Raven Foundation 2013 Award for Excellence in Arts and Entertainment is "Hellbound?"

Chicago, IL, November 08, 2013 --(PR.com)-- The Raven Foundation is pleased to announce that filmmaker Kevin Miller is the recipient of the 2013 Raven Award for Excellence in Arts and Entertainment for his documentary exploring different and contradictory ideas of hell called Hellbound?. The Raven Award for Excellence in Arts and Entertainment is given to an artist whose work challenges the myth of redemptive and sacred violence. This documentary creatively demystifies sacred violence by challenging Christian theologies that maintain God punishes human beings with eternal torment. The $5,000 prize will be presented to Miller at a reception held in the Cabaret Theater of Stage 773 on Tuesday, November 12 at 7:00 p.m. The award presentation includes the Chicago premiere screening of the winning documentary and is open to the public. The event is free, but seating is limited. Stage 773 is located at 1225 W. Belmont in Chicago.

Featuring an eclectic group of authors, theologians, pastors, social commentators and musicians, Hellbound? is a feature-length documentary that seeks to discover why we are so bound to the idea of hell. If God is our pure, all-loving creator, can he really turn his back on sinners and allow them to suffer for eternity in hell? Where did this vision of hell come from? Is it possible we've got hell wrong? Or are recent challenges to the traditional view merely an attempt to avoid the inevitable? What do our views on hell reveal about how we perceive God, justice, the Bible and, ultimately, ourselves?

An award-winning screenwriter, director and producer, Kevin Miller has applied his craft to numerous documentaries, feature films and shorts. In addition to Hellbound?, recent projects include Drop Gun, No Saints for Sinners, spOILed, Sex+Money, With God On Our Side, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed and After... In addition to his work in film, Miller has written, co-written and edited over 40 books. He lives in Abbotsford, BC, Canada with his wife and four children.

The Raven Foundation is a not-for-profit educational foundation working to create lasting peace through social commentary on religion, politics and popular culture from the perspective of mimetic theory. Mimetic theory has been proven to have extraordinary explanatory power when applied to human desire and violence. Bringing that power to bear, the Raven Foundation illuminates the causes of human conflict in shared desire, the contagious nature of violence, and the pervasive presence of scapegoating in personal and group identity. Through blogs, theater commentary, live video chats on Teaching Nonviolent Atonement, and Chicago area events the Raven Foundation explains how it is possible to create lasting peace through peaceful means. More information is available at www.ravenfoundation.org.