Onward Christian Filmmakers!
A few years ago I worked with a Christian filmmaker on a documentary series called “Confronting Porn”. Since I’m not necessarily opposed to pornography, having made some lesbian porn in my youth, I paused before accepting the call to help her.
In the past, when I was a recovering Catholic turned Mormon, and then avowed atheist, I might have declined. But Louise Weber convinced me that her vision was to shed light on porn addiction, and I couldn’t say no to that!
As we collaborated, I encountered such doctrines as (in my words) “sex is sacred” and “virginity is a gift that spouses give to one another”. I can’t say I wasn’t triggered.
At age 21, as a late bloomer to my attraction for women, I slammed into my Mormon faith’s prohibition against homosexuality. One of the hardest but ultimately most joyful decisions of my life was transferring from BYU to Smith College (I wonder if it’s still lesbian heaven?) My worldview shifted from fundamentalist to feminist.
My point is that working with Weber, I was (thankfully) able to look beyond old personal hurts to see what she was really trying to do: prevent a sexual addiction. I’m proud to say that her series “Confronting Porn: Silent No Longer” had its world premiere earlier this month.
Since then I’ve worked with other Christian filmmakers, most recently an artist whose creative PSA champions life for endangered animals, including unborn humans. (Yes, I am pro-choice.) I loved working with actor-turned-Amish filmmaker Troy Sweeney, whose conservative doc “A Fighting Chance” won the Spotlight Documentary Silver Award.
I feel at home with these Christian collaborators—including fundamentalists, Mormons, Catholics—because they are creating new stories about anchor values that I still believe in: treating people decently, caring about family relationships, cherishing life, and seeking a higher purpose than, say, consumerism.
At the same time, I work with many queer filmmakers, who feel comfortable with someone who shares their sensibility: treating people with respect, caring about marriage, cherishing life out of the closet, and looking for a higher purpose than, say, watching porn all day.
