Amazing Film Gives Boost to Heartland
October 14,2006By RUSS PULLIAM
Indianapolis Star
In the midst of an attempted move from regional to national influence, the Heartland Film Festival has landed a movie about an important British political hero.
The annual Indianapolis-based festival opens next week with the first American showing of "Amazing Grace," the story of William Wilberforce. The movie, coming to theaters in February, shows how Wilberforce worked for 50 years in Parliament to end slavery in the British Empire.
Wilberforce was the Abraham Lincoln of English history, except he was able to gain emancipation of slaves without a war. He first proposed an end to the slave trade when he entered Parliament, not long after the American war for independence.
He faced immense political obstacles, as did abolitionists in America. The slave trade was an integral part of the British economy, and slavery advocates controlled most of Parliament. But Wilberforce preserved and ushered in the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. Then, as Wilberforce was dying in 1833, the Parliament voted to end slavery altogether in the empire.
The film comes from Bristol Bay, sister company of Walden Media, which created "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
Landing the first showing of "Amazing Grace" should help boost the Heartland's ambition to become a bigger player nationally. Only 15 years old, the festival attracted a $3.7 million Lilly Endowment grant last year to further those national ambitions.
Important Hollywood names have attended the festival, raising Indianapolis' profile in the film industry. This year "Amazing Grace" director Michael Apted will attend the film's showing in Indianapolis. Festival awards also have helped Hollywood insiders take more notice of the market for family-friendly films, as has the high quality of Heartland movies.
As a film, "Amazing Grace" could have life beyond the usual run in the theaters, rental and DVD sales. A related social justice campaign has sparked interest in Congress. Several senators are calling for a commission to investigate modern-day slavery, including the trade in women and children in the sex industry.
Wilberforce's life is not as well known in America as in England. Yet, prominent American political figures have embraced him as a role model.
U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., credits the Wilberforce story as inspiration to move from a tax-cutting to a compassionate conservative who focuses on Africa and the poor. Brownback's likely run for president in 2008 is taken seriously in some conservative circles, including the influential Weekly Standard magazine.
U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, who seems destined for either a top leadership position in the House or a U.S. Senate seat, looks to Wilberforce in a similar way. The Indiana Republican expects the Wilberforce movie to help Hollywood's bottom line. "There's this untapped market among people who seldom go to the movies any more," he said.
Profitable or not, though, the Wilberforce story is worthy of attention. "Had America produced a Wilberforce, we would not have had a civil war," Pence said. "His example of Christian leadership in public life would be invaluable for this generation."
