Magnolia Eyeing Both Sides of the Aisle with "Jesus Camp" Doc
by Eugene Hernandez (July 26, 2006)
"Jesus Camp," the new documentary about three Missouri kids
who travel to Pastor Becky Fischer's "Kids on Fire" evangelical
summer camp, has been acquired by Magnolia Pictures for a
September theatrical release that will target both conservative
Christian and liberal doc audiences alike. Heidi Ewing and
Rachel Grady's follow-up to "The Boys of Baraka" debuted at
this year's Tribeca Film Festival where it won a Special
Documentary Jury Prize and went on to pick up the SilverDocs
Sterling Award at SilverDocs last month. Produced by A&E
IndieFilms, "Jesus Camp" offers a unique window into the North
Dakota camp where young kids are actively trained, in the
words of an announcement, "to become dedicated soldiers in
'God's army'."
"When so many supposedly journalistic documentaries can't
resist the urge to editorialize, it's refreshing to see a pair of
filmmakers tackle this hot button subject with such a respect for
their subject matter and the people involved," said Magnolia
Pictures president Eamonn Bowles, in a statement today.
"'Jesus Camp' is sure to be intensely fascinating and
thought-provoking to people on all sides of this issue."
Magnolia intends to specifically court both Evangelical
Pentecostals and the more traditionally liberal audiences that
tend to embrace documentaries. A mid-September debut in
New York City, as well as Kansas City and Colorado Springs, is
in the works. In a conversation with indieWIRE today, Bowles
explained that he has decided to pull the doc from next week's
scheduled screening at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film
Festival so as not to taint the perception of the film in the run
up to the release. Moore saw the film at the Tribeca Film
Festival and praised it in a subsequent conversation with
indieWIRE, but Bowles reiterated that he doesn't want to send
the wrong message by showing the movie at Moore's event.
"We are not going to stack the deck. We want people to make
up their own minds," Bowles said, explaining that when
marketing the movie he will be true to its balanced approach
and maintain an unbiased approach. "I have no problem with
Michael Moore, its just that (he) is such a polarizing figure and I
don't want to turn off a certain segment of the audience that is
going to like the film and find it interesting."
"Jesus Camp" co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady ("The
Boys of Baraka") immediately following the world premiere of
"Jesus Camp" at the Tribeca Film Festival. Photo by Brian
BrooksAs indieWIRE's doc columnist Jonny Leahan noted in an
article about the film prior to its Tribeca fest world premiere,
"The camp becomes almost a side issue here, as a much larger
picture is painted in 'Jesus Camp' - one about the role of
religion in American politics, specifically the fight of the
Christian conservatives to win the hearts and minds of the next
generation as they prepare to be the governors and senators
of tomorrow. It begs the question: what, if anything, are the
liberals doing to pass on their values to children in an
organized and effective way?"
Magnolia's Bowles and head of acquisitions Tom Quinn, along
with head of business and legal affairs Jason Janego
negotiated the deal with John Sloss of Cinetic Media and Molly
Thompson from A&E IndieFilms.
"[The Christian right] feel empowered right now and they gave
us a lot of access - more than had we done [the film] some
years earlier," explained co-director Heidi Ewing, following the
film's first screening at the Tribeca Film Festival back in April.
She added that while Pastor Fischer was unable to attend the
Tribeca fest, she has been supportive of the project.
"I think they captured the beautiful concepts of what we
represent," Fischer told indieWIRE in a subsequent interview.
And when asked about a particularly inflammatory scene that
involves a life-size standup photo of President George W. Bush
and a large American flag in the background -- with the crowd
raising their hands towards the Bush effigy in prayer -- she
added, "I didn't realize how the secular world viewed what we
were doing...When we took out [an] image of Bush, it turned
political, but to us, it's not political - it's Biblical."
"What I think is admirable is the way ("Jesus Camp") walks the
line," Bowles concluded, during today's conversation with
indieWIRE. "It doesn't make up your mind for you."
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| News Papers |
| There are several 100 news papers and Internet news stories so it is imposable to have the all here on Jesus Camp. |
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| Kids in Ministry. Becky's Web Site |