Special screening with Terry Lindvall and Simon Tarr
On Tuesday, November 4th at 4:00 PM in Screening Room A (COM 145), Library Special Collections will screen two Baptista films that illustrate the quality and variety of his work.
The Prodigal Son (1944, 23 minutes) tells the Gospel parable in a contemporary American setting. Sun and Shadow (1955, 29 minutes), tells the story of a lost young man searching for meaning in the spiritual confusion of post-war Japan. As a filmmaker, Baptista’s emphasis was always on teaching and outreach. Both these short works are fascinating documents about how films were used for education during the 1940s and 1950s.
Film scholars Terry Lindvall and Simon Tarr will introduce each film and take audience questions. If you are interested in attending the screening, registration is not required but will ensure you receive all updates and reminders about the event. Click here to register.
Description
The C. O. Baptista Film Collection & Archives
The C. O. [Carlos (or Charles) Octavio] Baptista Collection Collection and Archives contain some of the earliest Christian films produced in the United States. The Collection includes includes 89 live action and animated films, hand-painted title cards, correspondence, documents, and an original 16mm “Miracle” projector, designed and manufactured by Baptista himself.
The films housed at Regent date from 1941 to 1958 and cover nearly the entire span of Baptista's creative work. They were released under various production company names, including Scriptures Visualized Institute, C. O. Baptista Film Mission and C. O. Baptista Films. Thirty-four of the films at Regent are the only know copy in existence. The remaining fifty-five films have only one known additional copy, held at the Billy Graham Center Archive in Chicago.
The Miracle projector, designed in 1944, was a groundbreaking machine for film distribution, both because it weighed only 25 pounds (less than half the weight of typical projectors of its day), and because of its extreme durability. Baptista guaranteed his projectors would work "until the return of the Lord."
Baptista Films artifacts in Regent University Special Collections
A Miracle Projector. Courtesy of Wheaton Archives & Special Collections, Wheaton College, IL.
Scriptures Visualized Institute title frame. Courtesy of Wheaton Archives & Special Collections, Wheaton College, IL.
