Collide Magazine

One Week, One Film

Scott McClellan - Originally posted Monday, December 15, 2008 -

Every year, Christian filmmakers engage in a friendly competition known as the 168 Film Project. Participants are randomly assigned a Scripture passage and a theme, and then have one week (168 hours) to write, shoot, and edit a short film based on the passage and theme. The films then premier at the 168 Film Festival—a red carpet event in Hollywood—where the filmmakers receive awards for artistic and technical excellence. In just five years, the project has become the talent incubator and rallying point that 168 president John Ware envisioned when he began trying to organize creative people of faith.

“Our goal is to focus emerging filmmakers on excellence and the Word of God,” he tells me. “168 provides a training ground for emerging filmmakers, reducing barriers and creating opportunities for pros and newcomers alike. It is like a ‘farm team’ for artists who are given tracks to run on as they improve their skills.”

The challenge, experience, and exposure offered by the competition to its participants are invaluable. First, Ware observes that the project merges faith and art, “two passions the participants already have.” By facilitating the convergence of faith and art in the minds of filmmakers, 168 prepares them to express their convictions through their work regardless of the “sacred” or “secular” affiliations of their future projects.

Even within the context of the competition and festival, Ware says most of the resulting films “are not preachy.” His instructions to participants are fairly simple and unrestrictive. “I tell our entrants no blasphemy, no gratuitous sex, language, or violence.” He continues, “I used to say no gratuitous preaching, but even more important than that, I want them to be true to what God has laid on their heart—not an agenda, political view, etc.” Ware appreciates the diversity of films produced during the competition, films that reflect the predetermined Scripture passages as well as the individual visions, inspirations, and convictions of the filmmakers.

And by not rewarding the filmmaker who most blatantly assaults his audience with the Christian faith, Ware and 168 communicate the values of quality, subtlety, and authenticity to the artists they work with. In other words, this isn’t a workshop on how to best convert paper tracts and live street-corner preaching over to video format. The key is teaching Christians how to tell a story or communicate an idea worth listening to in a world chock full of stories and ideas.

“Everyone has some kind of faith,” Ware believes, whether it is in “science, secular humanism, nihilism, or Christianity.” He believes Christianity is underrepresented in the mainstream media, and he wants to change that through the 168 Film Project. “The artist is the one who sees the truth as shaped by their faith, and has that ‘burning inside’ feeling that dictates, ‘I must express this truth.’ [The artist’s] version of truth comes from whatever faith shapes their ideas.”

By creating an environment in which Christian filmmakers (or perhaps better put, filmmakers who are Christians) can find and develop a creative voice with which to tell stories of faith, 168 represents an intentional effort to engage culture and communicate spiritual truth through the powerful medium of film. From a more practical angle, participating in the competition and festival enables filmmakers to add to their portfolio, be recognized for their talent, and network with industry professionals. Given that the film industry is notoriously difficult to break into, the career-oriented advantages of Ware’s project shouldn’t be minimized.

In 2005, Michael Costner (yes, as in, Kevin Costner) entered a short film titled “The Feast” in the 168 Film Festival. According to Ware, Costner now has his own production company and will produce at least three films in the next year. Of the 168 experience, Costner says, “The nurturing, spiritually open environment, combined with the pressure of actually getting a film done in that short amount of time, really brought us all together creatively and personally. It made me want to keep doing it. Now I get to do that for a living, with a lot more time, and I thank God for that.”

The stories of other 168 veterans who’ve gone onto bigger and better things in the film and TV industries are impressive, but few of them capture the essence of 168 as well as a quote from a filmmaker in Kyrgyzstan, part of a team that participated in the 168 Film Project from the other side of the world. He said, “I would like to make movies about why I believe in Jesus and why I call him my Lord because in Kyrgyzstan most people are Muslim, and I would like to show them why I believe in Jesus.” The filmmakers that invest 168 hours of their time into the competition emerge with the tools to communicate with their culture, and best of all, it doesn’t matter if their culture is Hollywood, the Bible Belt, or Kyrgyzstan.

To find out more about the 168 Film Project, to register for this year’s competition (the deadline is in February), or to purchase “Best of” DVDs from past festivals, visit www.168project.com.