27th Annual Movieguide Faith & Values Awards show shares Jesus Christ with Hollywood stars
LOS ANGELES – The best in faith and family entertainment for 2018 was recognized at the 27th Annual Movieguide Faith & Values Awards show.
With a different vibe from most award shows, the stars who attend the Movieguide Awards often walk the red carpet with their spouse and children in tow. The Christian Post caught up with celebrities who explained how the family-friendly event has personally impacted them.
“Paul: Apostle of Christ” star James Faulkner, best known for his role in “Game of Thrones,” was a first-time attendee of Movieguide and admittedly on his own faith journey. The actor explained how different the Hollywood award show is from events he has attended in the past.
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"I was in Los Angeles last year for the SAG Awards for 'Game of Thrones,' a rather the different field of entertainment, and as marvelous and as big as it is, as you know it's a very violent show and there's a lot of sex and a lot of nudity but at least it's a fantasy show, it's not real," Faulkner told CP on the red carpet. “I think that faith-based films, family films, films that celebrate, our better natures are important and therefore, I'm thrilled to be here as part of the Movieguide awards.”
Director Matty Rich, who broke into the film world in 1991 with the film “Straight Out of Brooklyn,” says attending the awards show in the past few years encouraged him to venture into making faith-based content.
"I've always had like an element of faith in what I do when I made my first film 'Straight Outta Brooklyn.' I've always tried to have an element of faith in what I do, but being here and coming here for four years and participating and learning what the Movieguide stands for – faith, family values, [showed me] it's the money maker of the business too.”
"Just think about all the animation movies that do big business, it's all about good versus evil. Hollywood is based on the undertones of faith, it really is, some of them say 'Jesus,' some of them say 'Christ,' some of them just don't do it, but they still have the same feeling,” Rich added,
“La Bamba” Actor Esai Morales has not stared in a faith-based movie himself but says he definitely is hoping to do so in the near future.
“Something like this, (the awards) I like to promote positivity in entertainment, at least life-affirming messages,” Morales told CP. “The fact is, every story has a bit of a message woven inside and so I'll do whatever I can to promote something that’s uplifting.”
Morales walked the carpet with his wife and daughter and stated that he wanted to show his child an alternative to what’s normally seen in Hollywood.
"We have so much darkness, lack of faith and love and the world gets colder and crueler or so it seems. So it's good to have things that focus on melting, where we're thawing out from past attitudes. So I'm here to share with my little daughter because I want to show her this [side of the] business,” Morales explained.
“Run The Race” star and longtime TV actor Kristoffer Polaha shared that faith-based content is something he feels “called to.”
“I had an experience with a movie called, 'Where Hope Grows' that had an amazing message. It also just tapped into an amazing community. We got to take the movie around the country and meet just a ton of families, that specifically dealt with people with down syndrome. It was an amazing overwhelming experience,” Polaha testified alongside his wife. “It was like so joyful and it kind of made me realize like acting is fun but it can also be kind of selfish so when you can do something that pours into communities, into the human spirit, I think ultimately that's awesome.”
Award-winning actress Jean Smart said that she was happy to be at a family event because most of her content is more mature. Smart was in attendance at Movieguide for her role in the Hallmark movie, “A Shoe Addicts Christmas.”
"I have a 10-year-old and it had been quite a while since I'd done something that she could watch. Not just my daughter but our kids are exposed to so much stuff that is just not healthy for them,” Smart noted.
Once everyone was inside the show kicked off with an introduction by Movieguide’s founder Ted Baehr, who shared his full testimony from being raised in Hollywood by two parents in the industry to becoming a wild young adult until someone suggested he read the Bible. Baehr went on to share the love and saving the grace of Jesus.
Baehr also revealed that movies with positive redemptive content is on the rise. Showing that in the past 10 years family friendly content has gone up 10 percent.
The night was full of heartwarming moments while all the winners thanked their families. One special moment at the Movie Guide awards was when actor Jim Caviezel gave up his award to his “Paul: Apostle of Christ” co-star Jame Faulker.
The Movieguide awards ended with every single person in attendance receiving a leather-bound Christian Standard Chronological Bible.
Below is a complete list of the night's winners:
The Visionary Award
Bill Abbott and Michelle Vicary of Hallmark Channel Programming
Ten Best 2018 Movies for Families
1. “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch”
2. “Peter Rabbit (2018)”
3. “I Can Only Imagine”
4. “Paul, Apostle Of Christ”
5. “God’s Not Dead: A Light In Darkness”
6. “Mary Poppins Returns”
7. “Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse”
8. “Paddington 2”
9. “Incredibles 2”
10. “Ralph Breaks The Internet”
Best Movie for Families – “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch”
Ten Best 2018 Movies for Mature Audiences (Alphabetical Order)
“Ant-man and The Wasp”
“Chappaquiddick”
“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”
“Little Pink House”
“Mission: Impossible – Fallout’
“A Quiet Place”
“Skyscraper”
“Solo: A Star Wars Story”
“Unbroken: Path To Redemption”
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Epiphany Prizes
Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring Movie of 2018 – Winner: “I Can Only Imagine”
Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring TV Program – Winner: "When Calls The Heart: The Greatest Christmas Blessing”
The Faith & Freedom Awards
Faith & Freedom Award for Movies – Winner: “Little Pink House”
Faith & Freedom Award for TV – Winner: “Medal Of Honor: Hiroshi Hershey Miyamura”
The Grace Awards
Christie Peters Grace Award for Most Inspiring Performance in Movies - Winner: Jim Caviezel for “Paul, Apostle Of Christ”
Christie Peters Grace Award for Most Inspiring Performance in TV - Winner: Jean Smart for “A Shoe Addict’s Christmas”
The Kairos Prizes
$15,000 Kairos Prize for Most Spiritually Uplifting Screenplay by a First-Time or Beginning Screenwriters - Winner: Nathan Leon for “Grace By Night”
$15,000 Kairos Pro Prize for Most Inspiring Screenplay by an Experienced Filmmaker - Winner: Paul Cooper for “Mingo Road”
For more information visit Movieguideawards.
