“Christians have much to give in Hollywood”

Madrid, Spain, May 16, 2004 / 22:00 pm

During the First International Symposium on “The educational role of cinema”, which is taking place in Valencia, Spain, American screenwriter Barbara Nicolosi, director of the “Act One: Writing for Hollywood” screenwriters school in Los Angeles, said “Christians have much to give to the film industry in Hollywood.”

Nicolosi explains that Christians can contribute with “the spirituality of the artist, the ethics of art and the film industry, in addition to whatever can help the human person develop.”

Film producers “are experiencing changes which four years ago were unthinkable” and “many productions are including issues of spirituality,” she said.

The “Act One” screenwriter’s school brings together 300 writers who work at all levels of the film industry in Hollywood and New York.  At the school, “we form, support and place in the industry a new generation of responsible Christian filmmakers,” said Nicolosi, emphasizing that the school’s principal goal is “to help Christian creators to introduce themselves to today’s society through film, the most powerful form of culture of our time.”

Andrea Piersanti, film director and president of the Luce de Roma Institute, said that after seeing the success around the world of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” there has been a “shout of satisfaction and freedom, the end of a nightmare.”

Among the speakers who will taking part in the Symposium will be film director Krysztof Zanussi, and Leon de Oro of the Venice Film Festival and President of Tor Films.

During the Symposium various films will be shown that show the impact positive messages in film can have on society, including “I Am Sam,” by Jessie Nelson, “The Color of Paradise,” by Majad Majidi, “Life as a Sexually Transmitted Disease,” by Krzysztof Zanussi, and “The Passion of the Christ” by Mel Gibson.

The Symposium is being organized by the St. Vincent the Martyr Catholic University of Valencia, and the opening ceremony was presided over by Archbishop Agustin Garcia-Gasco of Valencia.  The meeting is bringing together hundreds of people for conferences, discussions and film screenings.