By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
When the movie Sound of Freedom was getting ready to come out, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. I wrote about it, watched the trailer a zillion times, talked about it on my show, and when I finally got to see it, it didn’t disappoint. What was supposed to be a two-day showing became a monster hit that was a huge success on every level, and Hollywood sat up and took notice. People bought tickets for strangers, theatres had to add times and viewing rooms, and people came out different after seeing it. Lives were changed, legislation was drafted and named after the movie, and people were made fully aware that the problem is real.
Well, on February 5th through the 9th, you are going to have the same type of opportunity to truly make a difference and be changed yourself. The indie film Still Hope is going to be in theatres nation-wide. In North Alabama, so far it will be shown in Florence, Decatur, Madison, and Huntsville. This movie is produced by people I know personally, and I have been to the place where the restoration happens. Pure Hope Ranch has become one of my favorite places on the planet, and quite frankly, I could live there.
The character known as Hope is actually a compilation character. The stories of these two young women, when they told us in the comfort and safety of a beautiful Texas ranch living room, dissolved me. And, to have been hugged by them is one of my all-time treasured memories.
Still Hope starts out with the darkness, the abduction, the implication of what was being done to Hope, (but absolutely is not graphic) and has plenty of action. The film is rated PG-13. Alex Veaov, who has been an outstanding bad guy on NCIS, is the trafficker in the film, and his character’s name is Bishop. It is not a spoiler to say Hope gets rescued, and the second half of the film centers around action and drama of another sort. That would be the process of restoration, and more specifically, the process of forgiving her traffickers. It begins with the betrayal by the young man who posed as a boyfriend who took her out to go bowling, and goes to the system of criminals who viewed her as something to be taken, used, bought, and sold.
With regard to forgiving, there are some important things to be said and understood. True forgiveness does not minimize or deny the awfulness of what happened. Rather, it severs the tie to the offense and the offender(s), and transforms the victim into a victor. It is a process that at first seems outrageous to suggest; hence the struggle. Hope, who is played Luna Rivera does an outstanding job in her role, and her portrayal of a learned lifestyle of triumph and truth is undoing.
Kathrine Lee who, along with her husband Michael, founded Pure Hope Ranch, calls the well-over 100 women who have come to the ranch and completed the program her “sheroes,” and indeed they are. To overcome the atrocities which occurred within and without is nothing short of miraculous, and it will make you cheer. These women have gone on to any number of positive paths—becoming counselors, lawyers, trained in the trades, wives and mothers, and believers who are the “real deal.” Give yourself or others the gift of experiencing their stories and immerse yourself in the truth that always, no matter what, there is Still Hope.
