First-ever John Paul II film festival coming to Florida

MELODY REGALADO | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Posted: 09.24.09 | Updated: 10.14.09

MIAMI | Pope John Paul II’s legacy serves as an inspiration to people of all faiths and backgrounds, and organizers of a new Florida film festival in his honor hope it, too, will reach everyone.

“It is imperative for our community to make this festival their own,” said Laura Alvarado, one of the founders of the 10-day festival, set for south Florida in late October and early November. The founders have sought involvement from religious and nondenominational organizations and places of worship, including Catholic churches, Jewish temples, schools and businesses, she said. “If John Paul II was known as ‘the people’s pope,’ then it is our goal to make this ‘the people’s festival.’

The John Paul II International Film Festival, originally set for the last weekend of October, is now extended to Thursday, Oct. 29, through Saturday, Nov. 7. The festival was conceived by Alvarado and two other young adults who connect with the late pope, an actor and playwright in his youth, through their faith and artistic passions.

“(We) all feel that the arts are the greatest way to deliver a message,” said Alvarado, who along with her fiancé, Frank Brennan, and friend Rafael Anrrich are the moving force behind the film festival.

She said the three of them believe many of today’s films are lacking “truth, beauty and love in its purest form.”

Alvarado, the festival coordinator, is a trained actress, singer and graduate of the New World School of the Arts in Miami. She and Brennan founded 7eventhDay Films, where she has acted in and produced three independent films. Brennan, the film coordinator, is a screenwriter, film editor and aspiring independent film director.

Anrrich, director of media relations for the festival, is a mental and behavioral health therapist who was born to Catholic parents in Miami and attended Catholic elementary and secondary schools. After turning away from the Church in his late 20s, he said he felt a strong call to return when John Paul II died in 2005. He met Alvarado and Brennan while leading a retreat for the Jubilee Youth Group of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Miami.

In its first year, the festival will feature a total of 18 short and feature-length films, including student films, and also showcase local Christian bands and art by local faith-based artists. The festival’s theme, “Faith Through the Storm,” aims to highlight films that celebrate life, and to satisfy audiences seeking meaning and inspiration in their lives. The theme reflects the turbulent times society is facing and seeking to overcome.

“Because when the storm comes,” said Anrrich, “it is our faith that will keep our roots planted and ready for the harvest.”

Brennan said they sought films that “show the true struggles and triumphs of the human life … that promote love, respect, dignity and truth.”

FILMS TO EDUCATE, INSPIRE

The schedule has been finalized and will be available online at www.jp2filmfestival.com later this month. Some screening locations, dates and times, as well as ticket purchases, are already available under the “Films” section of the festival Web site.

“We really have a selection that will entertain just about anyone as well as educate and inspire,” said Alvarado.

The opening reception and film screening of “The Mighty Macs,” the true story of the first women’s college basketball championship victory by Immaculata College during the 1972 feminist movement, will take place at Cobb’s CinéBistro in Dolphin Mall on Thursday, Oct. 29. Featured on Halloween will be “The Wager,” following a Hollywood man struggling with his faith and career; and “After the Truth,” a story about the hypothetical trial of Dr. Josef Mengele – Auschwitz’s “angel of death.”

A commemorative prayer meeting is being planned for Sunday, Nov. 1, the date John Paul II was ordained as a priest in 1946.

A film about the pope himself, “Testimony,” will be screened at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School’s Roca Theater on Nov. 7. The documentary offers a different perspective on John Paul II’s papacy through the eyes of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, his trusted adviser of 40 years.

PRAYER TO PRECEDE FESTIVAL

On the last Wednesday of every month, festival crew members have been holding prayer meetings. On the last Wednesday of October, Oct. 28, they will celebrate the next night’s festival opening by hosting the final prayer meeting at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Miami, which is free and open to the community.

The closing reception on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Florida International University’s College of Business Complex will feature entertainment, the awards ceremony and a screening of the film “The Human Experience,” a documentary about a band of brothers traveling the globe in search of the answers and meaning.

Other films will be screened at venues across south Florida including Florida International University, the Roca Theater at Belen Jesuit Prep, the Dave and Mary Alper Jewish Community Center and Just The Funny Theater on Coral Way.

All films shown at the festival this year will qualify for two awards: the panel’s choice for best film, or “Critics’ Choice Award”; and the film that best reflects this year’s theme, the “Faith Through the Storm” award.

The panel consists of local and national filmmakers, theologians and professors who will be discussing the films after each screening. All of the filmmakers have been invited to attend the screenings, said Alvarado. Although the films for this year have been chosen, the organizers are still seeking sponsors, volunteers and donations.

“Ultimately, the money raised by the festival each year will be used to help produce faith-based films that would otherwise not have the funds to be created,” she said. “These films would then join the many others that would be showcased at the festival that year.”

Organizers hope that eventually the film festival will be known internationally for celebrating human life and triumph through art.

“Miami is known for its beaches and its weather,” said Brennan. “It can also be known for its faith and artistic interest.”

Editor's Note: The city of Miami’s Manuel Artime Theater was removed from the list of venues in the sixth paragraph from the bottom of the article, and co–sponsers were included in the “Facts” box. — 10.14.09

 

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