Interview: Vera Farmiga of ‘Higher Ground’

Posted on August 24, 2011 at 3:48 pm

Vera Farmiga (“The Departed,” “Up in the Air”) directed and stars in a new film based on the memoir by Carolyn S. Briggs, Higher Ground: A Memoir of Salvation Found and Lost. As she spoke to a small group of reporters in a Georgetown hotel, it was clear that she shares her character’s passionate yearning for an intimate connection with the Almighty.

I began by asking her about her character’s hair, which seems to reflect not just the changing fashions over the decades covered in the film, but her spiritual and emotional state as well. “It was three different time periods. The church changes. It goes from worshipping outside to worshipping in basements, hallways, annexes, to a proper, steeple-topped church. As the hippies turn into yuppies, so do the hairstyles. Her hair starts off wild and carefree and long and tangled. And passionate. And then there are the trials and tribulations and ebbs and flows of her path, and she engages in spiritual warfare and her hair also has its phases. Childbirth, and then she gets shorter. We did a perm curl – it gets corrupted. It gets poisoned — by a home perm! And then by the end it’s a looser wave, gentler.”

She admitted that this book was an unusual choice for her debut as a director. “It chose me. I really feel that way. I tried to wriggle out of its grasp, several times. Every time I tried, something else would happen that made it unstoppable….It touched me in divinely mysterious ways. It slayed me in the spirit. I loved this woman’s yearning to be passionate in her faith and all her relationships. That yearning is such a holiness to me that it touched me in a very deep way. I wanted to defend her journey….It was so juicy to me….I had a lot of ideas I wanted to bring into the film, ideas about music and praise and worship and joy.” It began to come together when her mentor, Deborah Granick, agreed to advise her and John Hawkes (from Granick’s “Winter’s Bone” agreed to appear in the film. “Before I knew it, I was on the set, having to deliver the last speech first.” And after that, she relaxed and enjoyed it.

“A story about God tends to make people tremble,” she said, “as the Almighty should. We all have our personal concepts of that that means. But that three-letter word makes people quake, especially in Hollywood.” But she had the support of her producers (including her husband) who “totally vibed with my vision, no mockery or judgment, just to look at how arduous that spiritual road is, how bumpy. No matter what your religion is, what your spiritual tenets are, what your idea of God is, we’re all on the same human team, trying to transcend self and look upwards for healing and holiness.”

She spoke of learning from directors like Granik, Anthony Minghella, and Martin Scorsese about the spirit they bring to their work, “their leadership, their approach, their wholesomeness, their joy, the good cheer that they spread as they attack their missions. In order for it to be a ‘holy experience,’ everyone’s got to be invested. You have to treat them like kings and queens and show them you are truly grateful.”

Farmiga cast her real-life sister as the younger version of her character. “We have the benefit of genetic similarity, so we did not have to do much as far as matching our performances. We move in similar ways because of the house we grew up in, probably even the Ukranian folk-dancing!”

I asked her about the portrayal of the main character’s friendship in the film. “I’ve learned so much from my best friends and they demand so much of me and inspire me in the ways that make me me. The character is able to be her best carnal self and her best spiritual self because of her friendship with Annika. We wanted to make it the most passionate and pure relationship — and then it gets taken away so she can find it within herself, the same energy, the same approach with the rest of her relationships, including her relationship with God.”

The tone of the film is respectful of all of its characters and their journeys. “My heart and my intent, indigenous to my personality is not cynicism, but compassion and serenity and gentleness and respect. I’m curious, what draws me into a story is recognizing my humanity, my imperfections, telling a story about struggle. This is not a general statement about Christianity; this is a moment this woman found herself in. We are still finding our voices.”

Trailer: ‘Courageous’

Posted on August 20, 2011 at 8:00 am

From the people who made “Fireproof,” a story of men who serve and protect as police officers but find the bigger challenge in serving as fathers.

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Christian Movie Connect: New Video Podcast Premieres Today

Posted on July 27, 2011 at 9:00 pm

Christian Movie Connect is a new weekly video podcast hosted and produced by faith-based film producer and media personality Cheryl Ariaz Wicker. It premieres today with the kickoff show featuring actor John Schneider, talking about his role on the upcoming “Doonby.”

Tune in for news of the latest faith-based movies and Christian personalities on and off screen, posted weekly each Wednesday on ChristianMovieConnect.com.

Christian Movie Connect (CMC) podcasts feature interviews with filmmakers, actors, screenwriters and other newsmakers in the Christian film industry both nationally and abroad, conducted at Christian industry events as the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, Biola Media Conference, Gideon Media Arts Conference and Film Festival and International Christian Visual Media Catalyst Conference, to name a few.

Film and media personalities featured on future CMC episodes include Bobby Downes (“Like Dandelion Dust”), Jerry Jameson (“Raise the Titanic,” “Airport ’77,” “Murder, She Wrote”), Ken Wales (“Amazing Grace,” “Christy”), Jenn Gotzen (“Nixon,” “Doonby”), PluggedIn Online’s Bob Waliszewski, Dave Christiano (“7th Street Theater,” “The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry”), Christian media guru Phil Cooke, Columbia Pictures’ Devon Franklin, Walden Media’s Micheal Flaherty and 20th Century Fox’s Simon Swart; and VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer. Among the well-known Christian leaders that will be featured on CMC to lend their take on the influence of Christian film are media and culture expert Josh McDowell and best-selling author/speaker Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham.

CMC will also have special daily podcasts from the Gideon Media Arts Conference & Film Festival (Gideon) airing from August 7-12, 2011. Producer Cheryl Ariaz Wicker says, “As a producer of faith-based, family friendly and life affirming films, I am an advocate for Christian movies and clean, values-based entertainment. Through positive films, we can inspire movie goers…but greater still, we can promote time-tested values to the culture at large.”

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Interview: The Actor Who Plays Jesus in “The Encounter”

Posted on May 27, 2011 at 3:56 pm

Bruce Marchiano spoke to me about playing Jesus in a touching new film called “The Encounter.” A group of stranded travelers come to the “Last Chance Diner” out in the woods. The man behind the counter tells them he is Jesus. It takes some of them longer than others to hear him. He has also played Jesus in “The Visual Bible.”

It’s quite a challenge for an actor, isn’t it?

It is in the sense of the responsibility, but it isn’t in the sense of the simplicity of it. When you’re Jesus, what you do is you just LOVE people! No matter who they are, what their circumstances, their arguments against you, you just pour love into their lives, along with all the truth and the holiness and everything.

That relates to my favorite part of the performance — the way you listened. Not all actors can show that, but for Jesus, I think it is very important.

If anybody listened, it was Jesus. We think of him as talking all the time but there is nothing more fundamental than his ear for people’s hearts. A woman once asked me if I get tired of playing Jesus. No! I’d do it all day long every day.

How did you come to this project?

As a hired actor it all happened very quickly for me. I had played Jesus before. Out of the blue I got an email from the director, who I had never met before, asking me if I’d be interested in playing Jesus in this film. He sent me the script and we met for coffee. I always have to say, “I have a different angle on this thing.” For me, it’s about all the love and heartbreak over people’s pain, that’s the most important thing to get across. David said, “Amen” and the next thing I knew we were working together. So often we get a man who’s detached and a little bit aloof. But as evidenced by the choices He made in his life, there’s nothing aloof about Him.

I laughed when one of the characters said it was like a “Twilight Zone” episode because I was thinking the same thing.

That was David’s concept, to make it almost “Twilight-Zone-ish” — so it worked!

Movies like this are like modern-day parables, a different mechanism for delivering the same message.

You’re exactly right. As Christian movies often go, we’re all working for pennies on the dollar but with a passion for bringing the gospel to people in new and savvy ways. One of the things I appreciated about it was that unusually for Christian movies there was a grittiness and realness to the setting. I don’t like it when they look Hallmark card-ish and not real. And Jesus was a blue collar guy with a scruffy beard.

And Jesus serves in it, too. Does it spill over into your daily life?

I sure hope so! When I did the first one I had remarkable experiences, not weird and supernatural, just understanding His heart in a new and unique way. And the same thing happened with “The Encounter.” At the end of the film when the guy makes the choice to go his own way, I just spontaneously broke down weeping, profusely. It was a little uncomfortable for a lot of the crew! Some of them had a hard time picturing Jesus being affected like that but it helped me to understand the depth of his heart in a fresh and unique way. There were two projects I turned down. Jesus has to be loving people and crying tears over their pain. If people don’t understand that, they’re missing the point. In another one they hired a director who didn’t know the Lord. How can someone direct that story if he doesn’t have access to the spirit of God?

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Interview: Chad Ahrendt of ‘Reconciliation’ (Part 2)

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 3:55 pm

Part 2 of my interview with writer/director/producer/editor Chad Ahrendt of “Reconciliation,” a faith-inspired film about a man who reaches out to the gay father who abandoned him.

7. For those who consider homosexuality a sin, what is the greatest barrier to finding a loving way to stay connected to friends and family who are gay and those who feel differently?

Every situation is different so it’s hard to pinpoint what the barrier might be for a particular individual, family or circumstance. It’s important to remember we can’t change anyone else, nor are we called to change others. We are called to share the Gospel. God changes people. Sanctification (becoming more Christ like) is a process of growing in holiness and obedience to the Lord and we only have control over our self and the choices we make. So, is that Christian living a holy life or are there areas where he or she is “picking and choosing” what to follow and obey in God’s Word? How might “picking and choosing” be viewed from a non-believer? Does that Christian truly understand the Gospel and if so is he or she being a proper example of it? Does that Christian remember the grace, love, patience and compassion with which the Lord dealt with him or her before coming to know the Lord and the times when they stumble? Over and over again scripture talks about love – loving God, loving our neighbors, loving our enemies, love covering a multitude of sins, and let us never forget it is love that drew each of us to Christ. Scripture equally talks about God’s hatred for all sin and so we should never condone any sin, but the question becomes is that Christian winking at other sins while holding homosexuality to an unbiblical hierarchy of sin? Does a family have the same rules and standard for their daughter and her boyfriend as they do with their son and his boyfriend?

Secondly, does that Christian realize his or her sexual brokenness? We are all tempted by sexual sin and many, even within the church body, struggle with various sexual sins daily. The fact that we are all sexually broken apart from God’s original intention should not only humble us, it should also make us more compassionate and understanding. As Christians we shouldn’t feel condemned by our brokenness, rather look to the Cross and praise the Lord for He has defeated sin and given us a way to no longer be in bondage to sexual immorality. With God’s Word, Spirit and strength we can fight sin, flee temptation and press on in pursuit of holiness.

Thirdly, while the Lord only truly knows a person’s heart He does say we can know people by the fruit they are bearing – fruit of the Spirit or fruit of the flesh. Billions profess to follow Christ and if that were true our world would look radically different. Read 1 Corinthians 5 if one wants to see how sexual immorality of any kind defiles the church and destroys families and read verses 9-13 carefully to see how God calls the church not to judge non-believers, but to judge believers and “purge” the sexually immoral from the church. If the church obeyed these verses we’d either see repentance on a grand scale or the church pews would almost be empty. As a church body I encourage us to get back to the Gospel, raise up men and women to be obedient in the Lord’s ways, take the plank out of our own eye when it comes to sexual immorality, and humbly fall on our face before the Cross and repent of the judgment, hatred and condemnation we’ve cast upon those with same-sex attraction – and then start loving them as Christ loves them and desires to be reconciled to them.

8. Is the forgiver or the forgiven the primary beneficiary of forgiveness?

Every situation is different, but speaking of forgiveness from a purely broken world perspective I think both can equally be the primary beneficiaries for different reasons. Take the examples of forgiveness in the movie between father and son. The father abandoned his family causing the son to say some very hateful things to his father, even denying his dad’s existence. Their choice to sin against one another brought about guilt, shame and loneliness. Through love, compassion, and listening that brought about better understanding of the circumstances they were able to extend grace and forgiveness and reconciliation was possible. Each benefited equally as father and son reunited. The bondage to shame and guilt were broken as love and grace abounded.

In the situation of the Cross there is only one offended and sinned against party – God. God, being perfectly holy and blameless, is entirely dedicated to reconciliation with the offender – all of humanity. Mankind, irrefutably guilty, rejects God and His holiness instead choosing to seek their own path. Injustice cannot just be overlooked, there must be a price paid. In God’s steadfast love for His disobedient creation He takes that penalty upon Himself by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, who voluntarily took mankind’s punishment as the perfect intermediary. At the Cross God’s wrath for sin meets God’s love for mankind. Who is the primary beneficiary in this instance?

9. Why is forgiveness so difficult?

Usually when we are sinned against there is a consequence whether it be financial, emotional or both. We want the other person to pay a price for the damage done. We want them to feel similar heartache as they caused us. We think, “Why should the offender get a free pass?” The irony is that’s exactly what God gives each of us – in essence a “free pass,” because Christ took our penalty upon Himself. Christ took the wrath each of us deserves. Jesus, completely innocent, was made guilty for our sake.

In our judicial system if we are caught breaking the law we expect there will be a penalty to pay depending on the crime. In the situation with God, He excuses our sin because the price has been paid, but this is hard for many to accept because they want to “repay their debt.” God gives it as a free gift, knowing there is nothing we could do to ever repay and if we could then we would feel entitled. That’s love. That’s true forgiveness. That’s the example we should never forget.

10. What is the importance of the chaplain’s comments?

The chaplain’s words are very challenging for everyone, because they make everyone stop and think. The chaplain is a man that has been transformed by God and His word, and he does not cater to the left or right wing agenda. His only agenda is to share the Gospel and God’s transforming power which is counter intuitive to the American culture that is increasingly becoming more and more all about “self.” If one really listens to all his words they will have a better understanding of the Gospel, the brokenness of this world, and how we can better become the hands and feet of Christ to a broken and lost world. There are two kinds of people in the world: those that are broken and following Christ, and those that are broken apart from Christ.

11. What did you learn from making this film and what do you hope people will learn from watching it?

Homosexuality is a polarizing topic that isn’t going away so Christians need to educate themselves properly from a Biblical and Gospel point of view. Today we see major denominations straying from God’s Word to appease the masses. As individuals we must decide where we stand on God’s Word, even when it means opposition from the world. As Christians we must ask ourselves if we are living a holy life and being a Christ like example or is their sexual sin we need to repent of? The church has been losing the battle on sexual purity for a long time now. Pastors must be proactive and talk about the difficult topics and educate their congregations on God’s standard.

We have two hopes for the movie: First, is that people will be reminded or introduced for the first time to the true essentials of the Gospel: God created all of us. He loves all of us. We have all rejected and turned away from Him and despite our rejection and disobedience He loves us so much and desires to be reconciled with each of us that He took our penalty upon Himself. It’s our choice to accept or continue rejecting what Christ has done for us and then because of our gratitude for what He has done we will gladly learn to walk in obedience to His ways. We must remember it is Christ that heals and changes a person and these changes begin after a person has surrendered his or her life back to the Creator. If people could truly change themselves what was the purpose of the Cross? Secondly, that as we all start to realize our own sexual brokenness apart from God’s original design we will repent of it and turn to the Lord and become more understanding and compassionate to those that don’t know the Lord. God did not intend for mankind to be in bondage to all the sexual immorality listed in the Bible. God does not call people to be straight, gay, or bisexual. In Leviticus 11 and 1 Peter 1 God says “Be holy, for I am holy.” We have all missed God’s mark for “Holy Sexuality.” Lets not be condemned of our sin, rather repent and turn to the Lord’s ways and walk in obedience to His calling on our life. Lets stop identifying ourselves with all these man made labels that only separate us and instead look at the Cross that unites us.

People can watch the trailer & find out more or follow the film on Facebook. Buy “Reconciliation” on DVD.

I have one copy to give away to the first person to send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Reconciliation” in the subject line — don’t forget to include your address.

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