God Loves Uganda

Last updated

God Loves Uganda
God Loves Uganda poster.jpg
Directed by Roger Ross Williams
Produced byRoger Ross Williams
Julie Goldman
Starring Lou Engle
Jonathan Hall
Rev. Kapya Kaoma
Rev. Robert Kayanja
Rev. Jo Anna Watson
Jesse & Rachelle Digges
Bishop Christopher Senyonjo
Rev. Martin Ssempa
Scott Lively
CinematographyDerek Wiesehahn
Edited byRichard Hankin (supervising editor)
Benjamin Gray
Music byMark degli Antoni
Distributed by Variance Films
Release date
  • January 18, 2013 (2013-01-18)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

God Loves Uganda is a 2013 American documentary film produced and directed by Roger Ross Williams, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. [1] [2] It explores connections between evangelicalism in North America and in Uganda, suggesting that the North American influence is the reason behind the controversial Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, which at one point raised the possibility of the death penalty for gays and lesbians. The filmmakers follow a group of young missionaries from the International House of Prayer in their first missionary effort in another nation, as well as interviewing several evangelical leaders from the US and Uganda.

Contents

Williams was inspired to make God Loves Uganda when he met David Kato, an LGBT activist who was killed in 2011, ostensibly in a robbery. Kato told there was an untold story of the damage American fundamentalist evangelicals are doing in Uganda; of the insidious nature of their aggressive effort to harvest young, unclaimed souls to preach a gospel of love intertwined with a gospel of intolerance. [3]

The Dutch premiere of the film was at the Movies that Matter Film Festival in The Netherlands in 2014. [4]

Reception

In late May 2014, the film aired on several PBS stations in the United States as part of the Independent Lens series. In response, the International House of Prayer issued a God Loves Uganda FAQ on their website which responds to a number of the issues raised in the documentary. Website Right Wing Watch subsequently criticized this response. [5]

Critical reception

Joe Mirabella at The Huffington Post described it as the "most terrifying film of the year"; Tim Wu at Slate and Bill Blezek at the Omaha World-Herald described the film as "disturbing". [6] [7] [8] On the other hand, John G. Stackhouse Jr. of Christianity Today criticized the film for "evangelophobia" and trading in "propaganda", likening the film to the 2006 film Jesus Camp . [9] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 29 reviews, and an average rating of 7.67/10. [10]

Awards

God Loves Uganda has won the following awards:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheffield DocFest</span> Documentary festival in Sheffield, England

Sheffield DocFest is an international documentary festival and industry marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Sundance Film Festival</span>

The 2006 Sundance Film Festival was held in Utah from January 19 to January 29, 2006. It was held in Park City, with screenings in Salt Lake City; Ogden; and the Sundance Resort. It was the 22nd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival, and the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Sundance Institute. The opening night film was Friends with Money; the closing night film was Alpha Dog.

Maryam Keshavarz, is an American filmmaker, of Iranian descent. She is best known for her 2011 film Circumstance distributed by Participant Media and Roadside Attractions, which won the Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ondi Timoner</span> American film director

Ondi Doane Timoner is an American filmmaker and the founder and chief executive officer of Interloper Films, a production company located in Pasadena, California.

Heather Rae is an American film and television producer and director. She has worked on documentary and narrative film projects, specializing in those with Native American themes, and is best known for Frozen River, Trudell, and Tallulah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Sundance Film Festival</span> 2008 film festival edition

The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was In Bruges and the closing night film was CSNY/Déjà Vu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Daniel Metzgar</span> American film director

Eric Daniel Metzgar is a filmmaker who lives and works in San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Ross Williams</span> American film director

Roger Ross Williams is an American director, producer and writer and the first African American director to win an Academy Award (Oscar), with his short film Music by Prudence; this film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Sundance Film Festival</span>

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 until January 29, 2012 in Park City, Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Brewster</span> American psychiatrist and filmmaker

Joe Brewster is an American psychiatrist and filmmaker who directs and produces fiction films, documentaries and new media focused on the experiences of communities of color.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Sundance Film Festival</span> Film festival held from January 17, 2013 until January 27, 2013

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 17, 2013, until January 27, 2013, in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah.

A River Changes Course is a 2013 documentary by Kalyanee Mam. The film explores the damage rapid development has wrought in her native Cambodia on both a human and environmental level. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2013 and won the Grand Jury Prize for World Documentary. The film also received the Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2013 San Francisco International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather Croall</span>

Heather Ann Croall is an international arts festival CEO and artistic director and documentary producer, best known for leading Sheffield Doc/Fest and Adelaide Fringe, and her work on live music / archive films including The Big Melt, From the Sea to the Land Beyond, Girt By Sea, From Scotland With Love, Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Sundance Film Festival</span>

The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16, 2014 until January 26, 2014 in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opened with Whiplash directed by Damien Chazelle and closed with musical drama Rudderless directed by William H. Macy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza Hittman</span> American film director

Eliza Hittman is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer from New York City. She has won multiple awards for her film Never Rarely Sometimes Always, which include the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award—both for best screenplay.

Motto Pictures is a documentary production company based in Brooklyn, New York specializing in producing and executive producing documentary features. Motto secures financing, builds distribution strategies, and creatively develops films, and has produced over 25 feature documentaries and won numerous awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Goldman (producer)</span> American film producer

Julie Goldman is an American film producer and executive producer. She founded Motto Pictures in 2009. She is an Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning producer and executive producer of documentary feature films and series.

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20 to 30, 2022. Due to COVID-19 pandemic protocol, it was initially intended to be an in-person/virtual hybrid festival, but on January 5, 2022, it was announced that the in-person components would be scrapped in favor of a wholly virtual festival due to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 9, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivete Lucas</span> Brazilian Mexican American filmmaker

Ivete Lucas is a filmmaker, documentarian, producer, editor, and director based in Austin, Texas. Her work includes the documentary short films The Curse and the Jubilee, The Send-Off, Roadside Attraction, The Rabbit Hunt, Skip Day, Happiness is a Journey and the documentary feature film Pahokee.

References

  1. ↑ Zaimov, Stoyan (January 25, 2013). "'God Loves Uganda' Film Exposes 'Violent' Evangelical Movement Targeting Gays?". The Christian Post . Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Greenberg, James (January 25, 2013). "God Loves Uganda: Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Moloshco, Carolyn (March 2014). "'God Loves Uganda' Reveals American Evangelicals Spreading Gay Intolerance. Academy Award winning director tackles abuse of religious power". Palm Springs Life. Archived from the original on 2014-04-30. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "God Loves Uganda - Roger Ross Williams". Movies that Matter Film Festival. Archived from the original on August 9, 2019.
  5. ↑ Peter Montgomery (21 May 2014). "In Response To Uganda Documentary, IHOP Says It's 'Not Involved' in Politics". Right Wing Watch. People for the American Way. Archived from the original on 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  6. ↑ Mirabella, Joe (January 23, 2013). "Joe Mirabella: God Loves Uganda, the Most Terrifying Film of the Year, Premieres at Sundance". The Huffington Post . Archived from the original on 2013-01-27. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  7. ↑ Blizek, Bill (January 19, 2013). "The movies start playing". Omaha World-Herald . Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  8. ↑ Wu, Tim (January 21, 2013). "God Loves Uganda shows how American Christians export homophobia". Slate . Archived from the original on 2013-02-05. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  9. ↑ John G. Stackhouse, Jr. (May 15, 2013). ""God Loves Uganda" - In a documentary along the lines of 'Jesus Camp,' who's demonizing whom?". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on 2013-11-17. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  10. ↑ "God Loves Uganda (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Full Frame Inspiration Award Archives". Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  12. ↑ Jones, Kimberley (April 13, 2013). "Dallas International Film Festival Announces Awardees". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  13. ↑ "Ashland Independent Film Festival". Ashland Independent Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  14. ↑ "Previous Winners". Mountainfilm. 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  15. ↑ "Winner at DocuWest!". God Loves Uganda. 2013-09-19. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  16. ↑ "Sheffield Doc/Fest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival". sheffdocfest.com. Archived from the original on 2018-06-16. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  17. ↑ "Orbitz partners with ATLFF to present Pink Peach competition". Atlanta Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  18. ↑ "Previous Winners of the Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Awards". TIGLFF. Archived from the original on 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.