April 25, 2024 - SABBATH, the latest documentary from Journey Films, has won two awards: the 2024 Wilbur Award for the Best in Broadcast Television (Long Form), and a Christopher Award for Best in TV, Cable and Streaming. It has also been nominated for a Gabriel Award from the Catholic Media Association, which will announce winners on June 20.
This is the seventh Wilbur Award for Journey Films, which previously won for The Power of Forgiveness, CHAPLAINS, and films on Abraham Joshua Heschel, Dorothy Day, and others. The Wilbur Award, begun in 1949, is given annually by the Religion Communicators Council and honors the best in secular media in “communicating faith and religion with fairness and professionalism, honesty and respect.” Other winners this year in film, television, news and print include CBS 60 Minutes, NPR News, The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press.
The Christopher Award, now in its 75th year, celebrates “resilience, faith and our 'better angels.” The well known motto of The Christophers is: “It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” This year's Christopher Award winners include ABC News, National Geographic and PBS.
“We are delighted both the Religion Communicators Council and The Christophers chose to honor us with the Wilbur and Christopher Awards, placing us alongside some of the best in secular media today,” says filmmaker Martin Doblmeier, president of Journey Films. “Presenting religion and faith is more challenging than ever, but there remains an undeniable need for storytelling that explores the human spirit in us all and the potential that spirit has to change our world for the better.”
SABBATH explores the religious, secular, psychological, and sociological implications of a weekly day of rest for a “profoundly burned-out world.” The wide-ranging two-hour documentary delves into the history and practice of an ancient concept that is rooted in the biblical story of creation. It aired on PBS stations, and is now available to stream for free at journeyfilms.com and on YouTube.
Major funding for SABBATH was provided by Lilly Endowment with additional funding provided by The Fetzer Institute, The Carpenter Foundation, Danny and Elissa Kido and Skip and Fran Minikowski.
ABOUT JOURNEY FILMS
Journey Films was founded in 1983 by award-winning filmmaker Martin Doblmeier as a television and film production company specializing in religion, faith and spirituality. Journey Films has produced more than 30 documentary films that have aired on PBS, ABC, NBC, the BBC and on broadcast outlets around the world. In all, Journey Films have won three regional Emmy Awards, eight Gabriel Awards for the nation’s best film on a topic of religion, three Gold Awards at the US International Film and Television Festival, the Sun Valley Film Festival and many others.