Hollywood, Teach Us to Pray Film and Panel Discussion
Did you know that God answers 80% of prayer requests in the movies? According to a study by Brown/Fraser, movie prayers are almost always answered.
Hollywood, Teach Us to Pray offers a journey through American film history, highlighting the inclusion of prayers in movie narratives as turning points in the plot (The African Queen), spiritual weapons (Election), cultural markers (It’s a Wonderful Life), dramatic tour de forces (Bad Times at the El Royale), comedy (Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Talladega Nights), westerns (Pale Rider and Rooster Cogburn), and traces of transcendence (The Tree of Life). People of all races, genders, ethnic groups, ages, economic statuses, and spiritual conditions talk, shout, whisper, haggle, cry, sing, and wrestle with God.
With interviews with directors like Robert Benton, Michael Schultz, and David Anspaugh, critics like Justin Chang and Leonard Maltin, and religious personalities like Father James Martin, Professor Robert Johnston, and Sister Helen Prejean, Hollywood, Teach Us to Pray explores a different area of faith.
Join us for a screening of this documentary followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers, Terry Lindvall, Vickie Bronaugh, and Steve Sylvester.
Aug 22, 2024 - Aug 22, 2024
6:30 PM - 9:30 PM EDT
Gathering Room
General Audience $29.99
Students $24.99
Members $9.99
In Person Event
Panelists
Terrence Lindvall, Producer
Professor Terry Lindvall has his PhD from the University of Southern California and occupies the C. S. Lewis Chair of Communication and Christian Thought at Virginia Wesleyan University in Virginia Beach. Among his publications, he authored God on the Big Screen: A History of Hollywood Prayer from the Silent Era to Today.
Vickie Bronaugh, Producer
Vickie Bronaugh is an award-winning producer, director, and writer. She is currently in post-production on her feature film Moonrise, which she wrote and directed for Sony Pictures. Vickie began her journey directing children’s programming for Fox Television and was the first woman to direct the iconic Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.
Steve Sylvester, Producer
For “Hollywood, Teach Us to Pray,” Steve Sylvester’s task involved the parsing of Dr. Lindvall’s encyclopedic tome into a film documentary of reasonable length. The first cut was 23 hours.
With friend Paul Surace, Steve co-wrote a script that was awarded the Disney Fellowship. Although that was 30 years ago, Steve continues to shoehorn the name “Disney” into every possible bio, interview and party conversation.
As a composer, Steve’s cue library was administered through Getty Images, where selected tracks were heard on everything from Oprah to shows on MTV.
Steve’s resume includes the Family Channel, PBS, infomercials, two children’s shows, a sitcom, 875 episodes of a soap opera, a modern ballet at the Detroit Opera House, and did he mention Disney?