Premieres draw crowd
Cinematic Arts unveils three never-before-seen films
ACTION — The Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center’s premiere gave students the opportunity to watch three unseen movies. Photo credit: Alanna Mitchell
A long line snaked through the lobby of Cinemark Movies 10 Friday, Aug. 29 as an excited audience of Liberty students and Lynchburg locals queued up, ready to screen a pair of unreleased films.
The event was hosted by the Zaki Gordon Center’s Cinematic Arts Premiere Event, which debuted a trio of yet-to-be-released films Aug. 28-29. The movies, all professionally produced, were each shown free of charge and were followed by question-and-answer segments with members of production.
“Beyond the Mask” premiered Thursday night, and the film highlighted a fictional-history adventure set in the 1700s.
Friday night began with “Brother’s Keeper,” a story of two twins in the 1950s struggling with the dilemma of choosing revenge or forgiveness. The film was followed by “The Remaining,” a movie produced by Affirm Films, the same studio behind works like “Soul Surfer” and “Courageous.” “The Remaining,” however, might be more akin to the standard Friday night fair than its predecessors. A thrilling horror film based around the biblical rapture, the movie integrated found footage-style cinematography and more than its share of jump-scares to create a tense environment.
Executive Vice President of Affirm Films Rich Peluso addressed the shift in direction from more family friendly films in his question-and-answer after the film.
“That’s part of the danger of having a brand,” Peluso said. “But no one says, ‘I’m going to go and check out the new Warner Brothers movie, the new Sony movie.’ They’re attracted to a story. They’re attracted to a film.”
Both films Friday night seemed to receive positive reactions from the audience. One moviegoer said his favorite part of “Brother’s Keeper” was “the whole thing.”
Wes Bundy, a senior at Liberty majoring in youth ministries, was enthusiastic after seeing “The Remaining.”
“I would love to play this in my youth group to discuss scripture and talk about Revelation,” Bundy said.
“I would definitely go see it again,” Jonathan Hidalgo, a Cinematic Arts major, said.
The movie executives behind the screened films came together with other guests Saturday morning for an extended panel discussion and further question-and-answer sessions.
Paul Lauer, the founder and CEO of Motive Entertainment, which has marketed such films as “The Passion of the Christ” and “Son of God,” spoke excitedly about the Liberty Cinematic Arts Program, calling it part of “ground zero” for an explosion in the Christian film-making industry.
The discussion covered topics ranging from production of faith-based films to marketing them to a mass audience. Panelists also gave conjecture on the future of film as a medium.
“These panelists have given our students the chance to engage and learn from their years of experience,” Event Director Scotty Curlee said.
He encouraged anyone who missed this year’s event to look forward to next year’s fourth annual Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center’s Premiere Event, which will be announced in the near future.