Local Pastors, community leaders and clergy announce their film picks from this year’s Faith-based Film Festival.
The Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center (BHERC) extended the 2nd Annual BHERC Faith-Based & Inspirational Film Festival (FBIFF) through Sunday, October 3, to allow additional access and viewing of the films.
Curated from 1,000+ entries from across the globe, the selection committee programmed 34 films for this year’s festival. Initially scheduled to be a hybrid event, the rise in the Delta variant of the COVID – 19 virus led to the festival being held online and currently streaming 24/7 on www.BHERC.TV. To obtain festival tickets, visit BHERC.TV.
The FBIFF started in 2019 out of a request from the Christian community to provide an opportunity for filmmakers to create faith-based films to share them with the public. According to leading pastors, what makes the BHERC FBIFF unique is the partnership with sacred and faith-based partners that share a common interest in promoting films to uplift the communities they serve.
“We have the opportunity to encourage filmmakers who create and tell stories about faith and family, and that helps us do our work,” stated the Rev. William D. Smart, SCLC-SC president and co-pastor of Christ Liberation Ministries.
“This year will be a compelling occasion and requires the extended dates with the growing need for hope and inspiration of every form.”
Other partners include Pastor John Cager of Ward AME, Pastor Walter Contreras of National Latino Evangelical Coalitional, Pastor James K. McKnight of Church of Christian Fellowship, the Rev. Jonathan Moseley of National Action Network – Western Region, the Rev. Kelvin Sauls of Community Health Councils, Pastor Najuma Smith Pollard of Word of Encouragement Community Church, Pastor Thembekela Smart of Christ Liberation Ministries, Pastor K.W. Tulloss of Weller Street Baptist Church and president of the Baptist Ministers Conference of L.A. and Southern California, Pastor James Thomas of Living Word Church, Pastor Patricia Strong-Fargas of Mount Salem/New Wave Church and Elder Joe Paul, Jr., of the City of Refuge.
At the closing program, the partners will discuss their selections from the festival. In addition, the audience will have a chance to ask questions of the roundtable.
The objective of the FBIFF is to build an audience for and promote and encourage the awareness, appreciation, and understanding of faith-based and inspirational films, according to Sandra Evers-Manly, BHERC president and founder.
“Keeping with our theme, BHERC seeks to AMPLIFY the films and filmmakers of the Christian and Inspirational genre. Our mandate is to exhibit the most amazing faith-based and inspirational content we can find from every part of the world,” she said.
“There is an important audience out there waiting to support faith-based and inspirational films. BHERC wants to connect that audience with those films and filmmakers.”
