For those unfamiliar with Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady's documentary, Jesus Camp (see technorati cosmos), the film follows a select group of children "who are growing up as evangelical Christians"
Twelve-year-old Levi, who was "saved" when he was five, is a shy boy except when he is filled with the Holy Spirit. Nine-year-old Rachael is outspoken in her love for the Lord. They are home-schooled by their Christian parents and interact with their peers at church and church events. In the summer they travel to Becky Fischer's "Kids on Fire" summer camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, to intensify their devotion to the Lord. Fischer is a children's pastor, who specializes in tapping into the hearts and minds of kids on their level. She recognizes that this generation accesses information through video, images, and music. Intercut with scenes of the kids is the radio commentary of Mike Papantonio, a Christian who believes that the Evangelical movement has strayed from the original teachings of love that Jesus died for. He worries that the movement's position on the environment, creationism, and other fundamental tenets are short-sighted and will hurt the conservative movement in the end. And where does the government land in all this? The Evangelicals apply unceasing pressure to their elected officials, and have made great strides with Bush as their president. What kind of force will these kids be in politics and religion when they grow up? The kids of Jesus Camp are smart, empowered, speak in tongues, and are determined to change the world (Tribecca Film Guide).
Peter Chattaway posted an interview today at CT Movies with Jesus Camp directors. Chattaway asks excellent questions and the film-makers offer fascinating answers in response.
I include a selection of the questions and answers below, and you can read the entire interview here -- On Fire at Jesus Camp.
RELATED
Official Jesus Camp Homepage
Jesus Camp @ Myspace
Jesus Camp // Apple Trailers
Jesus Camp @ Tribecca Film Festival Guide
"Jesus Camp" @ Google Blog Search
Technorati Tags: church, documentary, HeidiEwing, Jesus, Jesus+Film, JesusCamp, PeterChattaway, RachelGrady
[Selections from Peter Chattaway's On Fire At Jesus Camp]
Were you initially looking to make another movie about kids, or were you looking more for a political subject, and the kids camp just happened to be a way to get into that?
Grady: Actually, we were looking for a film that focused on children and faith, and we were inspired by Devon Brown, who was in The Boys of Baraka. Neither of us had ever met a child that was so devoted and focused on his church, and it just made us think, Are there other kids out there like this? So initially, we weren't looking for a film that focused on even the evangelical movement in general; we were looking for a film that would focus on children and faith in a general way. But when we found Becky Fischer's camp, the film took a different turn.
Ewing: And even after we found the camp, the events that transpired in the country while we were shooting—namely the nomination and confirmation of two different Supreme Court justices—that really was an event that the people in our film and the evangelical community at large were really chattering about. To ignore the political seemed almost irresponsible as filmmakers, and so the film definitely started to take a much more political turn when the people in our film brought the political into the religious in the churches. So that just sort of naturally occurred.
What about the criticism that some have made, that the film, by focusing on Becky Fischer and her community, focuses on a more extreme form of evangelicalism? For example, she tells the children that Harry Potter is evil, but many evangelicals have openly said that the Potter books are good.
Ewing: I think it's hard, as a filmmaker, to be all things to all people, and we look for compelling stories, smaller stories that can help tell a greater story. We look for compelling characters who are articulate and fascinating. And we were interested in what Becky was doing. We identify her as a Pentecostal, and I think it's impossible to make a film that represents all Christians. I just think that that's a criticism that we're going to get, regardless.
The Harry Potter issue? We heard a lot about that, actually. We listened to a lot of Christian radio programs. I think I even heard on the Dobson program once, and American Family Radio, conversations about Harry Potter being a real big issue. So it wasn't just in Becky's church that we had heard this criticism of Harry Potter. And of course not all Christians feel that way, but the Christians in our films do. It was something the kids were often talking about, and it was sort of like forbidden fruit, so we wanted to include that.
Grady: And also, that's why it was important to us to include a figure like Ted Haggard, who really represents the more mainstream evangelicals. And obviously as the head of the National Association of Evangelicals, he represents a large chunk of the community. And the people in our film are constituents of him, so there is a connection.
(read more)
Comments