International Media Ministries has entered into a new world, for us. The world of secular movie theaters. Our goal all along was to release the film En Apatia (Apathy) where non-Christians would see it. We wanted the secular venue.
It has been a huge learning curve for us. The paperwork and bureaucracy required to get it legal and registered and rolling last year was daunting. Expensive and overwhelming. Another twist and turn hit us with each submission of paperwork, but we finally became official. It is an officially Spanish made film. We had crew members and actors who were Spanish and helped us meet all the qualifications.
Last fall, we didn't get our first choices into film festival circuits. We entered in Spain but found no open doors. Our director, Joel, entered a competition in his native Mexico and we were accepted. The film received an honorable mention. The only one out of 900 films in the secular venue. The winner had a $5 million dollar budget, so we had some steep competition.
Just a couple months ago our distribution went from zero 100 in just a week. We had contemplated trying to release it ourselves in one theater at a time. It would be a lot of work and expensive, but we knew it needed to get out into the world. Our plan drew the attention of distributors quite suddenly.
Distributors have connections with better known and bigger theaters as well as media outlets to publicize the picture and release all at once. God has opened doors and we just walk thru in gratitude watching to see what will happen next.
Please pray for our press showing next week. The secular press may or may not like the message of this film, but we pray whatever the press reports that it would draw people to the big screen in May. Is there such a thing as bad press? We will soon know.
Then we will have a private premiere at the cinema downtown that is known for this sort of thing. We will be mixing pastors, celebrities, media and staff with key people from the public. What a mix. Who would ever think these people would rub shoulders?
A feature on the only evangelical Sunday morning talk show in Spain will appear the week before the public premier on May 9. When God opens doors, things are going to get exciting. Pray for souls to be changed as they encounter the story of redemption on the big screen this May. Pray for other countries to be opened up to this film.