50 Years After Debilitating Accident, Joni Eareckson Tada Shares Just how Much God Has Done for Her - MELANY ETHRIDGE/A. LARRY ROSS CHARISMA NEWS

Joni Eareckson Tada (YouTube)

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50 Years After Debilitating Accident, Joni Eareckson Tada Shares Just how Much God Has Done for Her

6/22/2017 MELANY ETHRIDGE/A. LARRY ROSS  CHARISMA NEWS

Originally released in 1979 by Billy Graham's Worldwide Pictures, Joni tells the story of a young Joni Eareckson Tada, injured in a diving accident at age 17, and her journey of faith as she came to understand how her quadriplegia could be used by God to draw others to Him. Subsequently translated into 15 languages and shown in countries around the world, Joni is about to receive new life as it is digitized and premiered at a red carpet event at Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, California, on Aug. 6, 2017— just over 50 years since her accident.

The premier is part of a celebration of God's faithfulness to Tada through 50 years in her wheelchair. Joni and Friends International Disability Center is partnering with the church to host the event, which will include representatives from the southern California film industry as well as leaders from area churches who will be honored for reaching out to individuals with disabilities and drawing them into the church—a key mission of Joni and Friends. Along with Tada, others involved in the making of the film will be in attendance, and Tada will share her reflections of starring in the movie in conversation with host and emcee, Senior Pastor Shawn Thornton.

"Doing the movie wasn't the smooth, easy process I thought it would be, but I learned a lot, including that the closer I got to Jesus, the more I found out who I was supposed to be," Tada said. "It had always been my prayer that as people witnessed the struggle of a young girl coming to terms with her hardships and gaining trust in God, hundreds of thousands would embrace Jesus Christ for the first time. I pray this digitized version of the film will have the same impact on a new generation."

The evening will begin with an invitation-only reception before the film premiere itself, which will begin around 6 p.m. All attendees will have the opportunity to walk the red carpet as they enter the church. Following the screening, Tada will greet those in attendance and discuss the film as well as the ongoing ministry of Joni and Friends and churches like Calvary Community, which have done so much to share the gospel with individuals with disabilities.

"We are so excited and humbled to be a part of this special screening, and the occasion to honor all that the Lord has done through Joni and the ministry of Joni and Friends, far and above the original film's release," said Calvary Community Church Senior Pastor Shawn Thornton. "We are grateful to be one of many churches involved in disability ministry, working alongside Joni and Friends to ensure that individuals with disabilities in our communities are sought out, welcomed and valued in our congregations."

Joni and Friends President and COO Doug Mazza clarified the reason for the festivities surrounding the digitized film's Premiere: "While most people wouldn't celebrate their 50th anniversary in a wheelchair, we see this event as a true celebration of Joni's life, and all that God has accomplished through her ministry because of her 50 years as a quadriplegic. So we thought this timing for the 'Joni' digitization and red carpet premiere couldn't be better, and we wanted to mark the occasion with fanfare as well as recognition for others who have been used by God in disability ministry, including our great friend Pastor Shawn Thornton."

Joni and Friends contracted with Fotokem to complete the digitization, and has exclusive rights to show the film for one year, before Worldwide Pictures assumes distribution rights.

"We appreciate our friends at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for their cooperation on this project, and look forward to seeing how Joni's story will be further used to reach people for Christ," Mazza added. "I have seen some clips of the digitized film and it is beautiful; I pray even more people will be able to view the movie and be impacted by this new, enhanced version."

For more than 38 years, Joni and Friends has worked to accelerate ministry to the disability community around the world, offering a wide array of life-affirming ministries, including the Christian Institute on Disability; Wheels for the World; international radio and television programs filled with inspirational stories; and Family Retreats, where families affected by disability learn they are not alone. For more information, please visit http://www.joniandfriends.org/. 

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Hollywood Gets Religion at Movie Guide Awards

Hollywood Gets Religion 

at Movie Guide Awards

Charlene Israel, CBN News Reporter
Charlene Israel serves as a general assignment reporter and helps anchor for the CBN News Channel. Follow her on Twitter @CharNews and "like" her atFacebook.com/CharleneIsraelCBNNews.
HOLLYWOOD -- Hundreds of celebrities came out to celebrate faith and family friendly movies and TV shows at the 22nd Annual Movie Guide Awards in Hollywood.

Feb. 26, 2014 CBN News

With the Oscars just a few days away, Hollywood is getting a touch of religion. Two new studies show movie-goers prefer films with a Christian worldview.

These movies are getting more attention and praise.

'Two Cents' from the Stars

"I'm a huge fan of those type of movies and TV shows and I want to see them pushed more to the forefront than have or be in a smaller award show," comedian and master of ceremonies Bill Engvall said.

Actress A.J. Michalka received her honor for the inspirational movie "Grace Unplugged."

"I want people to feel like they can make great, legitimate beautiful stories that really have a great message that families are going to not just be entertained by but also maybe talk about it in the car on the way home. To me that's the biggest thing," Michalka said.

Actor and Disney star Jacob Latimore starred in the film "Black Nativity," a story about keeping your faith and family even in the tough times. It's a message the young actor says is needed now more than ever.

"We have a lot of people that are lost in this world and we can insight people and reassure people on certain messages through movies, through film because they're really just life on the screen," he said. "I think 'Black Nativity' definitely played a part in that."

'The Bible' Influence

"The Bible" series won the ratings and hearts of America when it aired on the History Channel last year.

It also scored big at this year's Movie Guide Awards.

Roma Downey, co-creator with her husband Mark Burnett of "The Bible" project, won the Grace Award in Television for best actress for her role of Jesus' mother.

"I think ... the success of the Bible series really got the attention of the nation and certainly of our industry," Downey said.

"One hundred million people showed up and I think it was really extraordinary. And now we're seeing lots of other faith-themed films coming down the pipeline so I think that's very encouraging," she said.

Willie Robertson of "Duck Dynasty" agreed. The popular show was given the Faith and Freedom award for TV.

"I think we see it, we see it in our numbers," he said. "I was speaking with Mark about 'The Bible,' between that and 'Duck Dynasty,' there was a whole lot of people that tuned in, so hopefully we see that catching on."

"We see more and more things that are positive come out. We're happy to be part of it," he said.

Actress Holly Robinson Peete said demand for wholesome entertainment is growing.

"I just think that family movies are so important. I'm not sure why Hollywood is not getting the message that we need something every Friday when movies open up. We need something we all can go to as a family together," she said.

'Alone yet not Alone'

Perhaps the night's biggest highlight came when 64-year-old quadriplegic Author Joni Eareckson Tada performed the song "Alone yet not Alone" from the Christian film of the same name.

The true life movie tells the inspiring story of two women and their journey of faith and survival during the French and Indian War.

Tada's rendition of the song had also received an Oscar nomination. But huge backlash resulted in an investigation into why the little known film received such recognition.

The Academy later pulled the nomination, accusing composer Bruce Broughton of using his influence in an email as a former Academy governor to get the nomination.

The Academy president said sending the email crossed the line because it gives the appearance of an unfair advantage.

Broughton said that's ridiculous and all he did was ask others to consider the song.

"If you actually read the rules, you can go on the Oscar.com website and read the rules, I didn't really break any rules," he said. "What I admit to doing was sending some emails to people who I thought would overlook the song."

"They don't agree with me on what I did and that's basically what it is. As far as the rule breaking, you know all of the songs that are nominated and all the songs that weren't nominated have tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars of promotion," he added.

"Our assignment when we were doing it was to write a song that's inspirational as Amazing Grace before Amazing Grace ever existed. We tried to make it simple, universal, and just timeless and memorable," Dennis Spiegel, the song's lyricist, said.

Many see the Academy's move as bigotry against the song and message. Other members of the Academy, including famous film composer Hans Zimmer, said the ruling is unfair.

But Tada is taking it all in stride. She said she is hopeful that good will come from the controversy surrounding the song.

"Well when I heard the nomination was rescinded my first thought was, 'Oh, come on. Really?'" she said. "But God's purposes are working out because some of this controversy I think might be drawing more attention to the song and even to the film than had it just sailed through to the Oscars."

Hollywood Flips Over Oscar-Nominated Christian Movie Theme Song (CharismaNews)

Hollywood Flips Over Oscar-Nominated Christian Movie Theme Song

 1/21/2014 JEREMY BURNS/CHRISTIAN RETAILING

 

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The family-friendly drama 'Alone Yet Not Alone' garnered a 2014 Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. (Enthuse Entertainment)

Enthuse Entertainment’s family-friendly drama Alone Yet Not Alone garnered a 2014 Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. The nominated title song was written by Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel and sung by best-selling author and artist Joni Eareckson Tada.

The song beat out others by Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Celine Dion and Lana Del Rey. The other nominations include Frozen's "Let it Go," "Ordinary Love" by U2 from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Pharrell Williams' "Happy" from Despicable Me 2 and Karen O's "The Moon Song" from Her.

Some people in Hollywood have questioned the nomination from a Christian film that is virtually unknown. Broughton, one of the writers, is a former music branch governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well as a former chair of the music branch. Deadline.com claims he used his connections to gain a nomination.

Ray Costa, who helped promote the song to Academy members, disputes the claim.

"If he could influence the Academy in that way, he should have got a lot more nominations over the past 30 years," Costa said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "There were 75 songs being considered, and this one was different. It was inspirational and integral to the movie."

The title track single is available to audiences digitally through iTunes. The full soundtrack, composed by William Ross, will be available in stores this year.

No DVD release information has yet been announced. An Alone Yet Not Alone young adult book by Tracy Leininger Craven was released earlier this month by Zonderkidz.

Alone Yet Not Alone tells the story of Barbara and Regina Leininger and their journey of faith and survival during the French and Indian War in 1755. Captured by the Delaware Indians in a raid on their home and transported across 300 miles of wilderness to Ohio, the sisters are sustained only by their trust in God and their hope of escape against all odds to be reunited with their family. 

In its limited theatrical release in September, Alone Yet Not Alone became the highest-grossing film on opening weekend in terms of per-screen average, reaching $13,396 per screen in its limited opening in select cities. This per-screen average surpassed the per-screen average of most other wide-release movies, including Enough Said ($9,238 per screen) and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 ($8,439 per screen), ranking Alone Yet Not Alone with one of the highest per-screen-averages for independently released faith-based films to date, according to an Enthuse Entertainment representative.

The 86th Annual Academy Awards will be held March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Calif.

Gina Meeks contributed to this report.