Where Hope Grows: Actor Makes History in Faith Film

Hollywood's recent trend of faith films is scoring another title at the box office this weekend.

"Where Hope Grows" hits theaters Friday, May 15, and it's the first major motion picture to cast an actor with Down syndrome in a lead role.

David DeSanctis plays the character called "Produce," nicknamed after his job in the produce department at a grocery store. The young man befriends Calvin Campbell, a retired baseball player whose panic attacks force him into early retirement and send his life in a downward spiral.

Click below for more of David DeSanctis's thoughts on the new film, "Where Hope Grows"

When "Produce" meets Campbell, played by Kristoffer Polaha, the two embark upon an unexpected journey and an unexpected friendship.

"When you meet these characters and see what he is going through, you want to go on that journey with them," Chris Dowling, the film's director, told CBN News.

Director Chris Dowling shared more about the importance of the new film with CBN's Efrem Graham. Click below to watch.

DeSanctis told CBN News he hopes the film will help audiences reconsider their stereotypes about people with Down syndrome and force them "to look into my abilities, instead of my disabilities."

In addition to stereotypes, "Where Hope Grows" explores other serious issues, like panic attacks and alcohol addiction.

"Faith-based films typically write the world the way they want to see it and not the way the world actually is, and I agree to some extent with that, " Dowling told CBN News.

"And so we wanted to present a world that was very real and lived in and people battling their own issues and demons," he explained. "And conversations that sound like conversations that people are really having."

This is a film about hope at time when hope is often in short supply.

Click play to hear Focus on the Family's movie review department, Plugged In Online, director Bob Waliszewski's take on "Where Hope Grows."