Eternal World Television Network (EWTN), the  international Catholic channel based in Alabama, USA, will be airing “Dominic: Light of the Church,” a Filipino-produced international production which is the first full-length feature on the life of the founder of the Order of Preachers aka Dominicans, St. Dominic de Guzman.

The Office for Social Communication of the Dominican Institute of Preaching produced the movie in 2011.

According to Edwin Lopez, ETWN international marketing manager for the Asia-Pacific, the choice of airing “Dominic” is due to its “very impressive production values.”

“The quality of the script, acting, wardrobe and cinematography are all first-rate,” Lopez said. “The film is a true and faithful retelling of Saint Dominic’s life that it even allows viewers to meet him in an almost personal way.”

The two-part broadcast is scheduled on Aug. 15 and 22, (9:30 p.m. in Manila).

The film’s production team was mostly composed of Filipinos, numbering 13, who were in-charge of principal photography and logistics.

Two Spanish and three French coordinators and six French staffers for the art and camera department accompanied them when the movie was shot in Spain and France for 16 days.

Successful film

According to Fr. Christopher Jeffrey Aytona, OP, executive producer of the film, EWTN’s choice of airing “Dominic” somehow indicates the success of the film.

“For a time, it was disheartening that the project was criticized primarily because its production team was non-mainstream,” said Aytona. “Now that even professionals [from EWTN] have taken note of the value of this film, we can peacefully say that the production was no futile effort.”

Since its premiere in December 2010 in Manila, the film has been shown in over 100 schools locally. It has also been shown in various educational and religious institutions in Spain, France, Poland, Guam and Taiwan.

It is available in DVD with subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Bahasa, Italian, German, Polish and Mandarin.

“Dominic: Light of the Church” was created in celebration of the 40th year of foundation of the Dominican Province of the Philippines. It is also the gift of the Province to the whole Dominican Family for the 800th anniversary year of the Order in 2016.

Dominican app

On Aug. 8, in celebration of the feast of St. Dominic de Guzman, the Dominicans in the Philippines held the formal launching of OP Philippines, a one-stop phone application that contains all social-media networks of the Dominicans across the country.

According to Father Aytona, the app “is a concrete way of responding to the call of new evangelization by providing modern means of preaching with the use of new media for social communications.”

Among its features are the “prayer wall,” Dominican directory, vocations, videos and reflections.

It is available in iTunes App Store and Google Play. For queries about “Dominic: Light of the Church” and the Dominican app, call tel. 3544611.