Faith-Based Films Making Waves in Cannes 2018
The popularity of Christian-themed films is starting to reach the international markets, as a number of faith-based films find their way to Cannes this year. This could mean that moviegoers from different parts of the world are starting to welcome this movie genre.
The Hollywood Reporter listed down several films with Christian-themed plots that will be featured during this year's Cannes Festival in France, including "An Interview With God," "God Bless the Broken Road," "Samson," as well as the documentary titled "Pope Francis: A Man of His Word" that was directed by Wim Wenders that managed to be a part of the official selection of the festival.
Most of these films were being sold in overseas markets which usually ignore these kinds of movies, including China. "An Interview With God" alone is currently on the verge of being picked up in Australia, the UK, Germany, the Philippines, and Latin America, according to Film Bridge International's Ellen Wander.
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"When I was first approached to take on this movie, I felt reluctant because I thought, 'Oh, my god, there really isn't an evangelical community outside of the United States,'" Wander stated. "But we've been getting interest from places like China — I never would have thought that — Japan, the U.K., spots that typically don't respond to these kinds of films," she added.
"An Interview With God" centers on the story of an up-and-coming journalist named Paul Asher (Brenton Thwaites) who found out that his life is falling apart after he returned home from covering the war in Afghanistan. But he suddenly received an offer to interview someone who claimed to be God.
Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios is also selling "God Bless the Broken Road" at the Cannes, and it seemed like they are not having a hard time in offering the movie to the international scene.
"We think the market is evolving into faith-based 2.0, where it crosses over more in terms of cast and story," Entertainment Studios acquisitions head Chris Charalambous stated.
"God Bless the Broken Road" stars Lindsay Pulsipher as Amber Hill and Jordin Sparks as Bridgette, with LaDainian Tomlinson as Pastor Williams and Andrew W. Walker as Cody Jackson.
But while offering the faith-based movies in the cinema seemed to be an easy feat these days, Wenders said that Christian-themed films may still struggle when presented in art festivals like the Cannes since religious faith has a reputation in the European cinema that is not usually seen in film festivals nowadays.
"Look at the movies of Ingmar Bergman," he stated. "They are so Protestant! Or [Robert] Bresson, who is so Catholic. But that [was in] the '60s, '70s. Today you find far fewer films that have outspoken Christian connotations," he went on to say.
Variety revealed that the German filmmaker, who also helmed other documentaries such as "Pina" and "Buena Vista Social Club," was allowed to have unparalleled access to Pope Francis for two years. He was also given the opportunity to use several exclusive footages of the Pope during his world travels from the archives of the Vatican TV.
