The Start of Magdalena in Bulgaria Preparation VIP Premier Premier in the Capital National Outreach
P R E P A R A T I O N Movie preparation: Scripts, Actors, Recording, Editing Material preparation: Posters, Invitations, Post cards, Decision cards, Magazine: Today s Women, TV Commercials, VIP gift bag Volunteer s preparation: Инспирейшънъл филмс, 2009 СЪВРЕМЕННА ЖЕНА Съвременна 4 Срещи със СПАСИТЕЛЯ ЖЕНА От Магдалена до сега От Мария Магдалена до наши дни Коя е Мария Магдалена? Преодоляване От Мария Магдалена до наши дни Поглед нагоре Честни игри 1 One of the priorities was the training and coordination of the volunteers from all over the country. We had an inspiring conference and training for the future campaigns with Magdalena. All these people of God were ready to go and spread the gospel in their own areas. Ready for evangelism and church planting.
V I P P R E M I E R Date of the Premier: March 23, 2009 Location: Sheraton Hotel - Sofia. Audience: Highly influential people from all realms of the society: ministers, deputy-ministers, general from the Military Department and several officers heads of the biggest military organizations, representatives from the Council of Ministers, chairmen of sports organizations, members of Supreme Judicial Council, famous celebrities and TV producers, film critics, famous Bulgarian actors and singers, deputies from the parliament, officials, famous businessmen, high level journalists, representatives of the Orthodox and Catholic churches etc. Attendance: 139 people Some of the guests respond: Before VIP Premier showing We want 10 copies of the movie and we want them to be distributed in all of our prisons. We are so thankful for your movies and distribution of The Jesus Film and The Story of Jesus for Children they have life changing impact on our inmates. After your visits, they are different people. We want the first 10 copies of Magdalena for us. We will show it in all our prisons (Deputy Minister in charge of the prisons) After the VIP premier showing I am speechless great movie and a great plan to go in all cities, towns and villages with it can I help with anything?... (One of the directors of the biggest bank in Bulgaria) You are the apostles of today! Your work is marvelous! No one is doing what you do! You don t realize how much you do. You have had a huge impact in all the country with the other movies and we expect the same with this new one. Our prisoners are different all around the country because of you. Your work is life changing!.. (Deputy Minister in charge of the prisons) Great organization, thank you for what you are doing, I wish the Orthodox Church to be more open for reaching people with the Gospel. The Gospel in the movie is presented very clear and understandable. (Orthodox priest) Comments made to Tateos Nigohosyan, National Director of Inspirational Films, during the reception
The message of the film is very strong. You need to use it! It is very strong! (Famous film critic) I am so happy I came to this premier and watched the film. Now I realize so many things. (Famous model and public person) It would be great if there are more films like this. Magdalena is good for both young and old. I believe it can be used reaching the young generation in a very soft way. (Catholic priest) It is obvious that we need these kinds of spiritual things and no one can stop it. Maybe we need to start changing, too. (General, Chairman of one of the big military organizations) A film that touches and chalanges. Even tough we were part of it, now when we watched it, it made us think and excited us. (The actors and the Dialog Director that dubbed the film) Comments made to Milena Nigohosyan, Women Coordinator, during the reception Extremely constructive and useful for the younger generation. This movie needs to be shown everywhere. (A pedagogue and wife of one of the special guests) A great movie! I wish it would reach as many people as possible! (PR of some very famous singers and some politicians in Bulgaria) Exciting movie. It tells things in a way that holds the attention in every moment it will have success and impact! (Jurnalist) A wonderful and pious initiative! (Orthodox priest) A wonderful film for the younger generation; it awakens the good, faith and love in people s hearts. (Doctor, chief of a big hospital in Sofia) A very good movie for the mixed ethnic regions. Very strong message! (Director of one International film festival) From the response cards.
A writer, poet and philosopher said he had seen 10 movies about Jesus & this one got the story right! It moved him. His wife loved it also. The Bulgarian Voice Actors and Dialogue Director of this film really liked it. They were happy with the synchronization. They prefer it over subtitle versions because you can feel the emotion of the story and you don t have to look up and down while watching. They said they are better actors now after having gone through detailed, synchronized dubbing. Several pastors who are heads of denominations were so thankful we had made the film and really liked it. A government official, who is a liaison to religious groups said she intends to see this used in schools. Maria spoke to two women and asked what they thought, and they said, The tears in our eyes are the answers to your question. 7 year old daughter, because it is good for children of this age to know about such things. A journalist said she heard a colleague of hers who sat next to her, pray the prayer at the end, and she heard others voices praying. Some felt that this does not need to be marketed to women only. One said that this needs to be shown in every village in Bulgaria, even though they don t have cinemas. One lady who teaches pedagogy said that this movie needs to be shown in all the schools in Bulgaria. Some commented that this movie needs to be shown in other countries. Comments made to Kary and Maria Hagen, Post-production Director, during the reception Two Christian attorneys really liked the movie. We are glad that governmental people are here because if our government can be improved, then our country can be improved. One said, The Dept of Justice is happy to have it and would like to see it in prisons. A businessman who makes designer handbags said that he was glad to get the DVD and will show it to his
P R E M I E R I N T H E C A P I T A L We had extremely high attendance in the Palace of Culture where we made the showings n Sofia the Bulgarian capital. People were so touched. They were staying and asking question after the film. N A T I O N A L O U T R E A C H Stories from the premier showings in other cities: In the city of Stara Zagora we had the strongest campaign. The volunteers organized themselves and were very active and were very selfless and sacrificial. They covered part of the expenses with their personal money. Attendance was very high. An average of at least 200 people were coming for every film showing. The media advertising campaign was great both TV and radio. Even the local TV station had a special 12-minute coverage for this very powerful! They interviewed the volunteers from the team in a live broadcast. The best reason to rejoice for all of us was that 15 new people came into our church. We believe there will be more in the future. We had a successful campaign in the city of K. The soil is hard there, because it is a Muslim area. Before Easter I had met with the person who rents the movie theatre and whom I have known since 2003. I told him that there is a new film out. He was so glad to find out about it he allowed us to use the hall for 2 days for our film showings for free! The attendance was very good. And in fact, in an area we previously considered difficult, we were able to use the cinema and spread the gospel with no opposition. Mladen Iliev Regional Coordinator At the last Volunteer Conference where we presented Magdalena Released From Shame, and motivated and trained the volunteers to win souls through this new evangelistic tool, Tanya, a new volunteer from the city of Varna came to me and told me: I pray to God to show me where is my place and how can I work for Him. I want to work for the Lord! Now I believe He gave me an answer. She became a very successful volunteer. In just a few weeks God used her and opened the doors of the Municipality (a communist stronghold) in the biggest Black Sea city Varna. Below is the story of what happened there. Milena Nigohosyan Women Coordinator.
Tanya, used her contacts to organize a film showing in the Municipal building. It is known to be a communist stronghold they are the ones who run this place and it is simply a miracle they let us in, for free! Not long ago the very same people sent out official notes to all public schools in the area with the information that the Orthodox Church does not tolerate the showing of The Story of Jesus for Children. At the time we were setting up the campaign for the showing of the children s version (of the Jesus Film) and we faced opposition from all over newspapers, TV stations, the public library community centers. What a success now to show the Magdalena film there! Both showings were attended by 120 people each, and we were able to meet with the ones that filled out the survey afterward. God let us see fruit from our labor. In one Varna neighborhood, the local Orthodox priest came to the showing. He watched the film and filled out the survey. Then he took the books we offered to him, but had to leave them in the church since he was in the hospital. Later he called to thank us and invited us to give a lecture at his church. On another showing in Asparuhovo (a Varna s neighborhood) our volunteer stood up at the end of the film to invite whoever was willing to receive Jesus Christ to stand and pray. All 16 people stood up and prayed together. That is quite unusual nowadays, and that even more so - for a city like Varna. Praise the Lord! Emil Markov Regional Coordinator. I thank the Lord for the great cooperation we had with an Orthodox priest in the town of P. Our cooperation started last year, when we had joint initiatives with him: we gave out New Testaments in a few schools and one orphanage as well as we did film showings. This year he helped us a lot with setting up the projections of the Children s version and the Magdalena version in P. We were able to invite and organize it so the whole Arts School attended it about 250 children together with their teachers and saw the film. He expressed his desire to continue this cooperation. Krasismir Yanev Regional Coordinator. P R A I S E T H E L O R D! Today the Jesus Film is the most translated film in history in more than 1,000 languages. It has been watched 6 billion times (that includes repeat showings); more than 221 million people have indicated that they have prayed the sinners prayer after the film. These numbers are astonishing! But behind them there are real people with real stories. And real changed lives! Magdalena Released from Shame is a new movie that shows another real life the one of Mary Magdalene. A real woman that lived during the time of Jesus. She found deliverance and salvation in the Lord. With the help of God we will bring this powerful film and the Good News for salvation to the people in Bulgaria and beyond. Now the army of volunteers is using the film as evangelistic tool and they are wining people for Christ. These new believers are added to the existing churches or if there is no church they are starting new one. Tateos and Milena Nigohosyan Bulgarian Director of Inspirational Films
Inspirational Films; P.O.Box 56, Sofia 1172, Bulgaria; Phone +359 2 974 4481; www.magdalena.bg