Tags
christian film, faith-based film, family friendly film, movieguide, movieguide awards, ted baehr
Each year for the past 25 years, MovieGuide® has held an awards show where they award films and television shows using a completely different set of criteria than most awards shows. While shows like the Oscars and the Golden Globes highlight films and television programs based on their artistic merit, MovieGuide® looks at the “moral and spiritual principles as well as… production values… movies that tell a story that is both redemptive and inspiring to their audiences.”
I’m pleased to announce the winners of the 25th Annual MovieGuide® Faith & Falues Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry (gasp) which was held this past weekend at the Hilton Los Angeles / Universal City.
Once again, the results have not been easy to track down, and have been pieced together by scouring the social media accounts of people who were in attendance.
The 2016 MOVIEGUIDE® Awards Winners
Lifetime Achievement Award
Pat Robertson
The Epiphany Prize for Inspiring Movies & TV
The Epiphany Prize for Inspiring Movies & TV is awarded to popular, entertaining movies and television programs that are wholesome, spiritually uplifting, inspirational, redemptive and moral.
The Most Inspiring Movie of 2016
The Young Messiah
The Most Inspiring Television Program of 2016
Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors
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Bradley Foundation Faith & Freedom Award
The Faith & Freedom Awards for Promoting Positive American Values are awarded for entertainment value, for craftsmanship, and for creating programming that is uplifting, moral, insightful, compassionate, and that shows America and its people in a positive light.
For Movies:
Hacksaw Ridge
For Television:
Operation Christmas
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Best Movie for Families
Miracles from Heaven
Best Movie for Mature Audiences
God’s Not Dead 2
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Grace Award for Most Inspiring Performance for Movies
Awarded annually to an actor or actress in a motion picture or television program who exemplifies God’s grace and mercy toward us as human beings through their outstanding performance.
Actress:
Melissa Joan Hart, God’s Not Dead 2
Actor:
Adam Greaves-Neal, The Young Messiah
Grace Award for Most Inspiring Performance for TV
Actress:
Faith Ford, The Bridge
Actor:
Devielle Johnson, A Time to Dance
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And if I can take a moment to editorialize just a bit…
I feel like it’s important to note that while it’s not publicized on the MovieGuide® website, apparently box office also has something to do with the nomination process. Watch this video to hear MovieGuide® founder Ted Baehr say that there were so many worthy films this year that poor box office results might have kept some films from receiving a nomination. I find this odd considering that Ben-Hur, which only made about $26 million domestic, was nominated.
But this just highlights an issue I have with this awards show. While it’s certainly fine that MovieGuide® chooses to look at entertainment through a different lens than typical awards shows, their process for deciding nominees and winners is pretty opaque.
And so I’ll end this post by asking the three big questions:
Dear MovieGuide®:
Who decides the nominees?
Who decides who wins?
And finally, and perhaps most importantly, is it just a coincidence that your award statue is a crystal teddy bear and the founder of MovieGuide®’s name is Ted Baehr?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Thimblerig out.
It took a bit of sleuthing, but the results of the 24th Annual Movieguide Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry are in!