Talk about success in the international market: as of this summer, “The Jesus Film,” an evangelistic film that debuted way back in 1979, is not only still being shown but has been translated into 1,000 languages (link goes to an press release at the film website). The Idol Chatter blog has some thoughts and a few critiques of the film and the missions methodology it represents. I think the critiques are valid, but it’s hard not to be impressed with the amount of work that has gone into getting this film in front of so many audiences around the world.
“The Jesus Film” hits 1,000th translation
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September 14, 2007 at 15:32
It’s also worth noting that the film has been shown to over 6 billion (with a “b”) people since 1979!
Yeah, from our Western viewpoint, the production values of the film don’t seem that great. I mean, when compared to The Passion, which $30 million today, the Jesus Film cost $6 million back in 1979, so I’m not sure (relatively) how much money that is, but I doubt most people in the world would care if it’s slightly dated. I wouldn’t show it to friends in North America, but from hearing missionaries it’s still very effective around the world.
From working with Campus Crusade, I’ve heard missionaries tell of the incredible impact it has for people to hear the gospel in their own language. It certainly would be great to create a culturally-specific rendition for each language/culture though; barring that, this can still be a very effective world evangelism tool.