Aviva Kempner
“The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” Interview
by Kam Williams

 

A child of a Holocaust survivor and a US Army officer, Aviva Kempner was born in Berlin, Germany after World War II. She was inspired by her heritage to produce and co-write Partisans of Vilna, a documentary on Jewish resistance against the Nazis. She was also the executive producer of the 1989 Grammy-award nominated record, Partisans of Vilna: The Songs of World War II Jewish Resistance.

Ms. Kempner is the scriptwriter, director and producer of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, a film about the Jewish slugger who fought anti-Semitism in the 1930's and 40's. It was awarded top honors by the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The film received a George Peabody Award and was nominated for an Emmy, too.

In her documentaries, Ms. Kempner investigates non-stereotypical images of Jews in history and focuses on the untold stories of Jewish heroes. Upset with the 2000 election results, she was inspired to make the short, Today I Vote for My Joey, from the script she wrote about Election Day in Palm Beach for the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women.

She produced and directed Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, a 90-minute documentary on America's favorite radio and television personality. Gertrude Berg was the creator, principal writer and star of the popular 1930's radio show and later the 1950's weekly TV sitcom, The Goldbergs.

Ms. Kempner writes film criticism and feature articles for numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The Forward, Washington Jewish Week and The Washington Post. She also lectures about cinema throughout the country. She started the Washington Jewish Film Festival in 1989.

 

Kam Williams: Thanks for the interview, Aviva. How has being the daughter of a Holocaust survivor shaped your life?

Aviva Kempner: As a child of a survivor born in post-war Europe, I had grown up fantasizing about being in the resistance during World War II. In late 1979, I had a roots awakening to explore my Jewish roots. Since then, I have devoted myself to countering negative screen images of Jews.

 

KW: How would you say Jews been stereotyped?

AK: Typically, Jews are portrayed by the suicidal, female Holocaust survivor, the nebbishy Jewish male and the domineering Jewish mother. I am committed to making documentaries which counter these negative portrayals by showing non-stereotypical images of Jews.

 

KW: How did you get your start in filmmaking?

AK: I was determined to make a film about my obsession: Jewish resistance to the Nazis. I incorporated the Ciesla Foundation which I named for my grandparents who had died in Auschwitz. Ciesla was their last name. I worked with Josh Waltetzky to make Partisans of Vilna in the Eighties, a film which examined the unexplored theme of Jewish opposition to Hitler.

 

KW: And how did you decide to do a documentary on Hank Greenberg?

AK: In 1986, when I heard that he had died, I knew that my second film should be about him. Here was an athlete who had emerged when Jewish Americans faced anti-Semitism in social and economic arenas, a subject rarely documented on film. I wanted this film to address Hank Greenberg's lesser-known accomplishments while highlighting the extent of domestic anti-Semitism in the Thirties and Forties.

 

KW: How are the Hank Greenberg and Partisans of Vilna documentaries

linked?

AK: Both works explore the role and innerworkings of Jewish heroes, from

those facing life and death situations to those fighting to gain approval in

American popular culture.

 

KW: What message do you have for other would-be documentarists?

AK: I think of parallel others who want to portray their cultures—like Italian, Irish or African-American—in new, eye-opening ways. Unlike the mainstream cinema portrayals, most Italians aren't in the Mafia, most Irish aren't alcoholics and most blacks aren't drug dealers. Maybe it's up to this generation of documentary filmmakers to set the record straight.

 

KW: Why did it take 13 years to complete Hank Greenberg?

AK: It was all about raising money for the rights to the archival and feature

footage. That was so expensive that I had to stop and start about 20 times.

 

KW: Where did you find those old Tiger fans whose reminiscences are such a

colorful part of the film?

AK: I grew up in Detroit, so 1 knew how to find them. I call them my Greek-like

Borscht Belt chorus. I've been an avid baseball fan since I was a young girl.

My father was one of those dads who lived and breathed baseball. I always

loved listening to fans talking about Hank with such admiration. During my

childhood, I heard about Hank Greenberg to the point I thought it was a part of Kol Nidre [the service sung on Yom Kippur]. It was that over the top fanaticism, hero worship and love of the game that I wanted to capture.

 

KW: It was also special to see some of Hank's teammates and to hear "Take Me

Out to the Ballgame" sung in Yiddish."

AK: That was Mandy Patinkin. There were so many valuable contributors to the project, as you see watching the film. Tapes of Hank... Interviews with his family... Legendary announcer Ernie Harwell… sportswriter Dick Schaap… And Walter Matthau repeatedly made me laugh so hard, I had to stop filming.

 

KW: In the film, Dick Schaap says that when Hank was closing in on Babe Ruth's

home run record, there was a conspiracy to not let a Jew break it. Yet, Hank's

son says his father never complained that pitchers were ordered to deliberately

walk him. There was something touching about the juxtaposition of these two

reflections, your even-handed approach here was excellent.

AK: I felt the best way was to present both sides.

 

KW: Well, I watched the film with baseball fans of all ages and of both sexes, and everybody loved it. It really resonates with everyone.

AK: Oh, that makes my day. I love that women and kids love it. That's why I

devoted so many years to the project. Hank was under-known. And his is truly a great American story.

 

KW: Thanks for the time, Aviva.

AK: Thanks you, Kam.

To see a trailer for The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, visit:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpsZVvaTUfw 

To order a copy of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg on DVD, visit: http://hankgreenbergfilm.org/?page_id=9 

Aroused
Film Review by Kam Williams

Have you ever been curious about how a woman became a porn star? Was it because of a drug habit? Or maybe out of desperation for money? How did she pick her stage name? Does she feel any shame about such a taboo line of work?

Is she really a nymphomaniac, or just a bad actress? Does she enjoy having sex with total strangers in front of the camera? Is there a stigma attached to her profession, or is she able to enjoy a normal romantic relationship in her private life? Is she worried about STDs? What does she think of her fans? Does she have an exit plan, or is she just winging it?

These are among the topics discussed by 16 of the most successful porn stars in Aroused, an intimate biopic directed by Deborah Anderson. Don’t be surprised if none of their sultry sobriquets rings a bell, since one of the fascinating factoids shared here is that their careers are of terribly short duration.

“The porn stars of 2005 are already gone,” one remarks. “They’re shot out,” which is how industry insiders refer to over the hill performers.

But the bevy of curvaceous beauties interviewed in Aroused represents the current cream of the crop. That includes Misty Stone, Ash Hollywood, Asphyxia Noir, Belladonna, Kayden Kross, Lisa Ann, Katsuni, Lexi Belle, Brooklyn Lee, Allie Haze, April O’Neil, Jesse Jane, Alexis Texas, Francesca Le, Tanya Tate and Teagan Presley.

The film is far from explicit, though it does feature each subject in a state of undress as she prepares for a still photo shoot for a relatively-tasteful coffee table book, clad in nothing but a pair of high heels by shoe designer Jimmy Choo. What proves far more compelling than seeing a little skin is hearing what makes each of them tick.

Money seems to be the common motivation, although they admit that once you go XXX you can’t go back, because being in pornography leaves a scarlet letter on you socially. It’s also interesting that most of these females crave attention more than casual carnality, with an absentee father during childhood being credited as a contributor factor.

They generally don’t date “civilians,” meaning people outside the porn industry, since ordinary people tend to be prudes about promiscuity, even when their mate explains that it’s just a job. By film’s end, you feel sorry for these females in denial, despite defensive-sounding statements like, “I get paid to have sex. Why doesn’t everybody do that?” Maybe because some of you admit to needing a steady flow of narcotics to mask the shame and the pain.

An eye-opening expose about the surprisingly-conventional concerns of some of the most hyper-sexualized women in the world.

Very Good (3 stars)

Unrated

In English and French with subtitles

Running time: 73 minutes

Distributor: Ketchup Entertainment

To see a trailer for Aroused, visit

Anthony Mackie
The “Pain & Gain” Interview
with Kam Williams

Born in New Orleans on September 23, 1979, Anthony Mackie attended the Julliard School of Drama. He was discovered after receiving rave reviews for playing Tupac Shakur in the off-Broadway play “Up Against the Wind.”

Immediately following, Anthony made an auspicious film debut as Eminem’s nemesis, Papa Doc, in Curtis Hanson’s “8 Mile.” His performance caught the attention of Spike Lee, who subsequently cast him in “Sucker Free City” and “She Hate Me.” He also appeared in Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby” as well as in Jonathan Demme’s “The Manchurian Candidate.”

Anthony had five features on movie screens in 2006. In addition to “We Are Marshall,” he starred in “Half Nelson,” with Ryan Gosling, adapted from director Ryan Fleck’s Sundance-winning short “Gowanus Brooklyn;” in Preston Whitmore’s “Crossover;” in Frank E. Flowers ensemble crime drama “Haven,” opposite Orlando Bloom and Bill Paxton; and in the film adaptation of Richard Price’s “Freedomland,” starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Besides an impressive film career, the gap-toothed thespian has performed both on and off Broadway, making his Broadway debut as the stuttering nephew, Sylvester, alongside Whoopi Goldberg in August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Next he was seen as the lead in Regina King’s modern retelling of Chekov’s “The Seagull,” in Stephen Belber’s “McReele,” and in the Pulitzer Prize-winning “A Soldier’s Play.”

More recently, Anthony participated in the Kennedy Center’s presentation of “August Wilson’s 20th Century.” As one of more than 30 renowned stars of stage and screen, he performed in three readings of Wilson’s cycle of ten plays chronicling the African-American experience, each set in a different decade of the 20th century. A true aficionado of live theatre, he hopes to return to the stage soon.

In 2009, he played Sgt. JT Sanborn on the big screen in Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” a film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. That same year, he reprised his role as Tupac Shakur in “Notorious,” the biopic of Notorious B.I.G.

In 2010, he took a break from film to return to Broadway where he starred in “A Behanding in Spokane.” He subsequently returned to Hollywood to appear opposite Kerry Washington in “Night Catches Us.” Then he appeared in “The Adjustment Bureau” and “Real Steel.” Last year, he made several movies, including “Man on a Ledge,” “10 Years” and “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.”

2013 is proving very productive for Anthony, with the horror thriller “Vipaka,” the coming of age drama “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete,” the crime thriller “Runner, Runner” and “Bolden” being among his offerings. Here, he talks about his new movie, “Pain & Gain,” a fact-based crime comedy co-starring Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg.

 

Kam Williams: Hi Anthony, thanks for another interview.

Anthony Mackie: What’s going on, my man?

 

KW: Nothing much, brother. What an impressive resume you’ve compiled for someone so young: The Hurt Locker, The Manchurian Candidate, Notorious, We Are Marshall, Half Nelson, 8 Mile, American Violet, The Adjustment Bureau, Gangster Squad, Night Catches Us, etcetera, etcetera...  

AM: Thanks a lot, Kam. I’ve been very fortunate to land all the projects that I’ve done. I have a great team of people working with me.

 

KW: So, what interested you in Pain & Gain?

AM: It was the script. I was really psyched about Michael [director Michael Bay] doing a story with three-dimensional characters like these who you could real delve into to see what makes them tick.

 

KW: A Michael Bay flick with both that trademark action as well as some complex character development. It felt almost like I was watching a new genre of film.

AM: That’s what made me so happy about it. When he explained to me what he was trying to do with this movie, it was something that I felt was right up my alley and that I wanted to be a part of.

 

KW: I have a lot of questions sent in to you by readers. Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: How would you describe your character, Adrian? Are you anything like him in real life?

AM: [Chuckles] That’s funny! No, I’m not anything like him at all. The thing that I enjoyed about doing Adrian was that he never backed down. He admired Daniel [played by Mark Wahlberg] so much and just wanted his friend to succeed. And he also wanted to achieve The American Dream.

 

KW: I saw you on several talk shows over the last couple of weeks, and between being pumped up from the weightlifting and the way you trash-talked like you were shot out of a cannon, you seemed almost like a different person, or as if you were still in character.

AM: [LOL] I really enjoyed this character and talking about him. I’m lucky because I get to do projects I like and believe in. And it’s exciting to see people react positively to your work, to something you’ve invested so much time and so much of yourself into. 

 

KW: How much time did you devote to the exercise regimen to get yourself in such great shape?

AM: About four months. I worked out for six weeks before we started shooting, and then every day on location. To get in shape like that involves a whole lifestyle change. It’s not just going to the gym. It’s also eating and sleeping differently, and spending your time differently.    

 

KW: I heard that you and Mark Wahlberg even trained together.

AM: Yeah, we worked out together every day, once we arrived on set. I think that’s why we subsequently became such good friends. He appreciated the fact that I wasn’t taking this opportunity lightly, since he’s not the type of person who takes the stature he’s achieved for granted. He’s a leader and a hard worker. He liked my dedication to the project which was reflected in how I accompanied him daily to the gym to push it as hard as we could.

 

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: Thanks for the wonderful performance in A Behanding in Spokane. You’re obviously comfortable on stage and also doing great work on screen. How do you approach each as an actor?

AM: First, let me say thank you, Harriet. It’s great that you saw and enjoyed that play. Stage and screen are completely different. Stage is like a marathon. It’s more of a physical muscle because you have to do eight shows a week. With a movie, you do it once, it’s in the can, and you move on. On the stage, you have to recreate that moment every night. You have to figure out a way, mentally, to find yourself in the same place every performance. You have to believe that whatever’s happening in that world is actually happening every night, whereas with film you just have to believe it once before you move on. So, stage is really difficult but, at the same time, it’s much more gratifying than film. So many people have a hand in your screen performance whereas, when you step on the stage, no one tells you what you can and can’t do.   

 

KW: Harriet also asks: Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?

AM: [LOL] That’s a great song!

 

KW: Larry Greenberg says: It seems to me like the film actually has a message about the growing distance between classes in America. Or am I asking too much from a spring blockbuster?

AM: I think the movie deals more with The American Dream, and the skewed perception of it in our generation. The idea used to be that you worked hard to achieve more. Now, it’s “Do as little as you can to achieve as much as you can.” 

 

KW: Richie the intern says: You have played Tupac Shakur twice, once, Off-Off Broadway, and also in the film Notorious. Did you listen to a lot of his music growing up?

AM: Definitely! The very first CD I ever owned, was a Tupac CD. He’s one of my all-time favorites. I have every CD and bootleg CD of his. He was a huge inspiration of mine. Since my parents didn’t allow me to hang out on the streets as a child, my way of experiencing the streets was by listening to Tupac.

 

KW: Patricia says: I loved your performance in Desert Flower, which brings to mind this saying: “There are no small parts, only small actors.”

AM: Thank you, Patricia. I agree. That’s one of the reasons I did Desert Flower. I feel very strongly about that picture’s subject-matter [female circumcision]. So, I did the film even though I knew I wouldn’t get any fanfare or recognition from it, because its message was important to me.    

 

KW: Did you meet naysayers before your first big break as an actor. There are people who do not give themselves permission to pursue their dreams. What advice do you have for them? 

AM: [Chuckles] I still meet naysayers every day. This business is funny. It’s all about your journey and the road that you’re on. There are so many people who like to comment on my career and on what I am or am not doing. But I know that it’s my path, and I’m going to decide for myself which direction I want to go. When I meet naysayers, I just thank them politely for acknowledging my career and I wish them many blessings on the success of their own careers.      

 

KW: Marcia Evans says: I have been following your career and I appreciate the choices you have made as an artist. Do you have any interest in bringing any historical or cultural stories about Louisiana to the screen? 

AM: Of course! One of the biggest projects I’ve been working on, for about six years now, has been a movie about the jazz musician Buddy Bolden. Louisiana is near and dear to my heart. I moved back to New Orleans five years ago, because I realize that New Orleans is what made me into something that I cherish. 

 

KW: Are you attached to any post-Katrina rehabilitation project in New Orleans?

AM: No, I’ve been staying away from the revitalization of New Orleans, because it’s not New Orleanians who are behind it. And that’s the problem. Every time a New Orleanian tries to get behind a project, it gets shot down. But you have all these folks from outside the state trying to change the culture. That’s what the backlash is all about right now. We want to keep the city the way it was. New Orleans is not New York, L.A. or Las Vegas, and we want to push all the outsiders out in order to get back to where we were before Hurricane Katrina.   

 

KW: Marcia also says that she’s a closet chef who plans to study the wonderful New Orleans cuisine. She was wondering whether the local fiddles helped you pack on the pounds for this film.

AM: [Laughs heartily] No, it was staying away from that stuff that enabled me to bulk up.  

 

KW: Marcia then asks: Do you know how to make noise in the kitchen?

AM: I’ll say this: I’ve never met a woman who wasn’t somebody’s momma who could cook better than me.

 

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

AM: My #1 killer dish is stuffed prawns with crabmeat dressing over teriyaki rice with pan-fried asparagus. That’s my game-over, you know you’re in for the night, you’re in trouble situation dish.

 

KW: Marcia also asks: Do you like Crawfish Etouffee? [Badly mispronounced]

AM: [Laughs, and corrects me] It’s Etouffee. I like it if the roux is made right. A lot of people burn their roux, and I can’t eat their etouffee.

 

KW: Lastly, Marcia asks: Does your bar down there serve some finger-lickin’, smack yo’ momma cuisine?

AM: [LOL] We serve our food with a band aid, because you’re definitely going to bite your finger.

 

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

AM: Butter pecan ice cream.

 

KW: Mike Pittman asks: What was your wisest career move?

AM: Not doing a TV show.

 

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

AM: Success

 

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

AM: To do a movie co-starring opposite Denzel Washington.

 

KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

AM: A panther.

 

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

AM: It’s from when I was 3. My dad was building the house that I would grow-up in and spend my entire childhood in. I took a laundry basket and tried to bobsled down the stairs but went though the wall about halfway down and landed in the next room. [Laughs]

 

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, what would you do? Would you do the bad stuff, you never got a chance to do, or would you do good stuff to make sure you make it into heaven?

AM: I’d get my family together and spend those 24 hours at home with them.

 

KW: The Viola Davis question: Who do you really believe you are when you go home as opposed to the person you pretend to be on the red carpet?

AM: At home, I’m a very, deliberate, opinionated and outspoken person. You have to soften yourself on the red carpet, because no one wants to think you have an opinion anymore.

 

KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?

AM: I would want to be a genie who could grant wishes.

 

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

AM: Determination. A lot of people say they have drive and determination, but most people aren’t willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve great success.  

 

KW: Lastly, can you give me an Anthony Mackie question I can ask other celebrities?

AM: Yeah, is there something that you promised to do if you became famous, that you still haven’t done yet?

 

KW: Thanks again for the time, Anthony, and best of luck with the film.

AM: Thanks a lot, Kam, I really appreciate it.

To see a trailer for Pain & Gain, visit:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEQ8jyvmYtw  

The Big Wedding
Film Review by Kam Williams

This picture is such a wholesale disaster that it’s hard to decide where to start in critiquing it. I could talk about how it is just the latest case of Hollywood remaking a French farce (Mon Frère se Marie) which somehow lost all of its charm in the translation into English. Or I could point out how it’s a slight variation of Meet the Parents and even has Robert De Niro reprising his role as a macho father-in-law less inclined to reason than to threaten to bust a kneecap or tweeze a guy’s gonads off.

Or I could focus on how the production squandered the services of a talented cast including a quartet of Oscar-winners in De Niro, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams and Diane Keaton, as well as that of such seasoned comedians as Topher Grace, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried and SNL alum Christine Ebersole. Or I might mention the telling fact that the movie sat on the shelf for over a year before the studio made the ill-advised decision to pump up the marketing and dump it on the gullible public.

Then there’s the homophobia and racism, reflected in disparaging offhand, remarks about lesbian and Colombian characters. Equally-objectionable is the picture’s frequent resort to sophomoric sight gags ranging from projectile vomiting to sucker punches to the face.

Perhaps most offensive of all is the film’s coarse, off-color humor featuring a life-size sculpture of a nude woman masturbating, a seductive wedding guest pleasuring her seatmate under the table during the reception, and a relentlessly-lurid script laced with salacious lines like “I can’t believe I’m being cock-blocked by my own mom,” “Go [expletive] a yak!” and “My father had his penis in your mom.”

All of the above amounts to a bitter disappointment, especially given the pedigree of the elite ensemble. Blame for this fiasco rests squarely on the shoulders of writer/director/producer Justin Zackham, who ostensibly was trying to replicate the lowbrow nature of his only other feature-length offering, Going Greek, a raunchy teensploitation flick released back in 2001. 

As for the storyline, Mr. Zackham lazy relies on “The Big Lie” cliché, a hackneyed plot device popular on TV sitcoms since the Golden Age of Television. It basically revolves around characters going to increasingly great lengths to hide an embarrassing fact from someone until the ruse blows up in their faces and the truth comes out anyway.

Here, we have Missy (Amanda Seyfried) and Alejandro (Ben Barnes) on the verge of tying the knot in Connecticut, when they learn that his birth mother, Madonna (Patricia Rae), is unexpectedly flying in from Colombia to attend the wedding. Because she’s a devout Catholic, they don’t want her to know that the adoptive parents (De Niro and Keaton) have been divorced for a decade.     

So, instead of simply explaining the changed state of affairs to Madonna, everybody agrees to participate in an elaborate cover-up to make it appear that Don and Ellie are still together, even though he’s currently in a committed, long-term relationship with Bebe (Sarandon). What a patently-preposterous premise!  

The escalating concatenation of calamities adds-up less to a sidesplitting, screwball comedy than to an incoherent string of crude skits, the crudest being a scene where an undignified De Niro sheepishly sports a substance-eating grin after getting caught in the act of performing cunnilingus between a widespread pair of naked legs.

Look! A falling star! Make a wish!

Poor (0 stars)

Rated R for profanity, sexuality and brief nudity

In English and Spanish with subtitles

Running time: 90 minutes

Distributor: Lionsgate Films

To see a trailer for The Big Wedding, visit

King's Faith
Film Review by Kam Williams

Brendan King (Crawford Wilson), a kid raised in the foster care system, was sent away at the age of 15 after being caught dealing drugs and running guns as a member of a notorious gang known as Avenue D. Upon parole a few years later, the juvenile offender was released to the custody of Vanessa (Lynn Whitfield) and Mike Stubbs (James McDaniel), a couple still struggling with the loss of their police officer son in a senseless act of violence while he was on duty.

The emotionally-wounded foster parents see taking Brendan in as an opportunity to not only help rehabilitate an at-risk youth but to perhaps restore their faith in humanity, too. Because the boy became Born Again behind bars, the prospects for his future are very bright indeed, despite a checkered past marked by 18 different foster home placements, 9 felony and 11 misdemeanor arrests, and 4 convictions.

After all, he’s now settling into a new school, Northside High, and living in a relatively-upscale suburban enclave located a safe distance from the bad influences rampant around the ‘hood. Furthermore, to keep Brendan on the straight and narrow, the Stubbs give him a curfew, find him a part-time job, and even encourage him to join The Seekers, a Christian community service group for teenagers.

Everything goes well until the fateful day he rescues a classmate from a car wreck. Natalie (Kayla Compton), a girl most likely-type, happens to be president of the school’s student council. However, she ends up in trouble when the police find drugs in the car at the scene of the accident.

But Brendan’s role as the hero lands him in the limelight, which has the unfortunate side effect of notifying his former partners in crime of his present whereabouts. Soon, they show up looking for the fruit of the valuable contraband he’d hidden before being sent up the river, and they threaten to put a hurtin’ on him if he doesn’t deliver or rejoin their ranks.

Will Brendan revert to his old outlaw ways? Or will the convert put his trust in the Lord and avoid temptation this time around? Thus unfolds King’s Faith, a very relevant morality play written and directed by Nicholas DiBella.

Carefully crafted with Evangelicals in mind, this modern parable will certainly resonate with the faith-based demographic as well as secular individuals interested in an entertaining, wholesome family flick with a sobering message. The cinematic equivalent of a thought-provoking Bible study likely to ignite further discussion about a variety of real-life challenges folks face today.

Very Good (3 stars)

Rated PG-13 for violence, drug use and mature themes

Running time: 107 minutes

Distributor: Faith Street Film Partners

To see a trailer for King's Faith, visit