Tag: independent film

Mormons and Film

Mormonism has arguably been the most cinematically engaged religious movement in the history of motion pictures. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members have been involved with filmmaking since the medium’s beginning. The first motion picture to feature Latter-day Saints was the Spanish-American War actuality Salt Lake City Company of Rocky Mountain

I find this a fascinating article from an insider’s perspective. It gives a historical and cultural overview of the use and influence of motion pictures within the LDS world. It would be interesting to me to understand the dynamics and how they are the same and how they differ from mainstream Evangelical Christian filmmaking.

Click here to read the full article on Patheos: Mormons and Film.

Anatomy of a Scene: Mother – Interactive Feature

Watch a short clip from a film with the Director’s commentary. In this case, South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho’s “Mother”. I love these NYTimes interactive features. I think they really take advantage of the potential for electronic publishing, especially for cool things like film analysis.

Click here to watch and listen: Anatomy of a Scene: Mother – Interactive Feature – NYTimes.com.

Of course, this is a film that almost nobody has seen, but I like the way the director tells the story and builds the tension in creative ways with interesting camera angles and pacing. What do you think?

THE ENEMY GOD – Movieguide Review

TEG Poster

“This is one of the great stories. It is a highly recommended movie.” – Dr. Ted Baeher, Movieguide.org

Read the whole review here: ENEMY GOD – Christian Movie Review.

Dr. Ted Baehr of Movieguide is a fan of the book Spirit of the Rainforest. That book recounts some of the same historical events found in our film, Yai Wanonabälewä: The Enemy God. The same community of Yanomamö in Venezuela came to us almost ten years ago to ask us to make a film about  their lives and the spiritual freedom that they have found.

It is very gratifying to us to have his official, public, review of the film. We feel he did a very honest and insightful review of the film, from a specifically Christian point-of-view. What I like about Dr. Baehr’s reviews is that he digs deep in any film, secular or “Christian”, and examines worldview and the context for content that may be challenging or offensive to some.

As always, we are looking for ways to spread the word about the film. The world is crowded with content. Some of it is worthy, other, not so much. If you read this and read the Movieguide review, help us spread the love!

[Of course, you can buy the DVD for yourself right here: BUY THE DVD]

Festival Invitation for The Enemy God

One of our alternate posters

It’s always nice when someone invites you to submit your film to a festival. We have not been submitting The Enemy God since late 2008, but are feeling that some more festival exposure might help get the word out and give us something to talk about! Waiting for distribution deals from our sales agent is an exercise in perseverance.

I got an e-mail today from the First Nations Festival in Montreal, Canada. They are looking for indigenous-themed and/or produced films. We have enjoyed the indigenous festivals we have been in so we thought this sounded like a good opportunity.

Patience, a Gift No One Wants to Earn

Our film just received a great review from a well-known critic. I can’t publish it yet because they’re proofing it and haven’t told us of a release date. But, I want to give just a hint (from a very comprehensive review) here:

THE ENEMY GOD is a low budget but very well made movie. It cares deeply about authenticity and achieves that goal with the set direction, the battle scenes, and the portrayals of the Yanomamö. … The script is powerful… THE ENEMY GOD is much better than most Hollywood movies.

This is one of the great stories. It is a highly recommended movie.

The main reason I’m posting this today is because I have been reminded of the value of patience and persistence. We’ve been working on this film for almost 8 years. That’s crazy! And it will never be a blockbuster commercial success; we know that.

When we got the e-mail with the review today, we passed it on to our Writer/Director, Christopher Bessette. He deserves the accolades. And here’s what he wrote back to me, in part:

You know that you and Matt have made a completely unconventional movie. It is cutting edge because no one has done something like this before. People don’t realize it yet – but the film will have longevity because of it. Like it has been said before they will be looking it up in 200 years in the history books. People don’t realize it now but slowly and eventually it will grow and grow and they will.

Zaven (Katchaturian) from the Arpa Film Festival told me personally that they were considering giving the actors awards but then they began to question as to whether or not they were watching reality or drama.  When they realized it was drama they gave me the award. That was very kind of them… and it is a God thing for sure, but trust me… eventually it will come to pass that greater masses will realize what this means.

Isaiah 55:11 – God’s Word will not return empty but it will accomplish that for which He sent it.

God is with us!

What Christopher’s note reminded me of is that, just because I’m tired of working one more day to make this film a reality, writing more e-mails trying to get attention for the story, Twittering and Facebooking without huge followings, God is working through the film. Matt and I began it with the assumption that it was totally out of our league and was something God needed to do. He did, and continues to make His story known in wider and wider circles, where it is still unknown.

Do we have the patience and perseverance to see things through? Sometimes I think I know when God is saying to just quit something. Other times, I depend on His Spirit to confirm that, even though the breakthrough hasn’t yet come, it doesn’t mean that God has changed His mind.



Sundance Update – reviews of “Secrets of the Tribe” « The Enemy God – The Movie

Help us give the Yanomamö a voice!

Here’s a link to a new post with reviews for a documentary about the Yanomamö and controversies among anthropolgists and indigenous leaders.

Sundance Update – reviews of “Secrets of the Tribe” « The Enemy God – The Movie.

We hope that the awareness raised by Padilha’s film will also help to raise awareness of the Yanomamö story told in our film.