NOTE: Writer/Director Cris Krusen's comments were edited for publication. For the full interview see the unedited version below:

Why did you become involved with Final Solution? My involvement with Final Solution grew from exposure in the 1970s to racism in the United States and study of the apartheid situation in South Africa. I decried both evils and set about to make a dramatic film that would expose white South Africans as impossibly stubborn bigots who deserved to be cut off from the international community. That film never got made. Fortunately. In 1981, I became a Christian and through the gradual "cleansing of the water of the word" in my own life, I came to realize the importance of forgiveness, and the necessity for Christians to walk in love and obedience to God's commands. In 1988, while shooting my first movie in Mexico, I came across an article in Time magazine about a white South African clergyman who was in the news for having braved the ire of the apartheid government by moving with his wife into a black township so that he coud live among the people to whom he ministered. (His congregation was all-black.) He was a gentle man who spoke the truth in love; a reconciler, who to me embodied what it means to be a Christian in a troubled world. As a result of reading that article, I began to think about the screenplay I had written in the 1970s. It was a story without hope. But now I was a Christian and I embraced hope in every aspect of life. All this led me to re-visit the subject of apartheid and South Africa, but from a Christian perspective. I began to think about making a new film - a film that would be like the story of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Saul was intent on eradicating the Christian community, and as a Pharisee he had no tolerance for the Gentiles. However, after an encounter with God that knocked him to the ground and blinded him, he spent the rest of his life as an apostle to the very people he despised. Might there not be an Afrikaner, I wondered, who had transformed from an embittered persecutor of South African blacks to a peacemaker among the very people he once attempted to destroy? This set me on a search that led to a meeting with Gerrit Wolfaardt, the man on whose life "Final Solution" is based.

What was the most difficult aspect of filming? I worked with a superb crew of South Africans and there weren't major difficulties in filming. My two biggest challenges were working on a low budget and fighting a flu bug which finally did me in for three or four days.

Were there any unique/special moments while filming? One of the most special things that happened on the set was that we prayed each day prior to shooting. I made it clear from the beginning that attendance at this time of prayer was not required of cast or crew. We had some Christians on the set, but the majority of people were not professing Christians. For those who did join us in prayer, I would always ask them to take the hand of the person next to them, and we would form a circle of prayer. Initially, attendance was sparse, then it grew. One day, I was in a rush to get our first shot off and I skipped the prayer circle in the "interests of time." Our gaffer, a big, burly man named Mohammed, whose language - at times - would make a sailor blush, pulled me aside and spoke to me privately: "Say, boss, aren't we going to have the prayer meeting today?" I looked in Mohammed's eyes. He was clearly troubled. It turned out that the father of one of his assistants was in the hospital with cancer and wasn't expected to live out the week. We gathered for prayer. I found myself crying as we prayed for the father of this crew member, and the man holding my hand tightest of all was Mohammed.

What message do you hope viewers get out of Final Solution? I want people to know that we sin against God when we sin against our fellow man. Racism is an evil thing and apartheid in South Africa - and slavery and Jim Crow in the United States - were evil things, evil systems that have created cycles of destruction and hatred. But the message doesn't end there. That's the historical backdrop, the context. The overriding message of the film is to show how even the most hard-hearted person is capable of change. Gerrit Wolfaardt was an evil man. Yet he changed. If you were to meet the real Gerrit today, you would realize how true a statement this is. People are capable of change. This is the glorious good news. Jesus came to set us free from the power of sin. And as we move about in that freedom, I would further say to the Christian community, let us take to heart what the Bible says about speaking up for those who cannot fully defend themselves. Let us first be reconciled to our brother, and let us remember that when when we lend to the poor, we lend to God, and He will repay us.

What are your thoughts on Christians in Hollywood? I personally know a few Christians in Hollywood, and I know of others in Hollywood who are - I am told - Christians. My prayers are with them. I pray for them to stay true to God and to dedicate their skills and talents to His honor and glory. I pray they will not compromise themselves in pursuit of success and I pray they spread the fragrance of Christ wherever they go.

Do you think the level of Christian filmmaking is improving? Why or why not? I fear that the level of Christian filmmaking is not improving. It seems to me that too many Christian films are examples of the saying "the end justifies the means." In the case of most films I have seen that self-apply the label "Christian", the "end" is to show someone - usually the main character - being saved. That's wonderful. Unfortunately, however, the journey by which the character reaches this destination is all too often forced and contrived. Typically, the burden of persuasion will be placed on an intellectual appeal by a Christian character talking with a non-Christian character (giving an explanation of the "Romans Road", for instance) but we cannot expect a movie-going audience to be moved emotionally AND spiritually by an intellectual appeal alone. A successful film of whatever stripe will first engage the heart and emotions of the viewer. And it must be honest. When that plateau is reached, and when the audience trusts the integrity of the director, they will be more inclined to be receptive to the intellectual appeal the director wishes to make. They will be more open to his message - for good or evil. When truthful emotion and motivation are lacking in the main character(s) of a movie, the result is the creation of a "morality play." If Christian filmmakers are serious about making films that have a spiritual impact among non-Christians, they need to stop making morality plays for the church. People will run from a movie with an agenda.