Have you heard about "Bella," the independent film directed and co-written by the young, multi-talented Mexican, Alejandro Gomez Monteverde? It is a film that just might end up with a lot of folks talking about it. After all, the romantic drama was the surprise winner of the Toronto Film Festival's top award earlier this fall and that's an honor that has frequently been an indicator of future Academy Award nominations.But the biggest surprise is yet to come. For one of the strong themes of "Bella" is an emphasis on the sanctity of life. As Bob Novak says in this review...
An invited audience including Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez gathered at the National Geographic Society's auditorium in Washington Monday night for a screening of "Bella," an independently produced feature film. No mere movie, it offers hope for the beleaguered anti-abortion movement to reverse the political tide running against it.
This was the eighth such screening in Washington. Monday night's audience reflected the reaction in more than 100 showings nationwide: an emotional experience for a stunning exhibition of cinema art that unexpectedly won a Toronto Film Festival award. It is no propaganda film but a dramatic depiction of choices facing an unmarried pregnant woman.
"Bella," unknown to the general public, has generated excitement and anticipation in conservative Catholic and other anti-abortion circles. The problem is getting the film in movie theaters around the country for its public premiere early next April. That is never easy for an independent film with no box office names, but the problems are magnified when its message runs counter to the social mores of Hollywood...
The rest of Novak's column about "Bella" is here.
