Last year's Christian film "The Case for Christ" from Pure Flix Entertainment was awarded the top prize at the ICVM Crown Movie Awards taking place during the annual ICVM Conference hosted by International Christian Visual Media, the association for Christian film and television. The movie was conferred the Gold Crown Award for Best Picture, as well as Best Drama Over $250,000 and Best Evangelistic Film.

"The growing Christian film genre has topped $2 billion in total ticket sales," said ICVM President Jared Geesey. "It's a privilege for our association to play a part in encouraging, equipping, motivating and recognizing the talented men and women who bring stories of faith to the screen."

Focusing on the theme of "Difference," the July 11-14 ICVM Conference brought top Christian media professionals in communications and the arts to Nashville, Tenn., for four days of networking, training, mutual encouragement and fellowship. The annual conference attracts producers, writers, actors, marketers, social media experts and distributors of Christian and family content for film and television.

Concluding the event each year is its Crown Awards presentation. The awards drew nearly 70 entries in a wide variety of film, video, and television formats.

Poster for the 2017 film The Case for Christ.

Andrew Erwin, the director of last year's blockbuster film, "I Can Only Imagine," which has grossed over $83 million to date, gave the event's keynote address. He encouraged creators by sharing what he and his brother and co-director Jon have learned in facing daunting circumstances while filming.

"Embrace every closed door," Erwin said, "so God can direct you to the right open one." 

Grossing almost $15 million, "The Case for Christ" tells the story of famed Chicago journalist Lee Strobel who put his investigative skills to work to disprove Christianity, but eventually ends up becoming convinced of its truth. The film is based on Strobel's best-selling book with the same title which has sold over five million copies.

"Storm & Luther's Forbidden Letters" from Vision Video earned the Silver Crown Award for Best Picture, and "Tortured For Christ" received the Bronze Crown Award. For a complete list of winners, please click here.

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