Courageous Protagonists Championed in 57th Annual Christopher Award-Winning Films, TV/Cable & Books

Courageous Protagonists Championed in 57th Annual Christopher Award-Winning Films, TV/Cable & Books

'Good Night, and Good Luck,' HBO's 'Lackawanna Blues,' WNET's miniseries 'Slavery and the Making of America' win Christopher Awards

NEW YORK, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Courage is a key player in the feature films, TV/cable programs and books for children and adults to be honored with Christopher Awards during the 57th annual Christopher Awards gala at the McGraw-Hill Building in New York on March 16. Fearless health care professionals, heroic soldiers and civilians, seasoned broadcast journalists, maverick teachers, noble nuns and feisty inner city kids are just a few of the diverse protagonists chronicled in the winning titles that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit."

Twenty-one feature films, TV/cable programs, books for adults and young people-and their 100 writers, illustrators, directors, producers and executive producers-will be honored. First presented in 1949, the Christopher Awards salute media that remind audiences and readers, of all ages and faiths and of no particular faith, of their worth, individuality and power to positively impact and shape our world.

"The Christopher Awards recognize stories about those who surmount challenges with persistence and an unshakable belief," said Dennis W. Heaney, president and CEO of The Christophers. "All exemplify The Christopher credo 'It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.'"

Two of the five Christopher Award-winning Feature Films are documentaries directed by women -- MAD HOT BALLROOM directed by Marilyn Agrelo and THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL directed by Judy Irving. Also represented are the docudrama, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK directed by George Clooney, and two original dramas, MILLIONS and AN UNFINISHED LIFE, directed by Danny Boyle and Lasse Hallstrom, respectively. Although framed by different genres, the protagonists are all essentially individuals who challenge the status quo with courage and conviction.

The six TV & Cable Christopher Award winners pinpoint the role courage plays in disparate settings. A team of dedicated medical professionals battle to save their hospital patients from the ravages of devastating tropical storm Allison in TNT's timely docudrama 14:HOURS; while a caring teacher takes radical steps to engage his inner city students in P.O.V.: THE HOBART SHAKESPEAREANS from PBS/WNET New York.

Holocaust victims and survivors inspire a noble classroom project of remembrance and provide the subtext of a remarkable profile-in-courage in HBO Family's PAPER CLIPS and CINEMAX Reel Life's THE POWER OF GOOD, respectively. And PBS/WNET New York's miniseries SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA documents the challenges surmounted by courageous African Americans who helped to build this nation.

Some 815 books published in 2005 for adults and young people were submitted for Christopher Awards consideration.

The five winning, nonfiction Books for Adults include an exploration of one nun's fearless crusade to refute the death penalty (The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions by Sr. Helen Prejean); and two memoirs of courage, one set on the home front from a survivor of parental abuse (The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls); the other on the battlefield from a WWII veteran and U.S. Senator (One Soldier's Story by Bob Dole).

The diverse landscape of courage is examined from the point of view of a onetime Beverly Hills matron who now ministers to inmates in a Mexican prison (The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail by Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan) and two young brothers and their cousin who flee the massacre that destroys their rural village (They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng & Benjamin Ajak, with Judy A. Bernstein).

Five Books for Young People will be honored for specially-designated age groups. The winners for Pre-school youngsters (Am I a Color Too? by Heidi Cole & Nancy Vogl, illustrated by Gerald Purnell) and readers aged 6-8 (I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote by Linda Arms White, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter) celebrate, respectively, skin colors of various hues and the accomplishments of a fearless Wyoming suffragette. Game Day by Tiki and Ronde Barber with Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Barry Root, examines the real meaning of teamwork and personal best on and off the playing field, for ages 8-10. Author Betty G. Birney sees the world through the eyes of a class hamster in Friendship According to Humphrey, for ages 10-12. And Jeanette Ingold's Hitch evokes, for contemporary young adult readers, the hardships and challenges faced in Depression-era America.

To be eligible for a Christopher Award, feature films, TV and cable programs, and books must exhibit exceptional artistic and technical proficiency, a significant degree of public visibility and, above all, they must affirm the highest values of the human spirit. Potential winners are nominated and reviewed throughout the year by panels of media professionals; members of The Christophers' staff with expertise in film, TV and publishing; and by professionally supervised children's reading groups.

Now in their 61st year, The Christophers, a nonprofit organization founded in 1945 by Maryknoll priest Fr. James Keller, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity. The ancient Chinese proverb -- "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness" -- guides its publishing, TV, radio and Awards programs.

Visit http://www.christophers.org/awardsmm.html to learn more about the Christopher Awards.

Source: The Christophers

CONTACT: David Reich of Reich Communications, +1-212-573-6000, for The
Chrisophers; or Judith Trojan of The Christopher Awards, +1-212-759-4050 ext.
229

Web site: http://www.christophers.org/awardsmm.html

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos are available for download at the Web site listed above.

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