Theatrical release poster for "Fireproof"

While the world tuned in Sunday (early Monday morning here in the RP) to the red carpet buzz around the 81st Academy Awards, US news outlet National Public Radio covered a quieter filmfest that few of us have heard of: the San Antonio (Texas) Independent Christian Film Festival.

NPR gave us this encouraging bite: the highest grossing independent film in 2008 was not “Milk” or the Oscar-sweeping “Slumdog Millionaire.” It was the Christian-helmed “Fireproof,” a story about a man who finds Jesus’ redeeming love and works to repair his marriage.

SAICFF organizer Doug Phillips told the crowd that day, “We’re going to see significant production houses that will be funding $200 million films done by Christians. We’re going to have our own Steven Spielbergs. We’re going to have our own filmmakers that can tell great stories, produce tremendous films, but they’re going to be doing it with a Christian worldview, and they’re not going to be embarrassed by that.”

People at the SAICFF seemed to get the message that it was time to pull out of Hollywood and build a whole new Christian-only film industry.

Movies blogger Mark Moring at Christianity Today said afterward, “I appreciate Phillips’ passion for good content, but the feisty rhetoric about creating ‘our own’ industry just doesn’t sit well with me… Why light candles in the church and in the Christian community — and, indeed, in a “separate” film industry — where there’s already light? Some of the candles should be going to Hollywood, not running away from it.”

Moring’s words remind us of Paul’s, in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. Rather than pull away from the world and stay in Christian-only enclaves, Paul familiarized himself with the ways of non-believers around him to be better able at winning them for Christ.

We get disgusted with the behavior of people around us — in school, at work, in the community, etc. Often, the first instinct is to flee from places that seem so dark. But God has given you your own candles to light, whether you’re a new Christian filmmaker at Hollywood’s edge or an audience member in the cinema seat. How can you let your light shine where you are today?

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Links:
CCF on Facebook!
The NPR news story
Mark Moring’s blog post