Salvation Army Documentary Wins International Award

A SALVATION Army film has won a prestigious award at the International Christian Visual Media conference, held in St Louis, Missouri, USA. The documentary Our People: The Story of William and Catherine Booth and The Salvation Army received a gold Crown Award, winning the 'Documentary Over $50,000' category. Our People was produced by Carpenter Media, of The Salvation Army's Australia Eastern Territory, and Radiant Films. Radiant is operated by Corey Baudinette, a Melbourne Salvationist who was the film's producer and director.

The International Christian Visual Media conference brings together leading Christian producers, directors, and distributors from around the world. The Crown Awards recognise excellence in films which take a Christian message into what is generally a secular arena. All nominations are judged by professionals, who take into account the quality of the production, storytelling and Christian content.

Bill Curtis, General Manager of Vision Video, the north American distributor of Our People outside The Salvation Army, accepted the award on behalf of the producers. He told the audience: 'This is a wonderful documentary. We are proud to have it in our catalogue.'

Five years in the making, Our People was launched by the then-Chief of the Staff Commissioner Robin Dunster in the east end of London in August 2009.

The Australian-based producers were excited by the news of the award. Corey Baudinette said: 'We felt honoured just to be nominated. To win is a real boost.'

Major Peter Farthing, of the Australia Eastern Territory, who researched, wrote and co-produced the 72-minute film, commented: 'Our dream has always been to make a quality documentary which would speak to all generations. We want Our People to be a go-to resource for Salvationists around the world.'

The documentary is being translated into five languages. It is available on DVD through Salvation Army trade departments.