Jim Gilmore, (Communication/Journalism & Screen Studies) screened his documentary SAVING FACE at a number of festivals over the summer, including the Washougal Film Festival in Washington, the Grand Rapids Film Festival here in Michigan, the International Film Festival of Ireland and the Southern Winds Film Festival in Oklahoma. Next month the film will screen at the International Film Festival of South Africa and at the Redemptive Film Festival in Virgina Beach, VA, where it will be honored with the Redemptive Storyteller Award.
About the film: On the surface, Matt Kern was the All-American teenager that had everything. He was MVP on his high school football and basketball teams, elected class president and the son of respected upper-middle class parents living in the Redlands of Miami. But one night in March of 1988, Matt Kern and his friends went out to steal a car for fun and ended up committing murder.SAVING FACE profiles a teenage boy's journey to manhood inside the Florida Prison System and in the process poses hard questions about our criminal justice system, the nature of redemption and the healing power of faith.