1.      The DVD contains both historical stills and archival footage, along with new location footage taken in Rome and Poland. What type of new perspective does this work bring us about this well known and beloved Pope?

The Witness to Hope DVD brings a very insightful and well crafted documentary to our world starving to look for eternal answers.   As an artist and a President of a Catholic media company, I was deeply moved by the Popes struggle to be an actor or a priest in his early life and then his incredible use and spiritual presence in the modern media.  However, the new perspectives we see in this documentary are fourfold for me: 

1.  He truly embraced the cross of suffering as a priest for all souls living and dead.  Like Christ he is truly a light for our confused and broken age, which focused on the forgiveness of sins.  Pope John Paul was an incredible example, as he asked the forgiveness of all the past sins of the Church.    

2. This is many ways is the first Pope in history who was formed by the laity.   With the loss of his family, he became deeply involved in the lives of the single and married couples, to give him the spirit of Vatican II and the renewal of the Church.  Instead of his priesthood being limited in its scope, he has been able to connect with every strata of the human person.  This is a crucial point in understanding this man, and the documentary plants those seeds of understanding.

3. In this documentary, one sees the modern directness of this man.  Even as a young boy he defended the Jews, as children of the same God,  to later on with his countless moments of courage against all the forces of tyranny and falsehood.   In many ways he seems like a radical in his approach and in his manner, but completely rooted in the traditions and spirit of the Church.  What an example for vocations! 

4. Lastly, in this documentary we see his spirit of resignation to Gods will, particularly in the many times his life was threatened, by assassination or sickness.  He always saw in this Gods will.  This resignation filled him with strength and confidence.

2.       What is the main message that a young person would take away from the Witness to Hope DVD?

Courage and confidence is not based in one self but in God alone.  Young people must realize that there is no happiness on this earth without Christ.  None!  It is short lived and fades without the presence of Christ.   But this is only a reality if you desire and foster a deep relationship with God.  Holiness is not based in an idea, but in the awesome grace of encountering the One Who made us and loves us.  Young people should feel watching this DVD a real calling of purpose and meaning in their lives.  Even from Heaven now, this Pope John Paul II is crying out the youth of the world- Do not be afraid to be the saints of the new millennium. 

3.      What was the most challenging part of making this documentary?

The challenge here is not the making, for we at Luke Films are not the producers, but the promoters of this movie to the world.   It was a documentary that did not really succeed originally some years back when it was made, but now there is this big push to get the word out.  We took up the challenge to proclaim to the world this great WITNESS TO HOPE.  Providentially after his death it has been even more poignant for the world and those who are thinking of a vocation, because we must always see everything in relationship to heaven.   That is what this documentary is trying to communicate.   The challenge to market this documentary in world of a thousand distractions is our biggest obstacle. 

4.      How is this project different from the other projects that Luke Films has undertaken?

We have produced live dramas on the Gospels and the saints, and we have slowly built up through time, different films that we have produced on our beautiful spiritual legacy as a Church, culminating of course, in the great saint of vocations, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.   The movie THÉRÈSE, is our divine experiment.  www.theresemovie.com  Now the Pope John II documentary launches us into marketing and distributing new works. THE WITNESS TO HOPE,  is really a marvelous film that reveals to the world the greatness and example of the most well known Pope of all human history, the  man most seen by human beings in the history if civilization. 

John Paul II is also special to me personally, because he is the inspiration and the mentor of our apostolate -to enter into the modern forums of the arts and the media to proclaim the Gospel.  When he was elected in 1978, it was then that the dream of creating a spiritual company in the arts was born. 

5.      What is on the horizon for Luke Films?

The horizons of Luke Films, and its parent company Saint Luke Productions, are to create a media company that can provide a Catholic voice in this powerful arena of social communication.  It is a means of dialoguing with the Hollywood industry.   We not only want to provide programs for film and television, but for music and the news media as well.   All of this will include the important division of distribution that will allow the works to be seen and heard.  In addition, we are committed to starting a revised live theater company in order to carry along the last 25 years performing we completed.   It is an ambitious and risky affair whenever you deal with the media and arts, however, it is the inspiration of Pope John Paul the Second to not be afraid. 

We are presently working on preparing a feature film on Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a TV series, new live dramas,  music distribution, and evangelization through the internet.  In addition, we are still getting our movie THÉRÈSE into the international world.  All of these means are merely instruments or tools to help us strive for our true home in Heaven.  

For more information about these and other exciting aspects of our media ministry, please visit www.lukefilms.com.