Pope John Paul II Gravitas Award

The Church has always been a patron of the arts. In modern times Pope John Paul II showed the breadth of the arts as an actor and playwright. He reached out to artists calling them to a higher order of responsibility because their gifts come from God.
In honor of the late pope, the “Gravitas Award” celebrates a person who not only works to bring stories of God to life, but one who possesses Gravitas, which in Latin means a quality of substance or depth of personality. Gravitas carries with it a sense of the importance of the matter at hand, as well as responsibility and earnestness, dignity, seriousness and duty.

The presentation of “The Pope John Paul II Gravitas Award” by the RE:IMAGE Film Festival Committee recognizes a person who represents the virtue of Gravitas in their efforts to communicate God’s love through the use of film and digital media arts.

In bestowing this award, we seek to honor an individual who uses his talents and creative energy to give glory to God’s creation and to celebrate the human spirit.  The image of the pope used for “The Pope John Paul II Gravitas Award” was provided by Delaware-based artist Mark Rogers, a native son of the Diocese of Trenton.

 

 

2011 Recipient Barbara Nicolosi is the Founder and Chair Emeritus  of Act One, Inc., a nonprofit program to train and mentor Christians for careers as Hollywood writers and executives.  She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Galileo Forum at Azusa Pacific University, an on-line think tank that utilizes 3D video technology. Barbara is a member of the WGA of America-West and has written several screenplays for various Hollywood production companies. Her most recent credit is as a co-writer with Benedict Fitzgerald (writer, The Passion of the Christ) on the 2011 Aloe Entertainment/Lionsgate release, Mary, Mother of the Christ.

 

2010 Recipient John Crowly is a biotechnology executive and entrepreneur whose remarkable heroism was recounted in the theatrical release Extraordinary Measures, starring Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell.  After his two youngest children were diagnosed with the debilitating Pompe disease, John embarked on a personal quest to develop a treatment that would ultimately save their lives.  The enormous love he has shown as a father in his fight to cure Pompe disease has been well documented the world over and is the subject of his recent book Chasing Miracles: The Crowley Family Journey of Strength, Hope and Joy.