PURSUIT OF FREEDOM Star Stelio Savante: ‘I Know It Was the Lord’
By Movieguide® Staff
Actor Stelio Savante—known for INFIDEL, THE CHOSEN and RUNNING FOR GRACE—recently sat down with Movieguide® founder Dr. Ted Baehr to discuss his new faith-filled movie, PURSUIT OF FREEDOM.
Directed by George A. Johnson, PURSUIT OF FREEDOM is based on a true story about the perseverance and faith of a Ukrainian family that was separated due to human trafficking.
A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:
PURSUIT OF FREEDOM is an intense, powerful drama about a woman from Ukraine who gets separated from her three children. Anna’s husband owes some money to gangsters. He gambles to get the money but eventually loses. The gangsters try to kidnap the family. The children get away, but Anna is sold to some Russian sex traffickers in Amsterdam. Three years later, Anna becomes sick and is dumped on the street. A Christian nurse tries to help her at the hospital, where Anna learns her children are hiding somewhere in Armenia with her husband’s poor cousin.
Despite a limited budget and some uneven scenes, PURSUIT OF FREEDOM tells a harrowing, intense story. It also tells a story full of miracles, with many inspiring, uplifting, scenes of escape, rescue, faith, redemption, and compassion. The story is also laced with some humor and, at the end, tearful reunion and much joy. There are many positive references to Jesus, faith, church, and prayer in PURSUIT OF FREEDOM. Also, Anna and her children come to Christ. PURSUIT OF FREEDOM is a heartfelt movie filled with faith and love.
“I was involved with the film completely serendipitously,” Savante told Dr. Baehr. “I know it was the Lord.”
“I read [the script], and I couldn’t put it down,” he added. “The character spoke to my heart because I’ve lived on four continents. What I have found in other countries, especially third-world countries, is that Christianity is not a hobby. It’s how you survive. This story needed to be told.”
Savante added that American Christians often do not understand the cost of faith in other countries.
“American Christianity is lazy, if you will, we have it too good,” Savante said. “Here, everything’s at our disposal. The second things gets tough, we panic.”
Savante said that PURSUIT OF FREEDOM presents real-life people and real-life story of perseverance and faith.
“I read Bedros’ story. The story of a missionary who has blind faith, is driven by the need to obey a call regarding a mother and her children who’ve been trafficked… all of the characters in the script are real people, which is why their names have to be concealed to protect them,” he said. “They’re still out in the field.”
As the conflict in Ukraine continues, Savante said that traffickers are using the time of disarray to take advantage of desperate people.
“For us, the most important thing was, we feel that governments aren’t doing enough to combat trafficking,” he said. “We feel that there’s a responsibility that needs to be added, integrity to tell compelling stories of what has happened. But if you don’t have a law in place that can help avoid what’s happening, you’re always going to be playing catch up.”
“We’ve partnered with Hope for Justice International, who are at the very forefront of what’s happening globally with trafficking, and specifically in Russia and the Ukraine,” he added. “They’re vulnerable women, children, elderly, and there’s groups of men that come up to them and say, ‘You must be exhausted, we have food, we have water, we have homes, we have everything they offer,’ but you don’t know what to ask for to make sure and have discernment that the people you’re speaking with aren’t going to kidnap you.”
Savante said Hope for Justice helps teach the vulnerable what questions to ask so that they know they will receive help and avoid human traffickers.
“These kinds of stories, specifically with missionaries, I think are taken for granted. With women’s voices in a part of the world where they’re censored, Lonnie and George have given Ana and her children a voice. And I’m just honored to be able to be part of it.”
Despite the dark, real-life themes that PURSUIT OF FREEDOM addresses, Savante said that the movie doesn’t go over the top in violence.
“I absolutely love that the filmmakers didn’t need to be gratuitous in showing the violence as you said, sometimes the suggestion of something is actually way stronger than what you’re actually seeing. And I think they did this story and these characters justice,” he said.
“We are delighted with how a lot of mainstream critics have been responding to it. Because you don’t just want to make a film for a small group of people. The point is, to be salt of the earth you have to be able to make people thirsty to begin with,” Savante concluded.
Check out the complete interview below:
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Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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