A documentary produced by Jesuit Communications Foundation (JesCom) in the Philippines was the only Asian finalist out of 74 nominees around the world for Best Documentary Film at the XXIX International Catholic Film and Multimedia Festival in Niempokalanow in Teresin, Poland.
Bagong Buhay: Mga Kuwento ng Pagbabalik-loob was produced as part of JesCom’s annual Lenten presentation in 2013. It was first aired on ABS CBN, the leading television network in the Philippines. The documentary features stories of the personal darkness of three people – an alcoholic, a womanizer, and a wife-beater – and how faith brought them to conversion and restoration to new life. It also features reflections by the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, as well as Fr Ramon Bautista SJ.
Festival Niepokalanow is an annual event organised by the Catholic Film Association in the name of St. Maximilian Kolbe and the Niepokalanow Monastery of the Franciscan Fathers. It is a review and a summary of Polish and worldwide achievements in the evangelical film and multimedia industry. Two other JesCom programmes, The Word Exposed, hosted by Archbishop Tagle, and Ang Kuwento ng mga Peregrino, were also screened during the festival, which was held on May 23 and 24, 2014.
For more information on Bagong Buhay, go to www.jescom.ph
