beginning his efforts as a filmmaker, “Do not despise the day of small beginnings.”

Jerica and Joe Henline, who are eighteen and sixteen years of age respectively, received the ‘Young Filmmaker’s’ Award for Lady Jane Gray. The 15-minute film takes viewers through the final hours of this valiant young woman’s life as she is martyred for her faith, uncovering the truth of her magnificent testimony which has been undermined by many liberal historians. Lady Jane Gray was also named runner-up for ‘Best Short Film’.

Other winners included Captivated: Finding Freedom in a Media Captive Culture, which garnered the runner-up award in the ‘Best Documentary’ category; and Seven Days in Utopia, which took second place for ‘Best Feature’. Runner-up for ‘Best Great Commission’ went to The Karen: Forgotten But Not Forsaken; and Check This Out was tapped for second place in the ‘Best Creation’ category. Gold Rush took the runner-up award for ‘Promotional Media’, as did Berger Bullets for ‘Best Commercial Advertisement’. Shad Eash was given a second-place nod for ‘Best Young Filmmaker’ for his 8-minute film, I Don’t Believe in Guns; and Philip Hagen won the ‘Best SAICFF Trailer’ Award for his 30-second submission, ‘Light Up the Darkness’.

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