Last week we went on a mini "word of mouth" tour with our new documentary "Jesus Camp." As with every turn we've had on this particular filmmaking journey - from the production, to the edit and now to the release of the film nationwide - it was surprising.
The film looks at a summer camp for Charismatic Evangelical Christians run by the captivating Pastor Becky Fischer in Devil's Lake, North Dakota. The film also gives a greater social context of the growing Evangelical communities influence on the political sphere of America. We were excited and curious to share the movie with a conservative Christian audience in heartland markets, and see what they had to say about our film. We invited Pastor Becky along for the journey. The three of us made an odd road trip trio--a Jew, a lapsed Catholic and a devout Born-Again Christian. It felt like the beginning of a corny joke.
We started out in Colorado Spring, ground zero for conservative Christians, where over 100 organizations (including Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family) are devoted to born-again issues. The town is also home to a plethora of enormous mega-churches, the big daddy being Ted Haggard's New Life Church. We thought this was a perfect place to show the film, and expected a full house and a lively Q and A at the theater.
But when the three of us arrived at the cinema, we found it almost empty, with maybe 30 people. Despite the concerted effort by our distributor Magnolia to reach out to the local churches, the religious community had rejected the invitation to see the movie for themselves...even for free.
The kid selling popcorn behind the counter took us aside and whispered, "New Life Church did this." When we pushed him on this cryptic information, he recounted that he'd heard that local Pastor Ted Haggard - who appears briefly in the film - despised "Jesus Camp" and had instructed his parishioners and the other Evangelical organizations in town to not see it. If they avoided it maybe the movie would disappear. The kid had even called New Life as a civilian and left a message inquiring about the film. Within an hour he received no less than 4 return phone calls - from four different departments of the mega church - advising him to avoid this "anti-Christian" film.
Pastor Ted doesn't like how he looks in the movie. He actually asserts that he "hates" the film and compared it to both "Nacho Libre" and "The Blair Witch Project." This is a shame. We presented the community we filmed fairly and accurately, so as to provoke a frank discussion with people of all denominations and walks of life. The people in our movie feel they (and their kids) were fairly represented. They are proud of what they are doing and are unapologetic and ready to discuss their views with those who both agree and disagree with them. They say they feel stung that someone of the stature of Ted Haggard would appear to reject them by rejecting the film.
Feeling the chilling effect we moved on to the multiplex in Springfield, Missouri (it was odd to see "Jesus Camp" promoted alongside "Jackass 2" on the marquee) where we attended the film with a mostly Evangelical crowd, including several kids from the movie. It was fascinating to note that lines that elicited guffaws and snickers from New York audiences ("If Harry Potter had been in the days of the Old Testament, he would have been put to death!) drew no response at all amongst our Christian audience in Springfield, except a few Amens and a sprinkle of claps. Scenes that drew gasps in Los Angeles drew happy tears and applause in Missouri. We were reminded, as we had been so many times during production, that we all seem to live in parallel universes.
After the Springfield screening we caught up at the "Steak and Shake" with Rachael and Levi (kids from the film) who regaled us with stories of their recent missions trip to Mexico where Rachael says they "saved lots of little kids" including one that had been "really into human sacrifices" though we think something may have been lost in the translation. Levi told us he is currently in a home school theater group in an abridged version of "Taming of the Shrew" and he plans to go to India next year to look into future missions work. Sure, they liked the movie fine, but were much more interested in talking about their big plans down the road, all of which included preaching or evangelizing in one way or the other.
Our next stop in Kansas City went well. More kids from the movie and their parents came out to see the movie. One of them, Tory, had just been caught by her mom surfing on People.com and was in a bit of trouble, but otherwise all was well. Tory's pastor brought some fellow church members along and after the credits rolled they agreed that maybe some of the more militant language like "warriors for Christ" and "God's army," should be re-evaluated, and the camouflage dance outfits may need to be retired. "We need to learn to communicate our message better," she said. "It's not a battle of the flesh we're engaged in--we are in a spiritual war, after all." The nation is clearly ready and anxious to talk about the current state of religion and politics in America. And, with or without eyeballs on "Jesus Camp," that's not going away any time soon.
Here's the trailer: