Rings of the Tree tells the story of Diana Applesong, a Victorian woman who has experienced tragedy after tragedy in her life. So eventually, after dealing with so much grief, she cloisters herself and her servants into her mansion, essentially cutting herself off from the world. However, a group of explorers stumble upon her secretive existence and set off a chain of events that places her face to face with that which she is most afraid of… love.

“She has experienced a lot of loss and pain in her past,” said Jaclyn Hales who is playing the lead role of Diana Applesong, “Her default reaction is living like a porcelain doll. Everything is beautiful and protected on the outside, but inside she’s nothing… she’s numb. She has nothing left to give… or so she thinks.” Hales is recently making headway in her career with starring roles in films like the upcoming Unicorn City, but she took a break from her film pursuits in LA to work on this show, for which she has expressed a lot of fondness and excitement. “As far as everyone here in the Utah audience, it’s going to be innovative,” said Hales, “It’s super creative and will keep the audiences’ attention and awe factor at a high the whole time.”

Rings of the Tree is not a new story to Utah audiences. It was originally produced at Utah Valley University to very positive audience and critical reaction, and Stewart’s screenplay version of the story won first place in last year’s LDS Film Festival’s Screenplay Competition (which screenplay Imminent Catharsis Media has optioned and plans on making a feature film, once funding is in place). This production of the play, however, is very different than the one that premiered at UVU. Zion Theatre Company and Imminent Catharsis Media are taking a multimedia approach with the show, meaning that in staging it they are also incorporating film and other mediums. The production has required several film shoots, the composition of original music, the use of projection, digital devices and theatre magic.

“This version of the script is much closer to the screenplay than the original stage play,” said playwright Stewart, a Utah native who is currently getting his MFA is Dramatic Writing at Arizona State University. “There is a lot more emphasis on the visual element, the spectacle, the magic. In the past, I’ve focused on language. This time around, although that beautiful language is still a vital component, yet I tried to make room for spectacle… for visions.”

Utah film actor, Danor Gerald, is taking one of the starring roles in the multimedia production, but is also one of the show’s producers. Along with the production’s director Jyllian Petrie, they are creating the show’s film elements and creative multimedia effects. “Rings of the Tree pushes the creative boundaries of theatre, and narrative cinema.  Zion Theatre Company and Imminent Catharsis Arts & Media are working together to develop this groundbreaking work of art,” said Gerald, “After doing so many movies in Utah, this project excites me as an actor, and as a producer because it brings me back to my roots in classical live theatre.  That’s my first love, plus I get to integrate my new zeal for digital cinema and web-based media to tell this story.”

As indicated, there is a digital, intermedia element to the show which will surprise audiences. “We’ve all been warned at the movies or theatre to turn off our mobile phones and silence our devices,” said Gerald, “But in this show we expect and encourage the audience to bring your web-enabled tablets and smartphones.  Bring your headphones, and a splitter for your date.  You will want to take the chances we give to you to use them… We aren’t using these as gimmicks.  We are making creative technical choices to deliver each part of the story in the most valuable and enjoyable way.”

Director Petrie has both been invigorated and challenged by the production. “It’s been an eye opening experience. I’ve worked for years in theatre and years in film, but I’ve never had to do both at the same time. It’s been very difficult, but very rewarding, but we’re doing the impossible—we’ve basically filmed a movie and rehearsed a play in a matter of weeks! But I’m very excited, because when it all comes together, it’s going to be mind blowing.”

The Off Broadway Theater is located at 272 South Main Street, Salt Lake City. The Grove Theater is located at 20 South Main Street, Pleasant Grove. All performances of the show will be at 7pm. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students/seniors. Tickets for the Salt Lake performances can be purchased at http://theobt.org/ or by calling (801) 355-4628. Tickets for the Pleasant Grove performances can be purchased at www.ziontheatrecompany.com .

It is now available as a $4.99 download at Audience Alliance.

Not only is the film a new take on the classic “boy-girl meet in pre-existence and then meet again on earth narrative”, it’s an Italian (with English subtitles) LDS-themed comedy. Plus the press clippings (and people I know who have seen the film) say that Marco has a real gift for physical comedy. An Italian Mormon Modern-day Charlie Chaplin? That’s worth checking out.

The trailer:

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Theric: Let’s start with the history of WWJD? Where did it come from? How did you find it? How did the New Play Project production do?

Davey: WWJD was written by Anna Lewis as her BYU Creative Writing Master’s Thesis. The idea started as a poem (which will be published later this year in Dialogue), and developed into a play through the BYU Writers-Dramaturgs-Actors workshop, led by Eric Samuelsen and Wade Hollingshaus. My wife, Bianca, was a dramaturg and actress in the workshop at the time, and got to see the script as it developed, offer feedback, and participate in the staged reading when it was finished. She loved the play, and had been wanting to produce it ever since; so, when we started planning New Play Project’s first season with Bianca as Artistic Director, WWJD was one of the first titles that came up. I finally read the script and completely adored it. We decided to do it.

The show ran the last weekend in March and one of the first weekends of April at the Provo Theatre (we skipped a weekend for General Conference–who in Provo wants to see a play about Jesus during General Conference?). Tony Gunn did a wonderful job directing, we had a fantastic cast, and audiences loved it. We were (I think understandably) a little nervous about doing a show in Provo where Jesus skateboards, goes miniature golfing, and plays Halo, and it was tricky to market–the script might seem a bit edgy for the Deseret Book crowd, but it’s also pretty G-rated and really quite reverent. As is usually the case with New Play Project, our most effective advertising was done through word-of-mouth–our first weekend, we had audiences of twenty or thirty people, but by closing night we were playing to a sold-out crowd, including a few people who had come back for a second time and brought friends. Almost everyone who talked to us after the show told us they loved it. One guy told Bianca as he was buying tickets, “I just couldn’t stop thinking about it, I had to come see it again.” It was really an incredibly rewarding experience–the sort of thing you really look forward to in theater and in the arts generally. We had a good time putting it together, and it was a project I think we were all excited to share with our audiences. And we were even able to pay rent on the theater.

Theric: So I hear there’s a new production of WWJD happening in Salt Lake? Tell us about that.

Davey: Actually, I don’t think there is. We’re having a round of auditions for the film in Salt Lake, so that might be where you got that idea–maybe we should look at that and make sure it’s more clear. (Unless there is a new production in SLC, and I just don’t know about it, which would be awesome!)

Theric: In that case, let’s move right into the real point of this interview. Filming WWJD. Whose idea was this?

Davey: Last summer I was starting to really get into low-budget and DIY filmmaking–reading a lot of blogs, watching no-budget movies, and seeing how beautiful and professional a movie can look for just a few thousand dollars. With DSLRs and other recent developments in prosumer HD and with online distribution I think we’re seeing a shift in the economics of filmmaking that’s unlike anything in film history–it’s a bit like the paradigm shifts of Italian neorealism or the French New Wave, but on a much broader scale. So right around the time I was thinking about directing a feature in the not-too-distant future, I read WWJD. The more I read the script, the more I loved it–and the more I started to see it as a film. I thought it was a shame that our stage production would probably only be seen by a few hundred people at the most, and I started getting really excited about the idea of shooting it. I e-mailed Anna Lewis, and she was thrilled about the idea. I got started adapting it and started talking to some potential crew members, and things grew from there.

Theric: I can get why the script inspired you. I somehow came across it online (all BYU masters theses being online these days) and started reading it and couldn’t stop even though I had more important things to do. I look forward to seeing the poem and, I hope, seeing the film. But even a cheap film is expensive. Even with (relatively) inexpensive cameras and options for digital distribution, you still require hours and hours of people’s lives to make it happen. What kind of range (both in terms of hours and dollars) do you anticipate this project taking?

Davey: We’ll be shooting the first two weeks of August, with typical 12-hour shooting days. Our projected budget is around $10,000, about half of which we hope to raise through Kickstarter. Almost all of our cast and crew will be working for free, with the possibility of deferred pay if the film makes a profit or if we’re able to raise additional funds. I think we’ve been able to assemble such a strong crew primarily by virtue of the script–people are excited about the project, and it’s attracted a very talented group (and hopefully will continue to do so, with auditions for most major roles taking place this Saturday and next). We’re making the movie for (compared to most movies) virtually nothing, but we’ll be using the same kind of camera that was used to shoot movies like Monte Hellman’s Road to Nowhere, Lena Dunham’s SXSW-winning Tiny Furniture, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, Rubber, some of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan and Robert Rodriguez’s Machete, and House’s sixth season finale. For an example of micro-budget filmmaking, check out this featurette on Gareth Edwards’ terrific Monsters, which came out last year, was shot for $15,000, and features big scary monsters breaking things on location in Central America. It’s an exciting time to be making independent films, and I hope WWJD will show how Christian and Mormon filmmakers can take advantage of new technology to tell great stories that traditionally probably wouldn’t get funded. After we wrap production in August, we’ll be working on editing the film and sending it out to festivals around the country.

Theric: The reason I’m interviewing you about this project now (as opposed to next month or last week) is because of your Kickstarter campaign. So give us your pitch.

Davey: As mentioned, we’ve got a great crew, and this really is a phenomenal script–incredibly smart, funny, and entertaining. I really think we’re going to be able to put together a great movie. As you mentioned, the play is available to read online for anyone interested, and I think it speaks for itself. As far as Kickstarter goes, for those who don’t know how it works, it’s an all-or-nothing fundraising platform–which means that if we reach our goal of $5,000 in 60 days, we get to keep all the money that’s been pledged. But, if we don’t make the goal, we don’t get anything, and no one will be charged for any donations they’ve pledged–which means, as a donor, you’ve got nothing to lose. Every dollar counts, and we have rewards available at different donation levels–including seeing your name in the end credits of the film (along with your very own IMDb page!), season tickets to New Play Project (if you’re in the area), and copies of the movie itself (on DVD, Blu-Ray, or digital download–so if you want to see the film, donate to our Kickstarter and consider that your pre-order). We’re putting everything we can into the film, but we need everyone’s help in order to get it made. It’s just the sort of intelligent, thoughtful, well-crafted and engaging story that AMV readers (and fans of the “radical middle” everywhere) will love.

Theric: Well, you certainly know how to say what we want to hear. Folks, here’s where you get in on the action.

If you haven’t heard about Duck Beach yet, you should hear about it now. I would like to have you watch a video first, but we’ve been having trouble with embedding them of late. If you want to watch it first, you still can, but how about let’s  interview one of the minds behind this project first — how does that sound?

Theric: First, until watching the video on your Kickstarter page, I had never heard of Duck Beach. What’s wrong with me? Clearly this is the Biggest Thing in Mormondom. “Thousands of single Mormons”? Was this not happening a few years ago? Has it until recently just been a North Carolina thing? Is this an official YSA activity or is this just a thing that continues through its own momentum?

Stephen: You know, I’m not completely sure how Duck Beach got started. That’s something we’ve asked every person we’ve interviewed so far. There are as many creation myths as there are Duck Beach attendees. The basic story, is that some people from Washington DC wanted a surf getaway, and the outer banks of North Carolina offered the best choice. It’s drivable from DC. They started to invite more and more people, and it’s organically evolved from there. Slowly people from around the country heard about it, and it’s grown to what it is now. “Thousands” may be a slight exaggeration, but the number definitely hovers around 1,000 people. We’ve heard it started in the 80s, 90s, or early 2000s. Who knows? Seriously, if anyone does know, we’d love to interview them.

Theric: If I understand the history of the project correctly, your filmmaking partner heard about Duck Beach independently of you and decided to make the documentary before approaching you — the Mormon — with the project. Is that right? Take us through the genesis of the project and tell us about your fellow filmmakers.

Stephen: Hadleigh Arnst and I have been working together for several years. We started a production company together, and have done multiple projects. He’s known about Duck Beach through other Mormon Friends, and pitched the idea to me at the beginning of this year. I loved it, and we’ve scrambled to do a bunch of interviews and select four different main subjects. We brought in Laura Naylor, a Mormon who has moved on to other things, to keep the thing balanced.

Theric: And now you’ve taken the project to Kickstarter for funding. What have you done already and what will you do with the $15,000 you’re asking for?

Stephen: We’ve travelled to Utah a couple times to film possible subjects, and for research reasons. Also, we’ve travelled to DC to get back ground on Stacey and on the Duck Beach phenomenon. But for the actual Duck Beach experience, we want to high quality sound and camera people. Mormons and not Mormons. Shooting something like this, you only get one take. And you want to be sure the technical stuff doesn’t get in the way of telling a great story. Then we’ll get a jump on editing and other boring post-production tasks.

Theric: What will Duck Beach bring that’s new to both in-the-Church and national discussion of Mormons? How do you see yourself as part of this larger field of Works About Mormons?

Stephen: I’ve struggled with the idea of originality in all of my work. I’m not sure it’s completely possible. All we want to do is tell an interesting and honest story. Definitely on the National Scene, Mormons can be stereotyped, or even seen as a complete mystery. So, hopefully, this humanizes the Mormon Experience. Also, because the church (intentionally? accidentally?) separates “singles” and “marrieds” this will hopefully create some understanding between the two groups, if they can even be called that.

Theric: Assuming everything goes smoothly, when and how will you roll out the finished product?

Stephen: Our goal is to have an initial cut by August, in time to submit to the major festivals.

Theric: Anything I should have asked but didn’t? Tell us about that.

Stephen: I guess the first thing a lot of people ask is if this is going to be the Mormon Jersey Shore. The answer? I hope not. We are hoping to really get into our subjects’ lives, and see how they all intersect during an interesting and crazy weekend. But if we could sign on “The Situation” to make a guest appearance, I’m not sure we could turn that down.

Theric: Finally — last chance — make your final pitch. Tell people where to go and how to give and when the deadline is.

Stephen: Go here, May 22nd is our deadline; we’ve raised almost half our money. If you love the idea, then it’s a great chance to be a part of the process. Plus, you can be the first to own a digital download, or hard copy of the film. It’s a great project. It’s a fine story. And Mormons are definitely hot right now; it is a good time to tell the story on a national stage. And lastly, I want to thank our four wonderful subjects of the film. It’s not easy to open your life up to a film crew, but they are comfortable and beautiful in front of the camera. I’m thankful for their commitment.

There’s a lot to like in his analysis so head on over and check it out. I especially look forward to part 3, where Kevin is going to talk specifically about film reviews and what’s fair criticism and what isn’t.

Recently I’ve come across news reports about a number of films and plays about Mormonism, a couple of which seem unlikely to catch the attention of even the few of us who notice these things. By the size of the audience that will see them, and the location where they were produced and shown, I suspect that they could also be lost, if they don’t catch the attention of archivists and specialists. I hope that by listing them here, their existence won’t be forgotten. Better still, perhaps some archivist will track them down before all copies are inadvertently destroyed.

Unlike books and music, drama and film are somewhat ephemeral. They can exist in just a few copies—those needed to produce the play once or display the film at an experimental or art-house theater or enter the film in a film festival. Even today, some playwrights and directors resist publishing their work in book form or on DVD or the Internet believing, justifiably, that such a move would ruin the opportunity to get distribution to multiple theaters or production at a national venue. If they don’t reach that level, and are never published for whatever reason, then the play or the film is very vulnerable to being lost. It then only takes the destruction of the handful of copies that exist for the work to disappear forever.

It is true that today’s technologies make this less likely. The number of venues has expanded, increasing the number of films that succeed (although competition for this success may even be more intense than it used to be). It is also much easier to make multiple copies and distribute them. But with the confusion in these new methods of distribution, how will archives find and obtain copies for preservation if the plays are not published or the film isn’t distributed on DVD?

If a Mormon-themed play is produced at the University of Alberta, will a copy of the play find its way into that University’s library? If it does, will it be accessible to students of Mormon Studies? Will BYU get a copy?

Or what if a Portuguese-language documentary about LDS missionaries is shown in Lisbon and in local film festivals in Portugal, but never makes it to DVD. How will academics who study Mormons in film know about it?

It seems to me that plays and films can still be lost. So let me mention the news items I’ve seen.

I should also note that I don’t know anything more about these works than what is in the news reports. I haven’t seen them and, in some cases, I don’t even know if they are anti-mormon or not. Any further information would be much appreciated.

• Santos dos Últimos Dias, dir. by Leonor Noivo. Documentary, Portugal 2009. 45 min. IndieLisboa 2009 Film Festival. Terratreme. A documentary about LDS missionaries. (3:14 trailer)
• The Sugar Bean Sisters by Nathan Sanders. Premeired Off-Broadway, WPA Theater, 1995. 75 productions to date. Author website. Most recent production in Long Beach, California, reviewed here. This “Southern Gothic comedy” follows the Nettles sisters attempt to escape spinsterhood and their home in a Florida swamp near Disney World. One of the sisters is evidently Mormon, and they get a visit from her bishop during the play.
• Shaded Light: The History of Joseph Smith Jr. by Brendan Thompson. New Works Festival, University of Alberta, Timms Centre, 2011. Mentioned in article about the festival in the St. Albert Gazette. The information about the play suggests that the author is not Mormon.
• Tabloid, dir. by Errol Morris. Documentary, 2010. 87 min. SXSW Film Festival 2011. Sarasota Film Festival, 2011. Sundance Film Festival, 2011. Reportedly submitted for Cannes. The film looks at the case of former Miss Wyoming Joyce McKinney, who followed her former fiancée when he left for England on an LDS mission, kidnapped him and raped him. See here, and here.

I must admit, that given the publicity at Sundance, many will know about the last film, Tabloid. But in case you didn’t…

He writes:

Spencer W. Kimball’s “The Gospel Vision of the Arts” is admittedly ubiquitous in discussions of Mormon art and media, and it is usually cited for his predictions of remarkable future accomplishments, for instance that Mormon-themed “masterpieces should run for months in every movie theater, cover every part of the globe in the tongue of the people, written by great artists, purified by the best critics.” But while LDS filmmakers, in this case, have reason to rejoice in this prophetic benediction, it is my firm belief that the most important point is the final one, that the best critics must purify our films and, by extension, other media.

Mine too.

(Here’s a link to the trailer. Couldn’t figure out how to embed it. Also, here’s a link to Darius Gray and Margaret Young talking about the film.)

I got the film through interlibrary loan (a literary Mormon mommy’s best friend!!) and facebooked anyone else I thought would be interested in watching it. Lots of people were interested, but only a few friends were interested enough to clear out time to come watch it.

The good stuff about the movie:

* It had a lot of good historical information that, for me, reframed the issue of blacks and the priesthood. Call me ill-informed, seminary and institute graduate that I am, but I had never heard of Elijah Abel or Jane Manning James. To my mind their stories show that this has never been a simple case of prejudice or Old South paternalism. I always felt the question was not adequately addressed by the one seminary video on the second Official Declaration. It also can’t be explained away in one nay-saying, Mormon-hating diatribe. This is a complicated issue and No One Knows does a good job of embracing the complicated nature of the question.

*It also had a lot of good info on how the Church interacted with the modern civil rights movement. I had heard of the Genesis Group only in passing and to find out it was actually sponsored by the Church and came about through a group of black men working with white priesthood leaders was inspiring to me. So often, it seems, Church members who are struggling with very real disaffecting issues think their priesthood leaders don’t want to hear about it. The Genesis Group suggests that maybe they do. And maybe they can help.

*The MUSIC! Wow. I love me a good spiritual. There is something about that soulfulness that makes me tremble–in a good way. The music in the film is great. However, it did make my next sacrament meeting seem a little dry. . .

*All the personal interviews were another highlight for me. This movie doesn’t spend too much time constructing a sweeping historical time line. Instead it tells stories of individuals and honors their experiences. For me, this is the most authentic type of literature out there. The film definitely has a pro-LDS bias, but I was okay with that because well, I’m pro-LDS and because I think on a meta level this film is the story of how Darius Gray reconciled his strong feelings of the Church’s truth with the real-life difficulties he faced as a black man in the Church. Gray, and Young, are obviously thoughtful, kind people and this film evokes both those things.

The not-so-good: (I would call this section the bad, but I don’t think any of these things were bad. Just shortcomings.)

*The length. The film is only 73 minutes long. Its list of deleted scenes and unused material is almost as long as the film itself and is full of interesting tidbits–the one about the Dialogue article that epitomized the policy debate and the stories of LDS interracial couples are the two most memorable in my mind. It made me sad that the producers/directors didn’t/couldn’t find a way to include more of that stuff in the main body of the film. Leaving all that material out detracted from the richness of the rest of the film.

*Vague citations. For all of the great info this movie has it doesn’t really provide any concrete way of following up on these issues. The film used lots of quotations from Church leaders that seemed to be pulled out of thin air. In my mind it matters if a Brigham Young quotation came from his personal journal or an address to the US government or the Journal of Discourses. Especially on an issue like this where part of what is at stake is the Church’s institutional image and policies. If a central question to the discussion of black and the priesthood is “Was the ban a doctrine or was it a policy?” where and how Church officials said things becomes extremely important. I have no doubt that the filmmakers did their research; I just wish it had been more transparent. When quoting someone most documentaries include citations in small print at the bottom of the screen. I’m not sure why this film didn’t.

*The art. The documentary includes shots of some beautiful memorials and sculptures about the black LDS experience but NEVER tells you where they are. I want to know if they are somewhere in the south or if I can stop by and see some in person next time I’m in Utah. They also didn’t give credit to the artists (at least not that I saw) of those works. (It occurs to me as I write this that maybe all the sculptures are tombstones? If so, that would explain some of it. . .) Also, I think the film could have been enriched if it had included other forms of art by black LDS artists. Maybe there isn’t a lot out there to use or maybe there simply wasn’t enough money. But I wish some of that stuff had been included.

*The question of audience. Like I hinted at before, this film is an important piece of the puzzle for me when it comes to race issues and my religion. It doesn’t have all the answers. If anything I have more questions now than I did before. But they are new questions and new pathways of thinking and I feel like the film didn’t anticipate that. I feel like the filmmakers were talking to people who had lived it and just needed a little catharsis. This seemed true for the group I watched the film with. Of the six of us who showed up I was the only one who was not alive when the policy change occurred. (My husband, who is six years older than me, was only two so the content of the film was new to him too). In viewing the film this age discrepancy turned out to be a big deal. When the movie was done they each shared a few sentences about what they remembered about that day and, in particular, their parents’ reactions. Then they moved on. After five minutes of discussion they were satiated on this topic. For someone like me, who doesn’t remember this, who didn’t live it, I needed a little more time to digest and think about it. That’s probably why I wanted the film to be longer.

All in all, I’m glad I watched the film. It was certainly worth the interlibrary loan. And I actually think it would be a great piece for book clubs to do. I know it’s not an actual book, but it is a good length for a group viewing and a discussion. (Your discussion might be more fruitful than mine!) The $25 sticker price seems a little steep, but I imagine if I had bought this film I would lend it out to people fairly often. It’s a great film that I hope people will be able to access for a long time and point to as part of their inevitable discussions about race and the Church. If you haven’t seen it yet, get to the library or the website today–it’s worth it.

The article is available via a subscription to Dialogue, but Randy has generously allowed me to excerpt a few passages here at AMV. To start out with I want to present his basic summary of the second point of his two-part purpose for the article (the first is to offer up the case for “approaching Mormon film from a taxonomical perspective” — I’m going to assume that most of AMV’s readers already believe in the merits of such an approach, or at least allow that such an approach can be a useful exercise in literary criticism).

So on to his second purpose:

Answering the second question—what is Mormon cinema?—is more difficult. As mentioned, the term has constantly shifted, avoiding any single definition. However, Mormon film does have components in common with film genres, certain ethnic cinemas, and even national cinemas, among other precedents. It can therefore be useful and not inaccurate to describe Mormon film as a genre, or at least approach it from that perspective. To be more accurate, however, we must define Mormon cinema as a religiously based ethnic cinema that is continually developing characteristics of an actual genre or even multiple genres. Thus, positioned in the interstices between genre and ethnic cinema, Mormon film exhibits characteristics of both but complete adherence to neither.

I like that Astle frames things in this way. It can be seen as a bit of a cop out “It’s in the interstices”! However, it rings true to me. One of the things that fascinates me about Mormon narrative art as a field is how it shows during of the course of its history some of the same preoccupations as other emerging literatures of its time. So, for example, the foundational work on Mormon literature as a field that was done by Orson F. Whitney has a lot in common with other belated, emerging national literatures of the late 19th century (Greek, Romanian, Latin American) in terms of stated goals, worth, etc. With the lost generation of Mormon writers, we find works that are much more regionalist-goes-national in nature (the literature of the South being the most vibrant example of American regionalism) and are closely tied in with Western regionalism. More recently (the past 3-4 decades), we see Mormon literature splitting in to streams that are informed by the previous two generations, but that seek to mimic Christian genre literature (Covenant), legitimize Mormon thought through the genre most open to exploration of ideas (speculative fiction), and works that borrow somewhat from the ethnic literatures, the hyphenated Americans that have been semi-legitimized since the 1960s (much of the Mormon literary realism, which is supported by the AML and the Mormon journals, falls in to this category, imo).  All this is to say that because of the unique makeup of the Mormon socio-cultural history and environment, it’s no wonder that a hybrid approach is necessary. Because the Mormon identity is malleable in how it presents itself in cultural form (religious praxis is a different issue — but one that is important as it keeps Mormon culture from being solely an “ethnic” identity) and how it interacts with other literatures (and cinemas), it’s no wonder that it so often falls in to the “interstices.”

The devil is in the actual analysis, of course, and for that you’re going to need to get hold of a copy of this issue of Dialogue (or pay for an electronic subscription). What I like about the article is that Randy provides some interesting, valid readings of Mormon films (both his own and a few from other critics) that relate back to his major arguments. However, I will offer up one more excerpt. This comes later in the article where Astle is exploring how Hamid Naficy’s characteristics of diasporic filmmakers (and their films) apply or don’t to the world of Mormon cinema. He writes:

The final and most important way in which Hamid Naficy’s theories aid an understanding of Mormon cinema, however, is in relating themback toMormon society, including both the films’ supporters and critics. The result is a much richer comprehension of how Mormon films function within their own social context. As mentioned, Mormon filmmakers are notmarginal or subaltern but interstitial, emanating from where dominant and minority groups interact: “To be interstitial . . . is to operate both within and astride the cracks of the system, benefiting from its contradictions, anomalies, and heterogeneity.” This duality affects the thinking of all members of accented communities, not just the filmmakers; thus, most “ethnic communities are highly sensitive to how they are represented by both . . . outsider and insider filmmakers. They often feel protective and proprietary about their ‘image,’ sometimes even defensive—all of which forces accented filmmakers either to accede to the community’s self-perception and demands or to take an independent path at the expense of alienating the community and losing its support.” Naficy terms this dilemma “accented cinema’s extraordinary burden of representation.”

Sound familiar to anyone? (And yes, Randy, goes on to talk about Richard Dutcher). This is just one aspect to his analysis, though, and it’s very much worth reading. Definitional criticism is not easy, it’s often controversial, and it tends to get a bit squishy in Mormon spheres because of the oddness of Mormon cultural identity.

Astle has taken his already fine and rather encyclopedic work in the field and applied some serious critical tools to it with this article, which solidly melds theory with specific examples. Well worth checking out, and one of the best pieces of Mormon narrative arts/literary criticism to come along in several years.

* Randy is not the field’s only film critic, but he is one of the most prolific and knowledgeable. See for example, his BYU Studies article Mormon Cinema on the Web.

Here are the headlines: Randy Astle has started a networking site for filmmakers; Christian Vuissa’s new film is coming out this fall; the indie film “White on Rice,” by Mormon David Boyle,  is gaining some buzz; and the Audience Alliance’s first film “Broken Hill” will test Kieth Merrill’s hope for a family-friendly alternative to Hollywood.

Full details after the jump.

Networking site for LDS filmmakers

LDS filmmaker and critic/historian Randy Astle has started up a network for LDS filmmakers called the LDS Filmmakers’ Network. According to Randy, the site is “open to all Latter-day Saints over 18 years of age regardless of professional experience, regardless of whether their films are gospel-themed or mainstream.” It’s uses the Ning social network platform, which is a pretty good idea, in my opinion.  Ning is pretty decent platform for this sort of thing, that is special interest but casts a wide enough net to generate enough network activity for it to be worth joining. For example, Ning has been a good platform for small private high schools, churches and hobby groups. It goes beyond just what you can do with Google or Yahoo! groups (which are basically listservs at heart) with features for member blogs, event management, photo and video uploading, bulletin board discussions, etc.

As Randy notes, “Members are asked to join one geographical group to let others know where they live. There are then 66 professional groups with categories like directors, producers, screenwriters, actors, and more technical positions like motion capture specialists, caterers, location managers, animal wranglers, accountants, musicians, choreographers, gaffers, and everything else both above and below the line.”

As with any social networking endeavor the trick will be to get enough people sign up that it reaches that critical mass where there are enough active users to generate a decent amount of activity. Considering the collaborative nature of filmmaking, it seems like the type of project that could have some success.

Christian Vuissa’s next film

LDS Film Festival creator Christian Vuissa’s seventh film “One Good Man: Life as a Latter-Day Dad” (formerly titled “Father in Israel”) hits Utah theaters on Oct. 9. Here’s the thing: if it gets a strong opening, it will screen for longer in Utah. I mean, yes, you can always pick it up on DVD, but the communal nature of seeing a film like this is not to be underestimated. My favorite Mormon arts experience still has to be seeing New York Doll with a group of Mormons and punks in San Francisco.

The film had some good buzz around it when it debuted at the LDS Film Festival earlier this year. My sister Katherine reviewed it for Mormon Artist. It will be interesting to see how it does in the theaters. LDS Film.com, sadly, no longer updates box office data and Box Office Mojo appears not to collect data on films with such limited releases.

Mormon indie director’s “White on Rice”

Dave Boyle follows up his film debut “Big Dreams Little Tokyo” with “White on Rice.” Screenings are set so far for the LA area and Utah in September. The film features Hiroshi Watanabe as a goofy, freshly divorced guy living with his sister. That’s not the best way to describe the premise so check out the site and watch the trailer and read the reviews. Also: what we’re seeing with Boyle, imo, is a somewhat particularly Mormon phenomenon — that of the foreign RM who finds a way to make a career/art/continuing relationship with the country/region/language where he served. This type of quirk has served Jared and Jerusha Hess well so it’ll be interesting to see if Boyle can gain some traction. Sweet indie quirk seems like a natural fit for creative cosmopolitan Mormon types.

Audience Alliance’s first project debuts

Audience Alliance’s attempt at a family-friendly, audience-driven and supported model for filmmaking gets its first test with the release of “Broken Hill.” The film is billed as a inspiring musical drama that’s based on a true story and  features a sheepherder’s son from the Australian Outback who loves classical music and through a series of plot points that I won’t detail here culminates in a prison concert. And it that sounds like a Hallmark special, well, that’s sorta the point.  “Broken Hill” opens Sept. 11 in Salt Lake City, Fresno, Dallas and Greenville, SC. Check the film’s website for details.  Kieth Merrill is the main figure behind Audience Alliance so it will be interesting to see if the pro-family formula wins over an Evangelical audience.