Films featured at the 2009 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival

The following is a list of the films that were shown at the 2009 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, combined with summaries of their contents.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
See also: Expelled at Wikipedia


 * Plot: This documentary accurately depicts the ugly historicity of how tyrants have tried to use Darwin's ideas to justify their acts of tyranny, while alleging (with considerable authenticity) that modern science academia elites have been forging a tyranny of their own to keep out ideas that don't match with the elite's mystical worldview.


 * Studio: Premise Media
 * Producers: Logan Craft, Walt Ruloff, John Sullivan
 * Director: Nathan Frankowski
 * Host: Ben Stein
 * Noteworthy: A film that has been frequently slandered by anti-Christian bigots who don't know the difference between Ben Stein being shocked at Richard Dawkins making a fool of himself and Michael Moore calling Bush a fool.

Exposing a Trojan Horse

 * Plot: This movie's purpose is to ask a question that is unsettling to the Homeschooling Movement: When seeking acknowledgment from the government that homeschooling is as legitimate as it really is, how far is too far? Can letting the government get involved with the Homeschooling Movement give homeschooling that acknowledgment of its authenticity that it so deserves and desires, or is direct government involvement with homeschooling's affairs just a backdoor for a sinister government agenda?


 * Studio: Beal Media
 * Created by: Martin Beal
 * Budget: $10,000

The Rock from Which We Were Hewn

 * Plot: This film addresses the origins of the American Homeschooling Movement, and its triumphs against resistance in the form of (but not limited to) numerous vicious attacks by ignorant critics and several objections by fearful skeptics.
 * Studio: Chambers College
 * Producer: Chambers College
 * Director: Stephen Ong
 * Budget: $900

Noah's Ark: Thinking Outside the Box

 * Plot: A rebuttal to the BBC's documentary Noah's Ark: The "True" Story, this compelling documentary from Answers in Genesis examines the craft of ancient ship building. The result is not only a radical new theory about the shape of Noah's Ark that not even Henry Morris himself could have imagined; but also possible insights into the functionality rationale behind the architecture of both ancient and modern vessels.
 * Studio: Answers in Genesis
 * Producers: Dale Mason, Paul Varnum
 * Director: Paul Varnum
 * Budget: $25,000
 * Awards: Jubilee for Best Creation Film

Our Created Cosmos

 * Plot: This short feature on astronomy and cosmology challenges long-ages theories about the history of the universe, placing special emphasis on the impossibility of blue stars to be billions of years old. It also brings a spectacular view into fold of the complexity of star systems.
 * Studio: Answers in Genesis

iWitness

 * Plot: This corny flick is a 5-minute schlock about the embarrassments and failures a man might experience when trying to evangelize a friend. Along the way, the protagonist makes a fool of himself all over town in his quest to find the perfect approach.
 * Studio: Surround Media
 * Producer: Jennifer Lubanski
 * Director: Adam Lubanski
 * Budget: $1,500

Plot
A youth minister and a madman have a chance encounter at a train station at 3:00 AM one evening. What begins as an innocent conversation quickly turns tense when the madman's insanity begins to unfold as he grows increasingly overconfident in his power over the minister. Assuming that his easy murder of the minister makes him more powerful than that minister's God, he is shocked to discover that a miracle has happened anyway&mdash;in spite his efforts to make such a thing impossible. With a no-explanation canceling of all train arrivals, his real sinister agenda is frustrated; and he finds himself alone with no place to go.

Other

 * Created by: Phil Warner
 * Writer: Steve Walters
 * Soundtrack: Adron Ming III
 * Actors: Steve Walters, Erik Archilla
 * Budget: $4,000

Tim

 * Plot: This film tells the tale of a minister named Tim, whose early life was one of constant abuse, drugs, and petty crime. The child of a rape, he grew up on the mean streets in Michigan.  After experiencing a religious conversion in prison, he made efforts to turn his life around.  Tim is revealed to be a real-life minister and former insurance salesman, promising others that there is hope and a purpose in life even for children born in unfavorable conditions.
 * Created by: Penny Carlisi
 * Budget: $100

The Meaning of Choice
Main article: The Meaning of Choice

Plot
The Meaning of "Choice" tells the tale of Angie O'Conner, a girl typical of many high school women who experience an unplanned pregnancy courtesy of irresponsible smooth-talker boyfriends. Like with many real-life women, Angie finds herself nearly murdered when she refuses to have an abortion. The obsessive, irrational Joe is archetypal of the thousands of real-life men who are sent to prisons in America every year for domestic abuse cases related to unwed pregnancies.

The message is clear: for the most radical of the Abortion Lobby's advocates, abortion is the only choice that is tolerated. According to the movie, their message is: "Life doesn't count."

Other

 * Studio: Freedom Warrior Productions
 * Producer-Director: David B. Thompson
 * Soundtrack: Julia Rodriguez, Annick Marshall
 * Actors: Clare Michalik, Scottie Moser, Mariah Michalik, Collin Thompson, Patricia Ward, Michael Voris, Melanie Bruss, Katrina Peake
 * Budget: $1,500


 * Noteworthy: Pathclearance Award winner for Most Punishing Social Critique, this film is a favorite of the Dozerfleet founder, and is also the inspiration for the upcoming Dozerfleet work Navyrope. Navyrope is, by consequence, alluded to in the first chapter of Ciem 2.

Plot
This film discusses the value of not compromising one's moral positions. It begins in ancient Rome, where a prison guard that had been converted to Christianity passes down his sword to his son before taking another sword to battle with him. In a montage, the sword is then passed on down several generations throughout feudal Europe's history. A young boy named Garron gains possession of it, and is then forced to defend his family's castle from Muslim invaders. After his sister is abducted, he faces an escalation of difficult challenges to his refusal to open the gates of the castle. His victory secured after discovering a secret exit through a window, he rescues his sister. The sword is then passed down through generations in another montage, until a US soldier headed to Iraq gives it to his son.

Other

 * Studio: Pointy Stick Productions
 * Producer: Douglas Dunklin
 * Director: Aaron Brown
 * Budget: $15,000

Click Clack Jack: A Rail Legend
Jack, an 1870's rail engineer, must find a way to outwit a conniving and greedy gold-digger who seeks to destroy Jack's home town to search for the treasure rumored to be underneath it.

A Viking Worth Liking

 * Plot: This brickfilm short is a retelling of the parable of the Good Samaritan, set in Norway.
 * Studio: Monitogo
 * Producer: Monica Tull
 * Director: Gregory Tull
 * Budget: $82

The Story of Victory

 * Plot: The Story of Victory is a 15-minute short documenting the founding of Victory Baptist Church.
 * Studio: Victory Baptist Church
 * Producers: Alice Ong, Sarah Ong
 * Director: Alice Ong
 * Budget: $100

Signals of Grace

 * Plot: A lieutenant serving in France during World War II comes to a deeper understanding of the Gospel through a ring given to him by his fiancee.
 * Producer & Director: Stephen Ronan
 * Budget: $500

RC
Plot: RC is a short about a remote control toy car that envies the other vehicles on the big road off the property. One day, he gets free from the yard, but can't get back in. He finds out that the other vehicles, large and small, are not all what they seem.
 * Studio: The Anchor Group
 * Producer: The Anchor Group
 * Director: Jacob Pemmington
 * Budget: $4,550

Precious Treasure

 * Plot: A teenage girl and her father discuss the value of chaste living at a restaurant, while a waiter listening in grows uncomfortable with the fact that he never bothered with it when he had the chance.
 * Studio: Stembridge Mill
 * Producer: Chad Stembridge
 * Director: Chad Stembridge
 * Budget: $1,100

The Knight with Chivalry

 * Plot: Fascinated by the idea of knights, a young boy learns the role purity plays in leading a chivalrous life. He makes it his goal to pursue this life so that he may honor those close to him.
 * Producer: Stephen Littimann, Jr.
 * Director: Stephen Littimann, Jr.
 * Budget: $6,000

A Journey of Hope

 * Plot: The point of this film is to illustrate the impact of Charles Loring Brace's creation of the Children's Aid Society. Between 1850 and 1930, over 200,000 children that would otherwise have been lost and forgotten in the streets of New York City were able to find foster homes in rural areas.
 * Producer: Peyton Thomas
 * Director: Peyton Thomas
 * Budget: $300

For Honor

 * Plot: An escaped convict returns home to his family, and learns of some ugly truths that have passed within his family during his absence.
 * Created by: Paul Hastings, Alex Lemma
 * Budget: $350

As Always

 * Plot: As Always is a dramedy about Cindy, a stay-at-home housewife who runs into an unexpected surprise when her husband announces they will have a guest over. Trying to lie to cover her tracks at being unprepared, she is met with one surprise after another.


 * Producer: Grace Pennington
 * Director: Grace Pennington
 * Budget: $0

Adventurous Tails: Sugar

 * Plot: Part of the Adventurous Tails series. "Sugar" is the name of a Russel Terrier who must rally her other dog friends to perform a rescue.
 * Producer & Director: Daniel Rivera
 * Budget: $5,000

The Widow and Judge

 * Plot: Luke 18:2-5 is retold in the form of a 1930's courtroom setting, where a widow pesters a judge until he decides to help her in spite his contempt for his job.


 * Noteworthy: The film claims to have been made in the style of To Kill a Mockingbird.
 * Producer & Director: Thomas Purifoy
 * Budget: $94,000

Jericho: The Promise Fulfilled
(Note: Formerly titled Wars of Humanity III: The Promise Fulfilled)


 * Plot: Filled with modern-American satire and parody, this Lego-animated brickfilm features a comical re-telling of the Battle of Jericho.
 * Studio: Gideon Production Group
 * Producer: Gideon Production Group
 * Director: Anthony Rondina
 * Writer: Jessica Rondina
 * Soundtrack: Dan Vitco
 * Budget: $2,600

Turn Our Hearts

 * Plot: Alan Lewis, a workaholic, comes to the startled realization after a chance conversation that he has been neglecting the needs of his daughter, who is about to get married.
 * Producer & Directors: Ross and Julie Smithe
 * Composer: Ross Smithe
 * Budget: $1,500

Plot
In a dystopian future, chaos erupts and families have members wrongly separated from each other. A New City is erected by freedom fighters while the Old City uses force and oppression to maintain order over its frightened population. Those deemed sick or undesirable for whatever reason are forced to dwell in the Green District, along with all things considered deplorable. Their hands are dyed green, so that they cannot be mistaken for belonging to any other district.

Anya, a daughter of a New City resident, finds herself wrongly placed in the Green District, with her hands dyed so she can be monitored by an oppressive warden. Finally, her father arrives to rescue her, and she finds the courage to go along and be freed from her life under Old City tyranny.

Other

 * Noteworthy: Has similarities in visual style to The Matrix, but lacks the stop-motion effects. This film was shot with the RED One camera.


 * Producers: Joshua Weigel, Jeff Bartsch, Aaron Moore
 * Director: Joshua Weigel
 * Writers: Joshua and Rebekah Weigel
 * Composer: John Campbell
 * Budget: $16,000
 * Length: 16 minutes
 * Awards: Nominated for Best Short Film

The Prodigal Trilogy

 * Plot: In three acts, the parable of the Prodigal Son is retold in a modern setting.
 * Producer Jason Hildebrand
 * Director: Tad Munnings
 * Soundtrack: Mike Janzen
 * Budget: $65,000
 * Awards: Jubilee Award for Best Short Film or Series

Pencil Town
Main article: Pencil Town


 * Plot: An arrogant cop must learn humility when he is captured by a ruthless gang.
 * Studio: Last Act Studios
 * Producers: Pat and Cathy Walsh
 * Director: Joshua Walsh
 * Voice talent: Caleb Walsh
 * Budget: $5,000
 * Awards: Nominated for Young Filmmaker's Award

The Other Son

 * Plot: Like the Prodigal Trilogy, The Other Son takes liberties with the Parable of the Prodigal Son and decides to elaborate more on the often overlooked details which are the life and times of the non-prodigal.
 * Studio: Predestined Productions
 * Producers: Philip & Chris Leclerc
 * Director: Philip Leclerc
 * Soundtrack: John W. Doryk
 * Actors: Jacob Garcia, Brewler Welch, Weesley Barry, Jeffrey Goodrich
 * Budget: $5,000

Hidden Treasure

 * Plot: This film is a self-proclaimed "light-hearted comedy" built around Matthew 13:44, set in a Frank Capra-type universe.
 * Studio: Compass Cinema
 * Producer-Director: Thomas Purifoy
 * Budget: $73,000

Dialtone

 * Plot: Similar in concept to Frequency, Dialtone is about a lawyer who is down on his luck and down on his courage. He soon discovers, through a bizarre new client, a phone that can contact the past.
 * Producer: Daniel Bittner
 * Director: Brian Lohr
 * Writer: Brian Lohr
 * Soundtrack: David Craig and Daniel Craig
 * Actors: Brian Lohr, Craig Munson, Rita Fletcher, Natalie Lohr, Randy Gross, Rob Sproul, Craig Rowland, John Wright
 * Budget: $8,200

Dad: The Hero in the Wild West

 * Plot: One of the few Westerns in the festival, Dad the Hero is a corny shoot-'em-up about a bored man who discovers "how the West was really won," and then challenges his partner at work on the more popular assumptions. This leads to daydreaming about how a family of settlers in the Wild West may have actually stood their ground against gun-toting outlaws.
 * Studio: Take 7 Films
 * Producer: Jamey Sampley
 * Director: Jamey Sampley
 * Soundtrack: Amity Sampley
 * Budget: $2,000

Council's Commission

 * Plot: Council's Commission depicts the struggles of the Netherlands to gain independence from Spain in the year 1586. A naval battle makes up most of the content.
 * Created by: Peter Burns
 * Budget: $1,000
 * Noteworthy: This was one of three films in the festival to feature Lego animation, the other two being A Viking Worth Liking and Wars of Humanity III.

Collection of Fortunate Happenings

 * Plot: Three orphans embark on a quest to save their home when a greedy bank agent threatens to have it torn down.
 * Studio: Mallery Christian Films
 * Producers: Ridge Mallery, Joshua Moore
 * Director: Ridge Mallery
 * Budget: $300

Coppelius

 * Plot: The brutal dictator Coppelius finds himself on his last legs in a loosing war against rebel forces, when ends up hiding from rebels in a shelter which belongs to a family he once persecuted and murdered. Two orphans, Julia and Michael, are in that shelter as well.  Julia must decide whether to take revenge on the fallen dictator, or show him mercy, based on how her decision will influence her younger brother.
 * Studio: BornFree Entertainment
 * Producers: Matthias Haag, Travis Mendel
 * Director: Matthias Müller

Plot
In this 25-minute short drama, Anatoly must decide whether to let his daughter die with her faith intact or let her faith wither away as he gives her only enough food to last one more day. At the same time, he must survive a test of his own faith at the hands of the Russian man who murdered his wife. Set in 1932, Bread Alone brings to clear light the horrors of Stalin's attempt to starve Ukraine into Soviet submission.

Other

 * Producer-Director: Brandon Adams
 * Budget: $35,000

The Terri Schiavo Story

 * Plot: Winner of the Jubilee Award for best documentary feature, Franklin Films' 40-minute feature covers the gritty details of the life and death of Terry Schiavo; as well as hard questions about the integrity and role of government and media and the evils of the eugenics movement.
 * Studio: Franklin Films
 * Producers: Ken Carpenter, Rod Carpenter, Mark Schlicher, Mike Yuen, Steve Appel
 * Executive Producers: Joni Eareckson Tada, Doug Maz
 * Director: Ken Carpenter
 * Budget: $70,000
 * Awards: Jubilee Award Winner for Best Documentary

Side note: (And the evil thoughts of all of eugenics' defenders who were members of the Ring Forum at EZBoard at one time. There should be no need to name names.  They know who they are.)

The Sower

 * Plot: This 13-minute short is a self-narrated piece by a farmer about the Parable of the Sower and the Seed mentioned in Matthew 13, and how his own farming experience had allowed him to better understand the implications of the parable.
 * Studio: Compass Cinema
 * Producer-Director: Thomas Purifoy
 * Budget: $30,000
 * Awards: Received numerous nominations

On Wings of Angels

 * Plot: On Wings of Angels is a 20-minute short about a San Antonio-area paraplegic Vietnam veteran, and how he and his wife campaign to raise awareness for disabilities. Along the way, they mention how their faith plays an important role in motivating their mission.
 * Producer: Kyle Keener
 * Director: Nathaniel Barbettini
 * Soundtrack: Curtis Calderon
 * Budget: $1,000

Journey of Honor

 * Plot: This documentary argues that home-based care for the elderly and infirm is a superior method over the more culturally popular notion of institutionalized care.
 * Producer: The Anchor Group
 * Director: Grace Pennington
 * Budget: $5,360

A Full House of Blessing

 * Plot: Blessings in disguise await a family of eight when two of the six children are born with disabilities.
 * Studio: Franklin Films
 * Producers: Ken Carpenter, Rod Carpenter, Mark Schlicher, Mike Yuen, Steve Appel
 * Director: Ken Carpenter
 * Budget: $30,000

Free Wheelchair Mission
This documentary covers the impact, physical and spiritual, of a charity organization that has ensured that free wheelchairs end up in the possession of handicapped individuals in need of them.
 * Producer-Director: Kevin T. Wilson
 * Budget: $5,000

Binding Faith

 * Plot: This documentary is about a church in India recalling its struggles for survival in spite pressure from local Muslim extremists and corrupt government officials to disband. When the minister there refuses to stop preaching, the police chief offers an ultimatum in an effort to prevent a riot.
 * Producer: Dondra Vaughn
 * Director: Amardeep Singh Kaleka
 * Budget: $12,000

An American Adventure

 * Plot: This 46-minute biography covers the life and times of World War II veteran Jimmy Gentry.
 * Studio: Franklin Springs Family Media
 * Producers: Ken and Rod Carpenter, Mark Stubblefield
 * Director: Ken Carpenter
 * Soundtrack: Tom Howard
 * Budget: $50,000

Animals in the Bible

 * Plot: Animals is a zoological montage of the various creatures mentioned in the Bible, and discussions on each of them.
 * Studios: Declaration Films, Piedmont Educational Services
 * Producer-Writer-Director: Greg Munger
 * Budget: $10,000

Plot
A film spoken in French (film's real title: Jetez Quelque Chose Par Terre), the plot revolves around a boy who must lead his family away from the evils of animistic superstition that have held them captive for so long. In spite this, he faces initial rejection when he decides Christianity is superior and a more logical explanation for why he was allowed to be born while his siblings were miscarriages.

Other

 * Studio: Waterford Productions
 * Producer: Association of Baptists for World Evangelism
 * Director: Cheryl Gayle
 * Budget: $800
 * Noteworthy: This film refers to animistic superstitions of life force bonds between humans and certain objects as "fetishism." This is the traditional definition of the term, not to be confused with the modern slang term "fetish," which is a synonym for paraphilia.

The Widow's Might

 * Plot: The Moore family brothers must save an elderly widow friend of theirs from losing her home when she can't pay her property tax.
 * Producer-Writer-Director: John R. Moore
 * Soundtrack: Willem Hendrick
 * Awards: Jubilee Award and $101,000 prize for Best-in-Show

The Sound of a Dirt Road

 * Plot: A man must decide whether or not to sell his family's age-old ranch when his wife's medical bills prove too expensive.
 * Studio: MyShow Productions
 * Producer: Danny and Erin Alexander
 * Writer-Director: Graham D. Alexander
 * Soundtrack: Taylor Davis
 * Actors: Ross Renfroe, Jenny Hamilton

The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry
An elderly man in the 1970's shares his personal insights on life with a child who mows his lawn, while that child schemes to ask his love interest out on a date in spite the town bully's watchful eye.
 * Studio: Christiano Film Group
 * Producer-Director: Richard Christiano
 * Writers: Richard and David Christiano
 * Soundtrack: Jasper Randall
 * Actors: Gavin MacLeod, Jansen Panettiere, Robert Guillaume
 * Awards: Jubilee Award Winner for Best Music Score

Pilgrim's Progress: Journey to Heaven

 * Plot: A re-telling of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress set in the 21st century.
 * Studio: DRC Films, LLC
 * Producer: Danny R. Carrales
 * Director: Danny R. Carrales
 * Soundtrack: Matt Gates
 * Awards: Nominated for Best Feature Length Presentation and for Best Music Score

Pendragon: Sword of His Father

 * Plot: After the fall of the Roman Empire, young Artos begins to question his faith and his purpose in life. His quest to save his family leads him in directions he never expected.
 * Studio: Burns Family Studios
 * Producer: Burns Family Studios
 * Director: Chad Burns
 * Awards: Nominated for Best Feature Length Presentation

Note: This film is not to be confused with the unrelated The Pendragon Adventure series by DJ MacHale, the situation of the similar names being a case of LNE.

Fireproof
See also: Fireproof at Wikipedia

Notable: Surviving film critic Scott Tobias' slanderous jibes against Promise Keepers and his baseless allegations of misogyny and insulting, ignorant slams against covenant marriages, Fireproof became the year 2008's most successful independent American motion picture.

Plot: A workaholic firefighter with an addiction to pornography embarks on a quest to save his marriage when his neglected wife declares she wants to leave him. Along the way, he experiences a religious conversion that compels him to question every detail of how he has been living his life, while his parents offer him a book filled with tips on how to treat women with respect.
 * Studio: Sherwood Pictures
 * Producer: Alex and Stephen Kendrick
 * Director: Alex Kendrick
 * Writer: Alex and Stephen Kendrick
 * Soundtrack: Mark Willard
 * Actors: Kirk Cameron
 * Budget: $500,000
 * Awards: Jubilee for Best Feature-Length Presentation