Pro Tools
•Register a festival or a film
Submit film to festivals Promote for free or with Promo Packages

FILMFESTIVALS | 24/7 world wide coverage

Welcome !

Enjoy the best of both worlds: Film & Festival News, exploring the best of the film festivals community.  

Launched in 1995, relentlessly connecting films to festivals, documenting and promoting festivals worldwide.

Working on an upgrade soon.

For collaboration, editorial contributions, or publicity, please send us an email here

User login

|FRENCH VERSION|

RSS Feeds 

Martin Scorsese Masterclass in Cannes

 

 

 

Making Movies On A Wing And A Prayer

MIDNIGHT CLEARMIDNIGHT CLEAR 

Monday, November 12--------For Dallas Jenkins, the director and producer of the feature film MIDNIGHT CLEAR, making movies that reflect his Christian values represents both an opportunity and a challenge in the Hollywood film community. “People have got a lot of misconceptions that I am looking to either openly preach or hide Christian messages between the lines”, Jenkins shared at an interview on Sunday afternoon, just prior to the screening of his debut feature MIDNIGHT CLEAR as the Closing Night Film of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. “What’s important to me is telling good stories that a wide audience can relate to and respond to”, Jenkins said. “I’m not interested in just preaching to the converted choir.”  

Make no mistake about it, MIDNIGHT CLEAR puts its Christian beliefs front and center. The film is even set on Christmas Eve, a time that represents both joy and depression in the community that he sets about to portray in a small Texas town. Using multiple story and character techniques such as in the films SYRIANA and CRASH, Jenkins tells the tale of five strangers whose lives cross paths on that fateful night and are changed by the experience. The best known actor in the cast is Stephen Baldwin, who plays a down-on-his luck father who has just lost his job, is living in his car and is fighting for visitation rights to his children. A drinker and a drifter, Baldwin’s character comes close to ending it all (reflecting the fact that Christmas sees a spike in suicide rates) but decides against it when he is moved by his interaction with two of the other film’s characters, a kindly yet moody gas station owner and a young mother and her son who are still dealing with the tragedy that has left their husband and father a hospitalized catatonic. The literal life-or-death crossroads eventually brings the Baldwin character into the home of another character featured in the film, an elderly woman who is also contemplated suicide, who turns out to be Baldwin’s estranged mother.  

Baldwin, who has received acclaim starring in a variety of action and thriller films including THE USUAL SUSPECTS, finds this part and the film very much in line with his newly acquired faith. As has been famously reported, Baldwin has become a born-again Christian, a far cry from his early bad-boy image. “I probably would not take the part in THE USUAL SUSPECTS if it was offered to me today”, he recounted at a Sunday afternoon sit-down. “The violence and non-stop curse words just don’t fit in with the kind of film roles that I know want to take on”, Baldwin commented. “These days, I am looking for films that bring some light and some hope into peoples’ lives, instead of films that reinforce the darkness.” 

Director/producer Dallas Jenkins, who adapted the film from a short story written by his father, successful Christian author Jerry Jenkins, whose “Left Behind” series have been major hits in the Christian community, has a unique vision for his future career. “I think that many Christians who work in the media are too focused on sending a message to the core community, and leaving out everyone else”, Jenkins said. “I live in Los Angeles and want to be part of the mainstream Hollywood community, but focus attention on films that offer uplift and hope, and not strictly Christian in tone. My audience is a worldwide, multi-faith audience, who wants to get more just entertainment value out of films, television and other media products”. To this goal, Jenkins has formed Jenkins Entertainment (www.jenkins-entertainment.com), through which he is developing various projects that reflect his artistic and philosophical sensibilities.  The film is being released for the Christmas season on DVD by Lionsgate (ironically the same company behind the violent SAW series.......such is Hollywood).

As far as MIDNIGHT CLEAR is concerned, the film’s strong acting, perceptive writing and ultimate positive message of family, community and generosity was responded to by audiences at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, which gave the film a rousing reception. The film won Best First Feature honors at the Cinequest Film Festival, an event known for its edgy indie fare. “I want to succeed on the film festival circuit and in traditional film circles”, Jenkins concluded. “I think that the time is ripe for films that do more than entertain…..films that reach out to their audiences with messages of hope and positive energy, which will stimulate discussion and thought and motivate people to examine their own lives and recognize the common humanity that exists in all people.” In our troubled times, that is a message one cannot hear often enough.

Sandy Mandelberger, Fort Lauderdale FF Dailies Editor

Links

The Bulletin Board

> The Bulletin Board Blog
> Partner festivals calling now
> Call for Entry Channel
> Film Showcase
>
 The Best for Fests

Meet our Fest Partners 

Following News

Interview with EFM (Berlin) Director

 

 

Interview with IFTA Chairman (AFM)

 

 

Interview with Cannes Marche du Film Director

 

 

 

Filmfestivals.com dailies live coverage from

> Live from India 
> Live from LA
Beyond Borders
> Locarno
> Toronto
> Venice
> San Sebastian

> AFM
> Tallinn Black Nights 
> Red Sea International Film Festival

> Palm Springs Film Festival
> Kustendorf
> Rotterdam
> Sundance
Santa Barbara Film Festival SBIFF
> Berlin / EFM 
> Fantasporto
Amdocs
Houston WorldFest 
> Julien Dubuque International Film Festival
Cannes / Marche du Film 

 

 

Useful links for the indies:

Big files transfer
> Celebrities / Headlines / News / Gossip
> Clients References
> Crowd Funding
> Deals

> Festivals Trailers Park
> Film Commissions 
> Film Schools
> Financing
> Independent Filmmaking
> Motion Picture Companies and Studios
> Movie Sites
> Movie Theatre Programs
> Music/Soundtracks 
> Posters and Collectibles
> Professional Resources
> Screenwriting
> Search Engines
> Self Distribution
> Search sites – Entertainment
> Short film
> Streaming Solutions
> Submit to festivals
> Videos, DVDs
> Web Magazines and TV

 

> Other resources

+ SUBSCRIBE to the weekly Newsletter
+ Connecting film to fest: Marketing & Promotion
Special offers and discounts
Festival Waiver service
 

User images

About Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival

Mandelberger Sandy
(International Media Resources)


Online Dailies for the 24th edition of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival , October 23 - November 11, 2009


United States



View my profile
Send me a message
gersbach.net