How is this even possible?!

I've known several people who've made Christian films, and cut one myself. There are too many restrictions put on filmmakers in the Christian film industry that are antithetical to creating good drama. In my opinion, the greatest Christian film ever made is The Exorcist, and no Christian film company would touch that kind of subject material with a ten foot pole...But they should.
 
I may have been a little overly enthusiastic with my posting. It just seemed so unusual to me. With your common religious private colleges that offer a variety of majors and courses it isn't unusual or bizarre. There is some sort of tie in but with a dedicated film program it just seems unnatural. To me religious study and film are on very opposite ends of the spectrum.
 
Zander said:
To me religious study and film are on very opposite ends of the spectrum.
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Religious-slanted films serve two functions: they satisfy a genuine specialty commercial market, which isn't very well-served by much of what comes out of the "mainstream" entertainment industry, and...well, film can be an extraordinarily powerful tool for propagandization and indoctrination, and I expect we can agree that there are at least *some* religious organizations out there, for whom such tools are very appealing.

Plus, it's good marketing. There are Christian flight schools, Christian debt management, Christian dating, Christian weight-loss, and on, and on, because it's evidently a branding technique that works - folks whose Christian identity is very important to them, might be drawn to doing business with others who advertise a similar identity.

Don't ignore film's utility for hammering 'talking points' home, particularly with a younger audience whose critical thinking skills are undeveloped.

Or the political-Christian perspective regarding "culture wars;" in a sense this is like 1950s and 60s Americans being encouraged to study hard sciences, in order to use the knowledge against the Soviets. Except (to some degree, just perhaps) this is 2000s Christian Americans being offered media training, in order to use those techniques against immoral, family-hating, gay-loving, etcetera, etcetera, Hollywood.

I'm going to stop now, before I drift into politics.
 
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And maybe ... just maybe ... there's a handful of people out there that are passionate about filmmaking and about their faith ... and the way they see the world ... and want to make art that reflects that ... just maybe. I know there's one individual on this board who would fall into that category for certain. I won't tell you his name, but his initials are Brandon Rice.

ANY film that has a theme of any kind is making an argument about how to live anyway.
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
ANY film that has a theme of any kind is making an argument about how to live anyway.
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Absolutely.

Although there may be a discernable line between presenting arguments regarding general life-philosophy, and pushing any one particular strictly defined and ritualized faith.
 
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Most all films have a political leaning whether they claim to or not. The ironic thing, to me, is that politics (and religion) are not allowed to be discussed here. Don't get me wrong, I understand "the management's" reasons for not allowing such, but...
 
Terry_Lasater said:
Most all films have a political leaning whether they claim to or not.
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I think that's more a matter of any theme you care to present, having political dimensions to how the audience interprets it. The political interpretation of a film can change over time, or even depending upon the viewers' perspective.

Although specifically religious themes (that is, themes revolving around the tenets of one particular faith) don't really allow that kind of room, for interpretation. Each religion has its own ingrained dogma; works of art on the subject are necessarily just expositions on that dogma.
 
Mmmmmmm....

OK, I'll spit the kitten out.

Do you know of any religious [or other] organizations which would fund a [Bulgarian] short film? :)

I have a script for a 30 min. short and yes, it's fair to say that it has propaganda in it.

I have tried to hide it inside the context and keep away from direct religious slogans. People tell me that, to a certain degree, I've succeeded in this.

The main idea\suggestion of the story is that miracles happen. It's not specifically Christian and it's totally un-dogmatic in terms of dialog and the events in the story.

It's quite a brutal story actually. I've tried to tell it from a common man's POV and even from an atheist's POV by showing a fateful coincidence of facts [and not angels from the sky]. The protagonist is an aggressive atheist and has good causes to be. But the miracle transforms him at the end [or at least the writer thinks so :)].

So, I have used Christian symbols in order to be able to communicate with my folk.

But my goal is not to defend any particular dogma or relig. rule. I'm just moving inside the terms of my people's faith an field of understanding.

I just want to make the [atheist] viewers feel that somehow, in a mysterious but yet - very ordinary way, miracles do happen.

Moreover, I expect the devout Christians to actually deny and bash the script, cause I've strived to keep it very realistic, down to earth and even naturalistic.

You know, street talk, truth-in-the-facts... a gun-fight :)... and a decent body count.

So, are there any options for such a fund. :Drogar-Shock(DBG):
 
Sad Max said:
Religious-slanted films serve two functions: they satisfy a genuine specialty commercial market, which isn't very well-served by much of what comes out of the "mainstream" entertainment industry, and...well, film can be an extraordinarily powerful tool for propagandization and indoctrination, and I expect we can agree that there are at least *some* religious organizations out there, for whom such tools are very appealing.

Plus, it's good marketing. There are Christian flight schools, Christian debt management, Christian dating, Christian weight-loss, and on, and on, because it's evidently a branding technique that works - folks whose Christian identity is very important to them, might be drawn to doing business with others who advertise a similar identity.

Don't ignore film's utility for hammering 'talking points' home, particularly with a younger audience whose critical thinking skills are undeveloped.

Or the political-Christian perspective regarding "culture wars;" in a sense this is like 1950s and 60s Americans being encouraged to study hard sciences, in order to use the knowledge against the Soviets. Except (to some degree, just perhaps) this is 2000s Christian Americans being offered media training, in order to use those techniques against immoral, family-hating, gay-loving, etcetera, etcetera, Hollywood.

I'm going to stop now, before I drift into politics.
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It's interesting what you say here... I do believe a lot of people make "Christian" or "faith-based" films to indoctrinate people... however, I would say a better way to go about it is to make a film with a great story! I also think religion, in general, can add another dimension to the story, and your film. I make Christian films, and honestly, I'd like to continue doing that... do I hope they make people think? Absolutely! But I don't make them for that reason alone... as Jack said above, I am passionate about my faith, and being able to weave it within a story is awesome to me.
 
Hey, my first (and so far only) feature-length screenplay is a supernatural thriller with an unabashedly Christian bent. Will it ever get produced? I dunno. Maybe. There's been some interest in it -- even from a fellow DVXuser who shall remain nameless for the time being. I know religious people of certain bent shun all films, but I'm not one of them. Will everything I write or shoot be about my faith? No. But like everyone else out there, what I believe and have experienced will inform everything I do. Such is life. If I had known about a school like this back in the day (when it didn't exist and I had no idea I liked filmmaking), I would've seriously considered it. Would've been cheaper, faster and more apropos than the college I ended up attending.

Rock on.
 
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