The Passion finds a place among Templeton nominees
The Layman Online, February 8, 2005
Virtually ignored by Hollywood in its Oscar nominations, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is being considered for an “Epiphany Award” by the John Templeton Foundation.
Sir John Templeton, 92, a philanthropist and director emeritus of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, presents a number of awards for religious achievement. The Epiphany Awards, which have been given for the past 10 years, recognize films that are “moral, redemptive, spiritually uplifting and inspirational” and foster “a great increase in man’s love of God or man’s understanding of God.”
The Passion of the Christ is one of five films nominated for the Templeton award. The others are America’s Heart and Soul, I Am David, Ladder 49 and The Reckoning.
The five nominees in the television category are A Christmas Carol, Doc: Happy Trails, Love’s Enduring Promise, Patrick, The Question of God and Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story.
Soon after The Passion was released last year, The Layman Online published a biomedical-engineering analysis of the film by Alex F. Metherell, a physician-engineer and a Presbyterian elder in California. Metherell, a scholar on the medical and physiological consequences of crucifixion, included photographs and drawings with his analysis, which is titled, “The Most Amazing Love Story of All Time.”
Ted Baehr, founder of the Christian Film & Television Commission, helped conceive the Epiphany Awards. “We’re weren’t just looking for moral films like The Incredibles or National Treasure but films that were really outstanding and presented a relationship with God,” Baehr told the Associated Press. “We want to acknowledge and reward filmmakers who bring us closer to a love relationship with a living God.”
The Passion of the Christ, which grossed $340 million nationwide last year, is a frontrunner in the film competition, he added.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not nominate The Passion for any top awards, but Gibson’s film was presented a People’s Choice Award, taken by a national poll of voters, not actors.
Each year at the Epiphany Awards ceremony, Baehr gives a report on statistical analysis based on MovieGuide reviews during the previous year – an analysis that consistently demonstrates to studio executives and filmmakers how family-friendly, spiritually uplifting content can significantly increase the profitability of their movies. Since the inception of the Templeton-backed Epiphany Awards, Baehr said, the number of movies produced with spiritual themes has increased by 45 percent.
Winners will be announced Feb. 24 at the Thirteenth Annual MovieGuide Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to Hollywood at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, hosted every year by the Christian Film & Television Commission.
In addition to the film and television categories, awards also will be given to the Ten Best Family Films and the Ten Best Films for Mature Audiences of the year, called the “Teddy” awards.