Wednesday, November 29, 2006

God at Sundance in 2007

Adam first alerted me to the Sundance Films in competition in 2007. Adam specificly noted the documentary For The Bible Tells Me So, directed by Daniel Karslake which tells the story of five conservative Christian families, dealing significantly with how they use the bible to "stigmatizing the gay community and eroding the separation between church and state."

Is this 2007's Jesus Camp II? Actually, from the heavy handed language, it sounds a little more bias then the Jesus Camp documentarians.

Peter Chattaway sorted through the list to find the other films that obviously deal with religion that will be premiering at Sundance. The other films, a drama about a devout Christian girl with a unique physical advantage called "Teeth", a Russian film about an odd monk, and a film from Denmark about an 82-year-old virgin and a nun.

Also controversial and untitled Dokota Fanning film (which I thought was called Hounddog) where Fanning deals with abuse through the music of Elvis, will also have it's world wide premier at Sundance.

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6 comments:

Out Of Jersey said...

It is amazing how often a movie with any religious theme in it sends people blood boiling.

Terence Towles Canote said...

Whoa. I am not sure that The Bible Tells Me So is this year's Jesus Camp, as it sounds like it is going to be a whole lot more controversial. I haven't seen Jesus Camp, but from everything I've heard it isn't nearly THAT biased!

Anonymous said...

Was it you who posted about Hounddog before? To me, it sounds a little disturbing.
I'm a little worried to see her "grow up" as an actress. Maybe it's just my fatherly instinct.

Mike K said...

I think these films are a good way to open up an honest discussion about religion in the USA. I don't honestly understand why people are threatened by that.

general125 said...

The problem I have with many films that have religion in the theme is often times they not only show their side of the argument as correct, but they show religious people to be unenlightened, ignorant and stupid. The most recent example I can conger up is a recent episode of Studio 60. The Christian on the show made a statement about how she didn't think gay marriage was right, but she didn't want to judge people "lest not ye be judged." At the end the Matthew Perry ex-boyfriend and her had an exchange where Perry drew parallels to the civil rights movement and gay marriage. The girl’s only response was that black people in America had been oppressed for 400 years; Perry needed to be patient with those against gay marriage because the idea has only been around for the last 30 years. If Hollywood wants to have an "honest discussion" about religion, than the parameters of the discussion should be presented honestly. What is honest about a movie made that shows how a family of 5 is "stigmatizing the gay community and eroding the separation b/w church and state?" The summary the producers of the movie wrote demonstrates their built in bias against "Conservative Christian Families." It's not the best way to have an open and honest discussion about religion in the USA.

general125 said...

Oh yea, thanks for the mention Ryan, I figured that article was up your alley. It got Mark's blood boiling good :)

Hope the store is going well!