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| Krusen teaches as an adjunct professor at
Regent. |
VIRGINIA BEACH,
Va.—Cris Krusen, adjunct
professor of film at Regent University, has crafted a powerful
story of reconciliation in his first feature-length film,
“Final Solution,” which airs on PBS this
spring.
“Final Solution” tells the
true story of Gerrit Wolfhaardt, a modern Saul of Tarsus who
plotted the genocide of black South Africans in the 1960s and
who, like Saul, changed after an encounter with truth.
Krusen wrote and directed
the film which was shot in Cape Town, South Africa on a $1.5
million budget in 2000. After appearing in several film
festivals in South Africa and Virginia, “Final Solution” is
airing on PBS stations throughout the country. It
premiered on WGBH-Boston on Feb. 3. It will air on
KCET-Los Angeles on Feb. 15 and on other PBS stations
including WHRO-Norfolk in April.
In
addition to teaching at Regent, Krusen is the president of
Norfolk based, Messenger Films, whose dedication to missionary
outreach through dramatic films reflects Krusen’s own sense of
purpose to “woo people to the Lord with films that
unmistakably show the love and mercy of
God.”
“My calling from the
beginning is a missionary calling,” said Krusen. “It is to
reach people with film.”
Krusen has always dreamed
of being a writer. He entered Harvard as an English Literature
major but left to pursue filmmaking. He ended up at New York
University where he earned a B.F.A. in Film and Television.
Despite his credentials, Krusen could not deny a gnawing sense
of emptiness, an emptiness reflected in his failure to answer
the essential writer’s question: What do I have to
say?
“Up to that point, writing
had been finding a novel idea or a twist in a plot,” said
Krusen.
Dissatisfied, he began
searching for meaning beyond the material world. He
read the holy books of the great world religions as well as
the occult. Having already dismissed
Christianity as irrelevant
to his search for truth and meaning, Krusen didn’t bother
reading the Bible.
It was not until he found
himself in the heart of Australia that he found a reason to
open the pages of the Bible. Krusen was researching the life
of a colorful Ukranian immigrant named Fedir Hartchenko who
lived in Alice Springs, Australia after World War II. After
discovering that Hartchenko was a Christian believer, Krusen
bought a Bible at a Christian Science reading room, hoping he
might find the title for the screenplay. He found much
more.
“As I was writing this
screenplay in Alice Springs, I began to read the Bible and I
began to discover the truth I had been searching for,” said
Krusen.
The powerful encounter with
God’s word eventually led Krusen to become a Christian. The
conversion gave him the direction and purpose he longed for,
not only in his spiritual journey, but in his creative journey
as well.
“I became aware that not
only did I have something to say, but I had something
worthwhile to say,” said Krusen. “The greatest story ever told
suddenly became the story I wanted to
tell.”
Christian and non-Christian
audiences alike have responded favorably to “Final Solution.”
Krusen spent over a year in South Africa doing research for
the film to portray, with genuine sensitivity, the issue of
Apartheid as experienced by South Africans and not an American
interpretation of it.
“In South Africa, the
audiences were moved by the film,” said Krusen. “It is their
story. My philosophy as a filmmaker is to make myself, as an
American, as invisible as possible.”
At a recent showing at
Regent, students had the opportunity to view “Final Solution”
and have a question and answer session with Krusen. Bumni
Oloruntoba, a script and screenwriting student from Nigeria,
thought it was an effective film.
“The scope of the topic was
universal, and he was able to link it with real emotion.” said
Oloruntoba.
It is Krusen’s hope that
the film compels non-Christians to consider the mercy and the
love of Christ and be an example of how all persons should
live with one another. Krusen strongly believes that God has
been glorified in the film.
“The movie captures the
spirit of reconciliation,” said Krusen. “As this movie goes
forth, people will see that reconciliation is close to the
heart of God.”
For more information about
Messenger Films and “Final Solution,” go to http://www.messengerfilms.com/.
or http://www.finalsolution-themovie.com/.
Krusen
and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Virginia Beach, Va. with
their two sons and two daughters.
Regent University
is the nation's preeminent Christian graduate university
offering master’s and doctoral degrees from a Judeo-Christian
perspective. With a commitment to academic excellence
and innovation, Regent prepares men and women to make a
positive impact upon American
society and the world. Twenty-five graduate degree
programs are offered on the Virginia Beach campus, and 15 are
being offered in the northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. area.
Students may also pursue more than 20 programs online via the
Regent University Worldwide Campus. The eight graduate fields
of study offered at Regent University include business,
communication and the arts, psychology and counseling,
divinity, education, government, law and organizational
leadership. Regent also offers a Degree Completion
Program that allows qualified individuals to complete their
bachelor's degree.
For more information about Regent University, call
1-800-373-5504 or visit www.regent.edu.
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