The Catholic Art Institute is promoting spiritual formation and community opportunities for working artists through a one-of-a-kind “Letters to Artists Film Festival.”
Festival coordinators say they were inspired by Pope St. John Paul II’s celebratory Letter to Artists, in which he asserts the Church’s need for art “in order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ.”
Art must make perceptible, and as far as possible attractive, the world of the spirit, of the invisible, of God. It must therefore translate into meaningful terms that which is in itself ineffable.
To Christian artists, the pope appealed: “I wish to remind each of you that, beyond functional considerations, the close alliance that has always existed between the Gospel and art means that you are invited to use your creative intuition to enter into the heart of the mystery of the Incarnate God and at the same time into the mystery of man.”
To that end, the film festival is seeking short film and script submissions that explore a variety of topics, including
- the impulse to create and the demands of art and beauty,
- the particular emotional and pragmatic challenges that artists must overcome,
- and the connection between creativity and community.
An array of professionals from the filmmaking and visual arts industry will judge submissions from a variety of genres including non-fiction, fiction, documentary, and experimental.
More information about the festival and submission requirements can be found here.
