Kairos Prize Awards Spiritual Cinema

Winners of the 2008 Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays were announced at the 16th annual Movieguide Faith and Values Awards Gala, which took place in Beverly Hills on February 12th. Each year the Kairos Prize awards screenplays that seek to spread Christian moral values throughout the entertainment industry.

Guy Forest of California was named the grand prize winner this year. He will receive $25,000 for his screenplay If by Chance, about an African-American professor and pastor who breathes life into a community when he reopens the old church in his neighborhood.

The first-runner up and recipient of $15,000 was James Rogers of Pennsylvania, for his screenplay Stairways, about a boy dealing with the loss of his parents after Sept. 11. Caroline Friday of Georgia won the second runner-up prize and $10,000 for Angels on Earth, in which an unlikely character helps a widow renew her faith. Each winner will also receive acknowledgement in The Hollywood Reporter or Variety, as well a chance to pitch their script to top studio executives.

The Kairos Prize, now in its third year, is modeled after the Epiphany Prize, which has been awarded yearly since 1996 by Movieguide Magazine, a publication produced by the Christian Film & Television Commission. Previous winners of the Epiphany include The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Passion of the Christ and The Nativity Story.

For more information about the awards, visit www.kairosprize.com.