New Film

A Distant Thunder: New Film Explores Partial-Birth Abortion

ASSIST News Service

CBN.com – HOLLYWOOD, CA -- (ANS) -- When pro-life activists gathered in Washington, D.C. on January 23rd for the 33rd March for Life this year there was a new face on stage – the face of a Hollywood filmmaker. Jonathan Flora, an award-winning producer with Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment was invited by March for Life founder Nellie Gray to share the stage with, among others, Bob and Mary Schindler, the parents of Terri Schiavo and Father Pavone of Priests For Life.

The invitation followed Flora’s independent creation of A Distant Thunder, the first motion picture to address partial-birth abortion. A Distant Thunder continues to swim upstream against the current flow of Hollywood movies and is being hailed across the nation for its courage, truth, and creative style.

The Los Angeles Daily News calls A Distant Thunder, “A powerful thriller and a gripping legal drama. It's engrossing, terrifying, and convincing. It will move you; it will change you!"

FilmThreat.com says, “A Distant Thunder has immaculate production value… Flora’s direction is very good, with atmosphere and engrossing nuance.”

Ted Baehr of MovieGuide claims A Distant Thunder is, “Chilling and provocative, with a great twist! Packs a powerful emotional punch!”

Mike Westfall adds, “A Distant Thunder is a genuine haunting masterpiece. Intelligently written and acted... A ‘must see’ for every thinking American!”

And Florida Governor Jeb Bush says, "This timely film is a call to action to defend the lives of soon-to-be-born children who are inhumanely denied their right to life.”

The genesis of the movie stems from Flora’s own post-abortive experience, something he has had to come to terms with, coupled with the discovery a few years ago that he and his wife were unable to have children. Flora struggled with the paradox. “Here we are praying fervently for a baby while America is treating unwanted pregnancies like a common cold at the rate of more than 4,500 abortions a day. 95 percent of them elective,” said Flora.

The Floras proved the doctors wrong, eventually conceiving two children naturally. It was during that time when he stumbled across partial-birth abortion. “I was shocked when I learned what it was,” said Flora. “The more research I did and the more I talked to people who also had never heard of it, the more I knew I had to try to bring this out.”

Flora turned to what he does best – writing and directing a motion picture that tries to educate using entertainment. The film is set up as a court-room drama with a thriller twist. Flora’s wife, Deborah, plays the protagonist – a lawyer facing a difficult case.

Reminiscent of supernatural thrillers by M. Night Shyamalan and reflecting the best in cinematic courtroom and horror dramas, A Distant Thunder takes viewers through a maze of disturbing hints, twists, symbols, and flashbacks until at the end they are stunned at what they've been watching. The film is a thought-provoking, but not preachy, look at this horrible and legally-sanctioned procedure.

Steve McEveety, Producer of The Passion Of The Christ, Braveheart and We Were Soldiers says, “I'd call A Distant Thunder a nightmare of a movie but, nightmares are not normally representative of reality. This nightmare is happening every minute of every day across every land, particularly The Great One. No, I'd have to call A Distant Thunder a recurring nightmare of a movie. The extra bonus here is that these filmmakers know how to shoot!” Steve Ramsey of Gospel Communications International adds, “If Hitchcock would have made a film on this subject, this would be it!”

So powerful is the film's main thesis, once the pieces come together, it can change lives. It was for this reason, Flora says, that he chose to confine the film to 35 minutes, so it can be widely viewed by educators, school classes, religious groups, political leaders and lawmakers. But he adds, “We’re not going to stop this practice by changing the law. It has to be done by changing hearts and minds and often, it’s done one person at a time.”

It’s also helping to save lives. Flora learned through a series of connections, that a Los Angeles college student had passed the film on to a 20-year-old woman who was considering an abortion. After viewing the film, the woman decided against it. The woman’s boyfriend, who viewed it with her said, “We can’t do this, let’s get married and have this baby,” the college student wrote to Flora. In August, Flora learned the couple are expecting a boy.

A highlight of the film is the sensational performance by the central character Ann Brown, played by Deborah Flora, and features veteran actors Ned Vaughn (24), Peter Renaday, and Charlene Tilton (Dallas).

Flora feels that using the medium of film to convey a message is appropriate and certainly nothing new. “However, our goal is not to vilify anyone,” said Flora. “With A Distant Thunder I am trying to educate people with facts but also to entertain them. That’s why I wrapped this information in a compelling story with some great effects.”

Pia deI Solenni, Director of Life and Women’s Issues, Government Affairs for the Family Research Council says, “One of the most powerful things about the movie is how the story of a soul is revealed. Jonathan has been able to illustrate the eternal element of the human being, the part that can't be captured in any sort of formula.”

“The purpose of art is to communicate something,” adds Father Dave Heney of St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church in Thousand Oaks, California. “Art is not meant to be bland. If the message is couched in a good story, the medium attracts and engages you. The message emerges only as an activity of the recipient.”

Be prepared to be challenged by the puzzling twists and turns of A Distant Thunder. Unrated, the film targets teenagers and adults on both sides of the abortion debate.

A Distant Thunder is now available on DVD.

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