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New Movie: Bella
I saw a few snippets of the trailer for the movie Bella this summer at a musical festival and thought it looked good, but didn't hear anything about it until recently.
Two days ago a lady in my church named Gretchen emailed me after hearing the young man who stars in the movie, Eduardo Verastegui, interviewed on Family Life Today. Evidently, he's a Christian with a real commitment to honor Jesus as an actor.
Then I read a post by my brother Alex over at The Rebelution:
Brett and I had the honor of hosting a pre-release screening of Bella at an event in Salt Lake City last month. The small-budget film shocked the film world by taking the People's Choice Award at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival last year. It is a powerful film on the true meaning of love, life, redemption, and family.Today, I watched the full trailer. It looks like a well-produced movie and I'm excited to see it. For those of you who live in Gaithersburg, it's playing at the Rio. Maybe I'll see you there. (You can find a theatre featuring the film, here.)Written, produced, directed, and starring some of the most talented and Christ-focused young men we have met, Bella is a film that will reach the heart of any person, regardless of their political or religious views. What makes us so excited about this film is its potential to change hearts and save lives.
If you've seen the movie, please post a comment with your thoughts. Here's an article that gives more background about the filmmaker and the story behind the picture.
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Comments (7)
Hi again,
Enjoying reading around your site.
I also went to the article and info and trailer about the BELLA movie.
I think this is a great idea for the kind of audience that the lead actor says in his interview that it is for....lost Ninas out there.
I think, though, that unless you are bringing 'lost Nina' types to the movie with you that this movie is not appropriate for teens.
I would definitely advise parents to read the entire PLUGGED IN movie review before taking even their 13-18 year olds to the movie.
I can see the value of folks (adults) in the church community seeing this film and learning how to LOVE the lost, like Jose does.
Just my additional two cents!
A lot of teens read your posts.
Thanks.
JEC
Posted by JEC | October 28, 2007 5:27 PM
I don't know if you've read this interview, Josh, but it's worth a look. Eduardo seems to be genuinely committed to the Lord:
http://clmagazine.org/backissues/2007julyaug_16-19eduardoverastegui.pdf
Posted by Claire | October 31, 2007 7:38 AM
Josh,
Jeremy and I went to see it on Saturday and it was wonderful. That morning I had been meditating on Christ's words on the cross to John and His mom. While He was on the cross bearing the weight of all of our sins He was, even then, thinking of others. This movie paints a vivid picture of what giving our lives away for others looks like in the real world. Very powerful and highly recommended!
Posted by MIndy Mayhew | November 1, 2007 4:49 AM
I went to go see Bella with my family this past Sunday, and we were all extremely impressed. Although the movie did not discuss about Christianity or Christ at all (I thought it would when someone asked the question "Do you think this is all there is-that we only live once?" but the response was "Well, I've never met anyone who's lived twice"), I think that is actually a good thing, as it prevents it from coming across as a film for Christians. Its message about abortion and redemption was powerful and provides a wonderful bridge we can use to start discussions with non-believers.
Posted by Michelle McCorkle | November 2, 2007 4:45 PM
Thanks for the feedback on the movie. I hope to see it tonight.
To anyone else who has seen it: please share your thoughts on the film.
Posted by Joshua Harris | November 2, 2007 5:19 PM
When a great heat warming film comes along like Bella, we need to give it our full support. So it will encourage more good films to be produced.
We just posted a number of movie clips from film Bella that can be downloaded and used to illustrate your sermon or teaching. Veiw the clip "I was beautiful" under Bella at wingclips.com. Very powerful!
Posted by Mitch Irion | November 3, 2007 3:12 PM
As a person who lives in Cd. Juarez, Mexico; I had seen and read about some of Eduardo's work on tv, movies, life etc. But it has been a long time since he has really been in the spot light...until now.
Abelardo, one of our pastors here at Gracia Soberana, mentioned the movie to me and he urged us to go see it and tell people about it. Unfortunatly the movie has not opened in Juarez yet and maybe not even in El Paso, Tx (our border city), but after reading the articules, the comments and looking at the trailer.....I REALLY WANT TO SEE IT!!!
It's great to see the change that has ocurred in Eduardo's life and to see that he's standing firm on his faith and beliefs. I hope he can keep on making a difference....
Posted by Ana Contreras | November 8, 2007 1:37 PM