Pure Flix is distributing HILLSONG-LET HOPE RISE, the highly anticipated feature film that chronicles the spectacular and miraculous rise to prominence of the Australia-based band, Hillsong UNITED.
Directed by Michael John Warren (Jay Z's FADE TO BLACK), the film explores Hillsong's journey from a tiny church in the Sydney suburbs to an influential international ministry whose songs are sung every Sunday by more than 50 million people across the globe. Their songs have been translated into 60 languages and the band has sold more than 17 million albums.
"HILLSONG-LET HOPE RISE is so much more than a film about a Christian band or even a church. It is truly a theatrical worship experience," said Michael Scott, chief production officer and a founding partner of Pure Flix. "It is a dream come true for us, as a studio committed to influencing the global culture, to partner with a church like Hillsong."
"Anyone who regularly attends a church knows Hillsong's music by heart. That's how influential they've become," said producer Jonathan Bock. "And yet despite the fame and adulation, they're still just a humble worship band trying to do what tens of thousands of other worship bands try to do every week -- glorify God through their music. How they balance that is a fascinating and surprising story."
From a single church in suburban Sydney, Hillsong Church now extends to cities on five continents (including London, Paris, Sao Paulo, Capetown, Rio de Janeiro, and Phoenix) with more than 100,000 weekly attendees, including thriving congregations in New York and Los Angeles. In addition to its local church initiatives, Hillsong partners with international organizations committed to ministry -- examples include feeding and educating children in the slums of India, building housing for those living with AIDS in Africa and rescuing victims of human trafficking around the globe.
"We're thrilled that Pure Flix, the No. 1 producer of faith films in the U.S., is our partner on this project," said Brian Houston, founding pastor of Hillsong Church. "It's our hope that by sharing an up-close and unvarnished look inside our music and lives, we can shatter pre-conceived notions of what it means to follow Jesus in today's modern world."
