'Soul Surfer,' 'God's Not Dead' among films at Salvation Army Christian film festival

A dozen faith-based films will screen Sept. 23 and 24 as part of the first-ever SalvationFest, a film festival presented by The Salvation Army of Columbia and held at area churches.

Last week, the festival released its initial lineup with titles surveying the last decade or so in Christian cinema.

An opening-night event at Woodcrest Chapel pairs two films about real-life surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost an arm in a shark attack: 2011's feature "Soul Surfer" and the 2018 documentary "Unstoppable."

On Saturday, two other venues — First Christian Church and First Presbyterian Church — will screen five films each.

"The goal for the first year is to start small and build from there, so the number of movies is significant but manageable," according to a Salvation Army news release.

Among Saturday's titles are "Tyson's Run" (2022), "Royal Ashes" (2022), "90 Minutes in Heaven" (2015) and "God's Not Dead" (2014).

More: SalvationFest to offer Christian films, benefit Salvation Army

"Our goal is for this to be the first year of a long-running film festival that eventually reaches a national audience, made easier as we leverage the network of over 1,700 Salvation Army organizations around the country,” festival director Sean Spence said in the release.

Tickets range from $5 for a single film to $45 for a weekend pass, according to the release. Proceeds benefit The Salvation Army.

Visit https://salvationfest.com/ for a full list of titles and more information.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 'Soul Surfer,' 'God's Not Dead' among films at SalvationFest