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SCETV’s National Presentation of “The Adventists” Premieres on Public Television Stations in April

For Immediate Release
March 3, 2010

Columbia, SC…South Carolina ETV proudly offers the national presentation of The Adventists. Directed by Martin Doblmeier with Journey Films, this documentary is distributed nationally by American Public Television (APT).

This new hour-long production focuses on the Seventh-day Adventists and explores the history and contemporary story of the faith-group whose members are reportedly some of the healthiest and longest-living people on the planet. The program will air in South Carolina on Sunday, April 11 at 6 p.m. For viewing outside of South Carolina, please check local listings.

Organized in the mid-19th century on American soil, Seventh-day Adventists are, by their own description, a conservative religion that holds as a central tenet that Jesus Christ is returning again, soon. At the same time, Adventists are pioneers in medical technology and health care exploration. For them, waiting for the Second Coming is not a time for fear, but for preparation and hope.

Filmed on location at hospitals and health care facilities in Florida, Ohio and California, the film also contains a re-enactment of the 1844 event called The Great Disappointment which gave birth to Adventism, and a profile of the charismatic figure, John Harvey Kellogg whose Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan set the standard for progressive health care in the early 20th century.

“Adventists are a fascinating mix of conservative religion and state of the art health care and healthy living,” says filmmaker Martin Doblmeier (Bonhoeffer, The Power of Forgiveness). Doblmeier adds, “where so much of our current health care debate is framed around economics, Adventists start from the belief that the body is ‘the temple of God’ and needs to be cared for. For Adventists, hospital and health care work is ‘sacred work’ and this can help bring a fresh – even revolutionary – approach to our public health care discussions today.”

The Adventists is a produced in HD by Journey Films of Alexandria, VA. It is written and directed by Martin Doblmeier, produced by Dan Juday and edited by Gayle Añonuevo. It is a presentation of South Carolina Educational TV and will be distributed nationally to public television stations by American Public Television of Boston, MA.

About Journey Films: Journey Films was founded in 1983, by award-winning documentary filmmaker Martin Doblmeier, as a television and film production company specializing in spirituality, history and social issues. Journey's documentaries have won numerous awards and have aired on PBS, ABC, NBC, the BBC, The History Channel and other networks in the United States and abroad. Journey's first theatrical release, Bonhoeffer, opened in cities across the US in 2003 and internationally to wide critical acclaim. It was aired on PBS in January 2007. Later that spring public television aired Albert Schweitzer: Called to Africa, a docu-drama that won the prestigious Gabriel Award. In 2008 Journey released The Power of Forgiveness to national public television and this documentary won the Sun Valley Film Festival Award and the Silver Screen award from the International Film and Video Festival.

About American Public Television: American Public Television (APT) has been a leading distributor of high-quality, top-rated programming to America’s public television stations since 1961. In 2009, APT distributed 56 of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles. Among its 300 new program titles per year are prominent documentaries, dramatic series, how-to programs, children’s series and classic movies, including Spain...On the Road Again, Rick Steves' Europe, Worldfocus, Globe Trekker, Simply Ming, America's Test Kitchen From Cook’s Illustrated, Lidia's Italy, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home, Murdoch Mysteries, Doc Martin, Rosemary and Thyme, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, Liza’s at the Palace, and John Denver: The Wildlife Concert. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. In 2006, APT launched Create™ – the TV channel featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming. For more information about APT’s programs and services, visit APTonline.org.

About South Carolina ETV (SCETV): SCETV brings non-commercial, inspiring public television not only to the citizens of South Carolina, but through its national productions, to the rest of the United States and the world. Recent presentations include Journey to Planet Earth: The State of the Planet’s Oceans, hosted by Matt Damon, The Power of Forgiveness, Germans in America, and Uncorked! Wine Made Simple. Past productions include Making Schools Work with Hedrick Smith, and Journey to Planet Earth, hosted by Matt Damon (the only continuing environmental series on PBS). SCETV Radio produces Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, NPR’s longest running performance program.

South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.

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For more information, contact Dana McCullough at (803) 737-3212 or dmccullough@scetv.org.

Pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Leonard Bailey holds one of his patients, David Escarcega, at Loma Linda Univeristy Children's Hospital. Photo credit: APT Online

Re-enactor Meredith Garrison portrays Ellen White, one of the early founders of Seventh-day Adventism. Photo credit: APT Online

Claudia Escarcega embraces her son David after a successful pediatric heart transplant at Loma Linda Univeristy Children's Hospital, one of the many hospitals Adventists operate throughout the country. Photo credit: APT Online