Producer of 'Lourdes' documentary sees trend in 'faith films'

Published: 2004-04-12

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- John Tenorio, a filmmaker who produced the award-winning "Lourdes" documentary, is not surprised by the blockbuster success of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." Nor was he surprised a People's Choice Award went to "Joan of Arcadia." The CBS drama, in its first season, features a teenage girl who begins to have conversations with God, who appears to her in various human forms and asks her to do specific things. "There's a trend toward 'faith films,'" said Tenorio, 49, a marketing and media consultant who attends Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Santa Clarita. Tenorio's "Lourdes" documentary, based on the Blessed Mother's apparitions to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 in France, has won three film awards, resulting in a distribution deal with one of America's leading distributors of films and videos. The film was honored as best documentary March 28 at the Valley International Film Festival in Studio City.

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