Abortion Foes Look To the Big Screen
By Robert D. Novak
Thursday, November 30, 2006

An invited audience that included Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez gathered at National Geographic Society's auditorium Monday night for a screening of "Bella," an independently produced feature film. No mere movie, it offers hope for the beleaguered antiabortion movement to reverse the political tide running against it.

This was the eighth such screening in Washington. Monday night's audience reflected the reaction in more than 100 showings nationwide: an emotional experience for a stunning exhibition of cinema art that unexpectedly won a Toronto International Film Festival award. It is no propaganda film but a dramatic depiction of choices facing an unmarried pregnant woman.

"Bella," unknown to the general public, has generated excitement and anticipation in conservative Catholic and other antiabortion circles. The problem is getting the film in theaters around the country for its public premiere early next April. That is never easy for an independent film with no box-office names, but the problems are magnified when its message runs counter to the social mores of Hollywood. the rest