Virginia Beach Mayor Welcomes Filmmakers

    /24-7PressRelease/ - VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, August 23, 2008 - Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf will welcome filmmakers from around the world to the Grand Awards Ceremony and Screenings of the Redemptive Film Festival. The film festival will be held at Regent University School of Communication on Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 5 pm. While Virginia has not traditionally been known as a major film site, there has recently been an increased interest in the area by filmmakers because of the climate, geography and willingness of city officials to work with filmmakers.

This year, some 150 films have been received from about 24 countries (six continents and the Caribbean), with the final entry deadline for film entries being September 8. The festival is expected to attract a large audience. According to Dr. Chris Cunningham, Festival Director and Founder, "one of the reasons for our very fast growth is that there is a genuine interest among filmmakers and audiences alike for a good family friendly film festival, with films that are free of obscenities, gratuitous violence, etc."

Now in its third year, the Redemptive Film Festival is aimed at providing a forum for filmmakers (professionals or students), to showcase and be rewarded for their work on themes that depict the redemptive purposes of God, either through human beings or supernatural occurrences; and to participate in the process of redeeming and empowering victims of modern day slavery. For the purposes of this competition, a redemptive film is any film whose main purpose is to depict the act of redeeming, rescuing, or delivering any person from a state of crisis or helplessness.

Films need not be overtly religious or answer questions, though they must adhere to basic Judeo-Christian values such as justice and morality. Previous winners have included films from different religious perspectives. Dr. Cunningham explains "God uses both supernatural means as well as human beings to help other humans - our festival seeks to depict this reality, and there are many filmmakers who are doing an excellent job portraying this." The festival has therefore formed an alliance with the International Justice Mission to help rescue victims of modern day slavery through funding and increased publicity of IJM's mission, through the festival. To learn more about the festival, or how you can help victims of modern day slavery, please visit Redemptivefilms' website.

The Redemptive Film Festival is produced by FireWorks Int'l.

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