Double awards win for Friends and Heroes

|PIC1|Friends and Heroes was this week awarded an “Adam” by the 3rd Annual Sabaoth International Film Festival in Italy after winning over the public and an expert panel.

Hailed as the Oscars of Christian cinema this award, for the Best Children’s/Youth Film, was revealed during the Gala evening at the Palalido, Milan last Saturday. The festival organisers described Friends and Heroes as being “of an exceptionally high quality”.

“We are thrilled that an international jury watching Friends and Heroes Episode 14 with Italian subtitles were so impressed with the quality of our production that they voted it the Best Children’s Film of the festival,” said Alison Dorricott, Executive Producer.

“Our aim has always been to present the timeless stories of the Bible to a new generation of children throughout the world and this award is a real encouragement to all those involved.”

Then on Friday, the Christian Broadcasting Council (CBC) again presented Friends and Heroes with their 2008 Gold Award as the Best Children’s/Youth Programme. Judged by media industry professionals, this is the second year that CBC has honoured Friends and Heroes in this way.

Presented to Friends and Heroes by Rt Revd James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, at the CBC Annual Media Awards Ceremony, the judges praised the quality of Episodes 20 and 21 stating that Friends and Heroes was “clearly a Gold Award programme”.

“To be recognised by two groups of media professionals and members of the public, in two countries, the same week, is exceptional,” said David Dorricott, Executive Producer.

“We hope that it will help us to persuade even more broadcasters around the world to show Friends and Heroes and to reach many more children with quality Bible stories.”

Created by a highly experienced UK production team and featuring state-of-the-art 2D and 3D animation, Friends and Heroes tells the story of two first century young people, Macky and Portia, who meet when they live in Roman occupied Alexandria. Their idealism and friendship leads them across the ancient world, to the besieged city of Jerusalem and finally, at the beginning of Series 3, to the very heart of the Empire, Rome.

On the web: www.friendsandheroes.com