LDS Film Fest

Last weekend was the LDS Film Festival, where four movies Josh worked on or directed screened! The first two were shorts--The Conversation (read a review here) and Through the Valley. Josh was the production designer/second camera on the first and the director/cinematographer/gaffer/ art director/editor/etc. on the second. The Conversation is a film about three LDS people of varying orthodoxy talking about their faith, while Through the Valley is a missionary meets zombie movie--awesome, I know--that managed to be both scary and strangely touching at the same time. They both received a warm reception.

The other two films were features: Forever Strong and the Errand of Angels (formerly, and on IMDB, called The Diary of a Sister Missionary). Forever Strong documents the true story of the Highland (SLC area) rugby team, which has a phenomenal record of wins and a coach that instills in his players a strong sense of morality. It was a really fun movie. The Errand of Angels (read a review here) is the one Josh worked on in Austria last May. He was the Production Designer (meaning he was over set design, props, and wardrobe--basically how everything in the movie looked) as well as an Associate Producer. The movie is the first about sister missionaries and was called by one audience member after the film the "most honest story about missionaries yet" in addition to being just gorgeous. If you've been to Austria, you know the scenery is to die for, but the cinematography was also great, and Josh did a wonderful job on everything else. The audience really loved it. Though both of these films are still in talks with distribution companies and will likely do the festival route for a while, do try to see them when they become available to you! They are both well worth your time. And if the genre "LDS film" has left a bad taste in your mouth, I know you'll be happily surprised by these offerings.

Finally, I just wanted to give a kudos to our friend Christian Vuissa, who started the festival back in 2001 (can you believe it's already "back" in 2001?). When Josh and I were dating we attended the first fest, which was held in a small drama theater in South Provo with only a few screenings of shorts. Seven years later, it is a 6,500-strong festival, filling up the Scera Theater's largest screening rooms. And the schedule was really stellar this year. I wish we could have seen, among others, the two full-length documentaries Happy Valley, about drug use in UT, and Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons, as well as the feature Take, starring Minnie Driver, which premiered at Tribeca. It's fun to see this festival grow both in size and scope.