Exclusive: THE ROSENBERG REPORT airs worldwide TV premiere of ‘The 21’
The film tells the true story of 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt and Ghana who were martyred by ISIS 10 years ago
ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg has recently returned from Cairo, Egypt, where he attended the premiere of ‘THE 21,’ an Academy Award-shortlisted film about 21 Christian men who were kidnapped, persecuted, and ultimately martyred by ISIS 10 years ago.
Their story shook the world when the terror group released a gruesome video of their execution. The Coptic followers of Jesus were marched by their masked ISIS captors on the beach in Libya, dressed in orange jumpsuits. Until their very last tragic moment – a barbaric beheading – they refused to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ.
“As moving as it is, as powerful it is, it's not a story that should be kept to ourselves,” said Rosenberg in the latest episode of his weekly show, THE ROSENBERG REPORT on TBN. He, therefore, decided to show the film to his audience, airing it for the first time on any American TV network.
“I think it has a lot of relevance,” Rosenberg explained why he asked for such permission from the film’s producers. “We are heading into deeper prophetic waters… The persecution of the Church is bad right now, but it's going to get much, much worse. And not just in the Middle East, not just in Communist China, but all over the globe.”
He continued, “This film is important because we learn about the story of these 21 martyrs who refused to renounce Jesus. They stuck with Jesus, their faith in Jesus to the very end as they were beheaded. But we don't just learn their stories – we're inspired by their story of how we can live more faithfully for Jesus in our country, in our time.”
Rosenberg described the film as “very evocative,” given the producers’ decision to create it as an animated film.
“It is not gruesome like a documentary would be, or even a live-action film. Still, it's very difficult content,” he said.
Watch ‘The 21’ television premiere and the full interviews with its film producers on the TBN website.
“One foot on earth and one foot in heaven”
The producers behind the film traveled to upper Egypt to share it with the families of the 21 Christian martyrs. Rosenberg asked producers Mark Rodgers and Mandi Hart what their reaction was like.
“Showing it to the widows, the families, the mothers, children of the martyrs, was the pinnacle of our trip,” said Rogers. Before starting his own production company focusing on faith-based films and multimedia projects, he served as chief of staff for a United States Senator and worked on presidential campaigns.
Mandi Hart added, “There was definitely the full gamut of emotion – obviously sorrow and weeping – but also rejoicing and so much pride in what the martyrs stood for and their steadfastness to the end. That was beautiful to see, and also very convicting.”
“Their perspective was so eternally minded, and I think that's what struck me the most,” she added. “Spending the time with the Coptic community that we had a few weeks ago is how they really do live, with one foot on earth and one foot in heaven.”
According to the producers, the film has reached around half a million views on different platforms in its first week out.
“This is the kind of film that really succeeds by word of mouth,” Rodgers told Rosenberg.
Hart noted that they would love to see ‘The 21’ reaching more people worldwide. To that end, the film’s production has made assets available for arranged screenings in churches, communities, universities and small groups at home. They also added subtitles in various languages.
“I encourage you to not only see the film, but think about how God would use you to show the film in a small group Bible study in your church, at a conference, to your youth group,” Rosenberg urged his TBN viewers.
Last week, he had a conversation with another producer who worked on the film – actor Jonathan Roumie, best known for playing the role of Jesus Christ in the global phenomenon TV series, "The Chosen."
Read the exclusive interview here.
THE ROSENBERG REPORT airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST and Saturday nights at 10 p.m. EST – on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
