“Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas” was no doubt a wonderful holiday film. And definitely makes my top 5 list for holiday telefilms that I watched this year! Recommended!
Click here to watch “Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas” on Amazon
TITLE: Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas
FILM YEAR: 2021
DURATION: 87 Minutes
COMPANY: Lifetime Television
Directed by Erica C. Sutherlin
Written by Kourtney Richard
Producer: Leslie Greif, Alex Kerr, Ron Robinson, Eric Tomosunas
Co-Producer: Wes Cyphers
Executive Producer: Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd, Kirk Franklin
Line Producer: Kelly R. Tenney
Music by Kurt Farquhar
Cinematography by Teodoro Maniaci
Casting by Leslie M. Greene
Production Design by Yajeel “Jay” Brown
Art Direction by Summer St. John
Starring:
Demetria McKinney as Olivia
Chaz Lamar Shepherd as Ashton
Angela Birchett as Stella
Kendra C. Johnson as Miss Dee
Deeta West as Sister Ida
Regina Belle as Pastor Etta Richard
When Olivia (Demetria McKinney) gets assigned to be a lead pastor at a new church a month before Christmas, she’s fearful she can’t manage the transition. Olivia discovers a new home for herself, and even finds a little Christmas romance along the way!
We have reached day 51 of my holiday marathon series and it’s Christmas day in the US today and I am watching the Lifetime Television “Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas”.
So, for those not familiar with Kirk Franklin, he is a 16 time Grammy winner, American choir director, gospel singer, rapper, songwriter and best known for leading urban contemporary gospel choirs such as The Family, God’s Property and One Nation Crew among many others.
And he is the executive producer of this 2021 holiday telefilm “Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas”, his first holiday telefilm (the second is this year’s “Kirk Franklin’s The Night Before Christmas”).
And before I start my review, I will say that this is one of the finest holiday telefilms I have watched and you’ll probably never see anything like it and that is a very good thing, considering holiday telefilms tend to be banal.
But also, I have to give major props to Lifetime Television because as I have always commended the network for being on the forefront of showcasing storylines that delve into stories featuring ethnic families and more, but most of all, being modern and not blind, and featuring holiday content that can attract many viewers.
A lot has changed since then and people have dreamed of opportunities of seeing this on television and 2020, we saw this happening but in 2021, Lifetime literally featured many holiday telefilms of African American descent. May they be families or lead actors or actresses. And that is a major move forward.
Would love to see more Asian and Latino representation as well, but I’m quite happy of seeing progress.
The holiday telefilms begins with a congregation and a choir providing a wonderful performance. Pastor Etta Richard (portrayed by Regina Belle) announces that her daughter Olivia (portrayed by Demetria McKinney) will be leaving and taking over pastor of a small church (Genesis) in Greenwood, Texas, two days from now (and missing Christmas).
This surprises Olivia because she was unaware that she would be leaving her parents and feels she is not ready. But her mother and father tell her that she is ready and that she should put her trust in God.
When Olivia arrives to the church, She meets her administrative assistant/resident designer Miss Dee (portrayed by Kendra C. Johnson) and learns that the church had a singing pastor, directed the choir and she has big shoes to fill.
Olivia meets Ashton (portrayed by Chaz Lamar Shepherd) who shows her around and helps her find a place to stay.
But when Olivia hears the current choir singing, she sees how people are reacting (uncomfortably) and then she hears Ashton sings and play the piano and hears his wonderful voice. Ashton was a former singer who did a lot of things until the bottom fell out and focuses on real estate and asks Ashton to become the new choir director, to whip the choir into shape and also focus on all the necessary things to keep operations going in the church.
But what happens when church members find out that Olivia can sing! Will they be able to bring back the winter holiday performance to the church?
As mentioned, this holiday telefilm is a rarity to see and you won’t probably see anything like it.
The collaboration with the talented Kirk Franklin and also many of the talented staff and performers is also fantastic and not only did I enjoy this holiday telefilm, I absolutely love the music!
“Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas” was no doubt a wonderful holiday film. And definitely makes my top 5 list for holiday telefilms that I watched this year! Recommended!
Click here to watch “Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas” on Amazon
