OUR MISSION

Hello! My name is Sean Bloomfield. Together with Cimela Kidonakis, Jessi Hannapel, and other like-minded professionals, we are Stella Mar Films and Queen of Peace Productions.

Together we lead a team of like-minded professionals who are just as passionate about this mission as we are. Looking back, I'm amazed by how far we've come.

Since my first trip to Medjugorje, I’ve been on numerous pilgrimages and led a few myself. I had always marveled at the deep, lifelong bonds that formed among complete strangers through the Medjugorje experience. And I had always wanted to document it.

So, we held a contest offering seven free pilgrimages to Medjugorje with the goal of choosing the most diverse group of first-time pilgrims possible. Cimela was actually one of the entrants, but her video was so well-produced. I learned she was a filmmaker, too, so I asked her to help produce the film!

After its release in 2016, Apparition Hill brought the Medjugorje experience to hundreds of thousands of people in cinemas around the world, first through screenings hosted by our wonderful supporters and later through cinema chains like AMC.

Apparition Hill had an impact far greater than any of us could have imagined, and Medjugorje saw an influx of many first-time pilgrims who had never heard about the place before they saw the movie.

We also began shooting Cross Mountain, which will be the next film we release about Medjugorje. To make the movie, we brought a group of young people to Medjugorje and filmed their experiences—which was as moving for us as it was for them—and we have continued to document the effects of their experience, including the ordination of one of them in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican!

Filmmaking, however, is an incredibly expensive and time-consuming endeavor. Despite the success of our films, the costs have been higher than the revenue—but we measure success by the impact on audiences, not money. That’s why we are so grateful to our generous supporters who have contributed to our fundraising campaigns, and why your support here as a patron is so crucial in our mission.

Writing is crucial to filmmaking, and print media is also part of our mission. During the making of Apparition Hill and the filming of Cross Mountain, Mirjana Soldo—the Medjugorje visionary who experiences apparitions of the Virgin Mary on the second day of every month—asked me to help her tell her life story in the form of a book, along with our mutual friend Miki Musa (a local pilgrim guide and translator).

After countless hours with Mirjana, and countless more editing and proofreading, we released her book My Heart Will Triumph on August 15, 2016—the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. Mirjana’s story continues to impact people across the globe in multiple languages.

We also published Dear Children, a children's book which tells the story of Medjugorje for young readers.

In 2017, we also began working on another film titled Where There Is Darkness. It was a powerful story of mercy and forgiveness, and we felt called to tell it. It has just been released in theaters through hosted screenings and has already been selected by over 25 secular film festivals, which coincides perfectly with our mission of reaching the masses.

In 2019, we began working on a documentary for the amazing charity Mary's Meals, which is a fruit of Medjugorje. We traveled to Haiti with the charity's founder, Magnus Macfarlane-Barrow, and actor Gerard Butler to document the important work being done.

And we continue filming as much as we're able to, in Medjugorje and elsewhere, in an ongoing effort to produce short films that we release online for free.

There's so much more we want to do, but we work in this mission full-time (plus overtime!), often with little to no pay, and we truly need your help. Please consider joining the Apostles of Love Community on Patreon to support and join our mission!

ABOUT OUR WORK

Despite being small and independent, Stella Mar Films produces powerful, life-changing movies that help make the world a brighter, better place. 

Non-profit organization Queen of Peace Productions collaborates with Stella Mar Films to inspire people through media.

Our main mission is to bring God's love to those yet to know it.

One way we do that is by producing films, books, websites, and other platforms which present the beauty of faith in ways that anyone can enjoy.

You see, we believe that too many faith-based movies are, well, too religious!

Most movies made by believers are made FOR believers. They may get seen by a lot of believers, but what's the value in preaching to the converted?

We don't want to preach to the choir, nor do we want to make movies that people dismiss as religious propaganda.

We just want to open a door in peoples' hearts and let God do the rest.

That's why we try to produce content that inspires, entertains, and plants seeds of faith in those it reaches. These include:

RECENT FILMS

• Apparition Hill 
• Where There Is Darkness
• The Triumph 
• If Only We Had Listened - with Immaculee Ilibagiza

UPCOMING FILMS

• Cross Mountain (coming soon)
• Film about Mary's Meals with Gerard Butler (coming soon)
• Feature film based on Mirjana's autobiography

BOOKS

• My Heart Will Triumph - Mirjana Soldo's Autobiography
• Dear Children (illustrated)
• Medjugorje Pilgrim Guide

PAST FILMS

• Miracles of Medjugorje 
• The Fruits of Mary 
• Medjugorje: The 25th Anniversary 
• Miracles of Ireland: Apparition at Knock
• And more!

⇒ LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FILMS AND BOOKS

Judging by the response to our films like Apparition Hill, and to books like My Heart Will Triumph, we know we're on the right track... which is why we're so passionate about continuing our mission and growing our reach.

But there's no other way to say this: we can only continue with your help.

Our hope is that the Apostles of Love community will provide our "media ministry" with a consistent monthly budget that enables us to persevere in our work and reach more people around the globe.

Please join us by becoming a patron today. We'll show our gratitude by sending you a handwritten thank-you note along with special gifts, plus you'll gain access to exclusive patron-only updates, free videos, and more.

IN GIVING WE RECEIVE

Our supporters have helped our mission succeed in so many ways, and we try to be just as generous with our time and resources when it comes to spreading the message and helping others, even down to the individual level.

The following are some of the many free things we offer to the world through our work:

Queen of Peace eNewsletter - Established by Queen of Peace Productions in 2003, over 40,000 subscribers around the world now receive the Medjugorje messages as soon as they come out, along with breaking news form Medjugorje, free online videos by Stella Mar Films, and more. Maintaining an email list of this magnitude costs us nearly $5,000 per year, but we want it to always be free for everyone.

Medjugorje Pilgrimage Sponsorships - Over 30 people have traveled to Medjugorje free through our pilgrimages, operated through Stella Mar Pilgrimages, including many priests and people in need.

*Becoming a patron at most of our tiers gets you extra discounts on our pilgrimages!

MedjugorjeLive - Medjugorje Live is the interactive website dedicated to the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the village of Medjugorje. The site features the latest news and videos about Medjugorje, plus archival articles and past news about the shrine. It is also home to the Medjugorje Discussion Forum.




iMedjugorje - Every pilgrim has a story! We created iMedjugorje to help their stories come to life as a testament to what many believe is the most important spiritual event since the time of Christ. Our goal is to continue documenting these stories, photographing the pilgrims, and publishing the articles on the site.

Free Documentary Releases - We recently released our feature-length film The Triumph online for free so that anyone in the world can experience Medjugorje through the film. The high cost of film production hinders our ability to do that for other titles, but if we can reach our goal of covering our base operating costs ($10,000 per month), then we will release our film Apparition Hill online for free. We'd also love to do the same with If Only We Had Listened, Miracles of Medjugorje, The Fruits of Mary, and more of our titles.

Reports and Videos - For many years we have been reporting on the events in Medjugorje and beyond, through articles, photos, and videos that are released online for free. We don't want to ever charge money for these as we feel they should be available free for everyone, but the truth is that it costs a substantial amount of money, and quite a lot of time, to produce these. With your help we continue making them, and more often!

JOINING OUR MISSION

Our films, books, websites, and outreach would not exist without the support of people who believe in our mission—including volunteer involvement, prayers, and donations.