For several hours on Saturday night, the House of Peace Worship Church International went to Hollywood as approximately 400 people came for dinner and the premier showing of the film “Grace Wins,” which was shot in Vicksburg.

“We sold all of the tickets — 400 tickets — and I saw very few empty seats,” said the Rev. Linda Sweezer-Rowster, House of Peace’s pastor and the executive producer of “Grace Wins.”

“I am so excited about the support and the turnout and the excitement from the crowd, as well as how incredibly amazing everybody looked dressed up for the gala, the whole atmosphere was charged,” she said. “People were really excited to see the movie. I don’t think I could have asked for a greater response or greater experience. Some people said that it was definitely a Hollywood premier atmosphere; they said it was a stellar event and occasion and how much they enjoyed it.”

People attending the premier had a chance to walk the red carpet, meet with members of the cast and the production crew and have dinner before retiring to the church sanctuary to watch the story of Brian Gilchrist and his struggle to overcome his addiction and escape the memories of an abusive home.

Sweezer-Rowster appeared in cameo roles as Brian’s mother during flashback scenes and as the master of ceremonies at a reading of Brian’s poetry in a scene near the end of the movie.

“Grace Wins” depicts the highs and lows of Brian’s situations and how he navigates through them and highlights the bravery of Angela, Brian’s girlfriend, who helps him discover the depth of true love in the midst of chaos.

Additionally, the story follows Samuel, an unconventional counselor, who cultivates spiritual renewal for Brian through his life-changing wisdom. The film seeks to encourage its audience by showing the redemptive nature of God’s grace and love.

Sweezer-Rowster has described “Grace Wins” as a realistic drama in the way it portrays Brian’s struggle but the film goes beyond Brian because Angela and Samuel battle their own demons.

Angela is hounded by her lawyer parents to abandon the store and go to law school and join their law firm.

Samuel is a recovering alcoholic who left his wife after their son died from an overdose because he had trouble coping with his son’s death.

Throughout the movie, people got to see probably the biggest star, the City of Vicksburg: from the downtown area to the bridges and the riverfront, they saw local buildings like the Hotel Vicksburg, the Mississippi River and Catfish Row Art Park. Attendees got involved in the lives of the characters in the film; during several scenes in the film, the audience responded with audible laughs, groans and moans as the characters fought their battles.

“I’m really excited for everyone in the city of Vicksburg because even though my face on here, this Vicksburg’s movie, this isn’t mine,” said actor Stephen Green, who played Brian. “I just hope I did them justice.”

Green, who is from North Carolina, has been a professional actor for nine years, said he worked on a TV show with John Meier, the movie’s producer/director.

“He reached out to me a couple of years ago and he said, ‘Hey, here is a script for this movie and there’s a role I really think that it fits you.’”

Meier sent Green the script “and I read it, fell in love with it. I researched my character so I was ready when it was show time.”

Green said shooting the film in Vicksburg “was wonderful; this was my first time ever in Mississippi. It just reminded me so much of my childhood. I think the hospitality was great here. It was the food and the scenery; everybody’s just nice. I did take it for granted for Vicksburg to be another home.”

Meier said he and Sweezer-Rowster discussed “Grace Wins” for several years, adding he was introduced to her by a friend.

“I had made a faith-based film before and I think she was just looking for some advice,” he said. “This was a play before it was a movie.

“She told me the storyline and we kind of kept in touch over the years and then I definitely knew pretty early on that it would be a really cool project to be a part of. We came on board, myself and my co-writer Darren (Jacobs) and started working on the screenplay and then eventually got to make the movie.”

Meier called Vicksburg amazing.

“These people were awesome, very hospitable,” he said. “It’s just a really cool place to film too; just the aesthetics of Vicksburg are incredible. It was just a great place to film. You know, movies are always a lot of work to make but it was, it was just very cool.”

“I’ll never forget this red carpet event,” Sweezer-Rowster said. “I mean it was really amazing, and then the response of the audience as the movie was being shown that was incredible to me.

“One of the people who sat at the desk in the front at registration, Minister Lisa Jones told me, ‘I just want to tell you, pastor, that there were a lot of people who left with tissues who had been crying, and they kept saying how that movie was amazing. That meant a lot to me, a whole lot.”