Beautifully Broken Nashville Premiere CoveragePosted by Lenique Vincent
August 23, 2018
The Nashville premiere of Beautifully Broken took place on August 20th in The Little Brick Theatre at The Factory. The red carpet was filled with cast members and special guests who were itching to see the faith based film telling the story of how three families were able to connect and change each other’s lives for the better. The fact that the film was based on a true story was even more exciting, as the real life characters and the actors who played them shared their experiences of making the film.
Producer of the film, Randy Hartley, is one of the men the movie is based on. Hartley’s storyline begins with his position as a financial planner and sole provider for his wife and daughter. His picture perfect life begins to crumble after his daughter has a life changing experience that causes her to change for the worst. Before things take a dark turn, Hartley meets William Mwizerwa, played by Benjamin Onyango. Mwizerwa, a businessman in the coffee industry, becomes a refugee in Nashville after fleeing the mass genocide in Rwanda in order to seek a better life for his wife and daughter in America.
The initial meeting isn’t shown in the movie, instead, Randy explains he met William when he was their sons Cub Scout leader and made all the boys fathers come to a meeting. “When I met him I could tell he wasn’t from Nashville and he told me he was from Rwanda.” At the mention of Rwanda, Randy shared that he and his family sponsored a little girl from the country. “I mentioned that to him and that gave us an instant connection,” Randy explains, “Little did I know it would be a few years later that his family would be leading us through Rwanda to go meet that little girl, and that trip would be life changing for all of us.”
Although the events of the movie happened six to seven years ago, Randy recalls, he describes the filmmaking experience as a healing process. “It made us grateful because you look back at where we come from and where we are now and how great things are. The film is deeply personal but ultimately we can put that personal stuff out there because the ending is a happy one.”
In the red carpet, Randy stood alongside his wife as he smiled from ear to ear and asserted, “The title means that we are all broken but God still has a beautiful plan for us,” he says effortlessly, “If you keep the faith and keep moving forward, He could turn it.”
Luckily, the tile speaks for itself, and many people had the same idea. Project Runway’s first plus size model winner, Liris Crosse, shared her definition on what it means to be beautifully broken. “My industry is built of a lot of rejection. You get more no’s than you get yeses,” she admits, “I just continue to get up. The fact that I continue to get up everyday, that’s beautifully broken. The way that I press onto my pain, my disappointment, that’s beautifully broken.”
Co-producer Michelle Duffie admits she cried when she first saw the film, and decided for herself that being beautifully broken means, “Even in your brokenness there is something really great that can happen if you look at it the right way.” She cheerfully adds, “Once we realize that anything’s that’s happening in our life is on purpose and for a reason, we look at life differently.”
As for how it feels to see his story on the silver screen, Randy admits that although he is humble, the experience is “ultimately very satisfying.” He hopes to remind audiences around the world, “We are all broken and there is a way to be made whole again,” he goes on, “Forgiveness serves you more than the person you forgive.”
Scott Williams Winters speaks on his ability to play Randy, and shares that he relates to Randy’s story through his three teenage daughters and a scripture. “Proverbs 24 says a righteous man falls seven times and gets up again. This was a man under extreme duress and he overcame; but he couldn’t have done it without extreme hope.” Regarding the films message, Winters explains, “It’s said that God’s strength is perfected in our weakness. We live in a society that likes to hide weakness and brokenness, but this is a movie that celebrates that.”
Capitalizing on Winters take away, William Mwizerwa, accompanied by his wife, explains the meaningfulness of their story. “It means love,” he says without hesitation, “It’s time that we change our nonsense killings. It is time that we change our nonsense wars. It’s time to save innocent people because the people who suffer from these wars are children, women, people who don’t have any contribution to what is going on in this war.”
“My story has to be told because it’s a story about forgiveness and new hope,” Mwizerwa explains, “When I left my house without taking anything, when I lost my country, I didn’t have any hope. But God is real and is bringing new hope. We pray that millions of people in the same condition can get the same hope.”
CeCe Winans, gospel singer and one of the artists who sings the movies title track, echos this belief in hope as she stresses the importance of not giving up. “The sun will come out tomorrow,” she assures, “There is hope and God is on it.” Winans is also one of the few people who saw the movie before it premiered, and was drawn to several factors. “You identify with brokenness, you identify with injustice, but then you identify with hope. This movies gives you hope,” she confirms.
Director Eric Walsh tops it all off by guaranteeing, “This film offers some hope into hardships.”
Beautifully Broken will be in theatres on August 24th. To experience hopefulness and the journey of a true, inspirational story; be sure to check it out and use the hashtag BBrokenmovie to let the cast and crew know what you think.
