Inspirational characters are focus of Faith in Film

By Mary Giunca Journal Reporter

Over the past year, Butter Birkas grew tired of watching the misdeeds of financiers, chief executives and various masters of the universe play out across the small screen.

So when it came time to select films for the third annual Faith in Film series, Birkas said that she decided to counter all of the reprehensible characters people have been hearing about on the nightly news with a selection of characters who inspire people.

“I’m going to find some films that have characters in them that I can admire,” she remembered thinking. “They may be old films, but the subject is as relevant as anything you’ll ever see.”

The series’ season premiere will be Sunday, with the theme “Moral Fortitude: Characters Who Inspire Us.”

The films will be shown at Centenary United Methodist Church at 2:30 p.m. in the dining room. Screenings will continue every Sunday this month.

The series is free, but seating is limited and reservations are suggested. The first film will be High Noon, starring Gary Cooper. Made in 1952, it tells the story of Marshal Will Kane, who must defend his town and his honor alone.

In addition to High Noon, Birkas selected 12 Angry Men, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The Winslow Boy as the other films in the series.

Birkas, a documentary filmmaker and the former director of the RiverRun Film

Festival, said that in her first year of selecting films for the faith series, it was a challenge to find movies that were inclusive and could be shown to everyone from children to adults. All of the films have to be rated G or PG, she said.

That first year, she selected films that showed how people of faith conducted their lives.

Last year, the theme was “Children and War.” Birkas chose that topic, she said, because she was moved by the thought of how children were being affected by the wars that were on the news every night.

Barbara Fulp, the leader of Centenary’s music and arts ministry, said that the series dovetails perfectly with the ministry’s mission of bringing literature, art and music into the spiritual life of the church.

Last year’s series brought an average of 40 people to watch each film, she said.

“As important as it is for people who are members,” she said, “it’s equally important that it’s an outreach.”

Birkas said she looks forward to seeing how people feel about this year’s films.

She said she hopes that people will see it is important to do the honorable thing, even when that is not easy.

In selecting the films, she looked for strong characters in complex situations, she said. She said she hopes that viewers will see parallels to their own lives and times in the situations presented.

“I think cinema is one of those vehicles, where if it’s used in a good way,” she said, “it can get people to reconsider their ideas about things in a way that can be very profound.”

mgiunca@wsjournal.com