Jesus Camp

Infobox Film
name = Jesus Camp


imdb_id = 0486358
starring = Becky Fischer
Mike Papantonio
producer = Heidi Ewing
Rachel Grady
director = Heidi Ewing
Rachel Grady
music = Force Theory
cinematography = Mira Chang
Jenna Rosher
distributor = Magnolia Pictures
released = September 15, 2006
language = English
amg_id = 1:342517
imdb_id = 0486358
|

"Jesus Camp" is a 2006 documentary directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing about a Pentecostal/charismatic summer camp for children who spend their summers learning and practicing their "prophetic gifts" and being taught that they can "take back America for Christ."Watts, Tom. [http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/article_1885.shtml Real Detroit Weekly] "Ewing believes in Jesus Camp", 10/4/06. Retrieved on 12/11/06.] According to the distributor, it "doesn't come with any prepackaged point of view" and tries to be "an honest and impartial depiction of one faction of the evangelical Christian community”. [http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/40691698.html Christian NewsWire] , "Jesus Camp Distributors Adverse to Screening at Traverse: Michael Moore Ignores Request to Remove Documentary from Festival", 8/8/06. Retrieved on 12/11/06.]

On January 232007, "Jesus Camp" was nominated for the 2007 79th Annual Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Documentary Feature. [http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/noms.html 79th Academy Awards nominations list.] Oscar.com. Retrieved on 2007-1-29] It lost out to Davis Guggenheim and Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth".

Overview

"Jesus Camp" debuted at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, and was sold by A&E Indie Films to Magnolia Pictures. Controversy surrounding the film was featured in several television news programs and print media articles in 2006 (see links below).

"Jesus Camp" is a documentary about the "Kids On Fire School of Ministry," a charismatic Christian summer camp located just outside Devils Lake, North Dakota and run by Becky Fischer and her ministry, [http://www.kidsinministry.com Kids in Ministry International] . The film focuses on three children who attended the camp in the summer of 2005—Levi, Rachael, and Tory (Victoria). The film cuts between footage of the camp and a children's prayer conference held just prior to the camp at Christ Triumphant Church, a large charismatic church in Lee's Summit, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City.

All three children are very devout Christians. Levi, who has ambitions of being a pastor, has already preached several sermons at his father's church, Rock of Ages Church in St. Robert, Missouri. He is homeschooled (as are many of the campers), and learns physical science from a book that reconciles creationism with scientific principles. He is also taught that global warming is a hoax and that the Earth's temperature has a history of natural fluctuation not caused by humankind (i.e., the Ice Age was not due to any industry or pollution by mankind). Levi preaches a sermon at the camp in which he declares that his generation is key to Jesus's return. Rachael, who also attends Levi's church (her father is assistant pastor), is seen praying over a bowling ball during a game early in the film, and frequently passes Christian tracts (including some by Jack Chick) to people she meets. She does not think highly of non-charismatic churches (or "dead churches," as she calls them), feeling they aren't "churches that God likes to go to". Tory is a member of the children's praise dance team at Christ Triumphant Church. She frequently dances to Christian heavy metal music, and feels uncomfortable about "dancing for the flesh". She also does not think highly of Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.

At the camp, Fischer stresses the need for children to purify themselves in order to be part of the "army of God". She strongly believes that children need to be in the forefront of turning America toward conservative Christian values. She also feels that Christians need to focus on training kids since "the enemy" are focused on training theirs.

In one scene shot at Christ Triumphant Church, Lou Engle, a leader of the group [http://www.harvestim.org Harvest International Ministries] (the religious organization with which both the church and Fischer's ministry are affiliated—an affiliation not advertised in the film) and founder of the [http://www.jhop.org/aboutus/ Justice House of Prayer] , preaches a message urging children to join the fight to end abortion in America. He prays for George W. Bush to have the strength to appoint "righteous judges" who will overturn "Roe v. Wade". By the end of the sermon, the children are chanting, "Righteous judges! Righteous judges!" In another, a woman brings a life-sized cutout of Bush to the front of the church, and has the children stretch their hands toward him. Some media reports misinterpreted this as "worshiping" the president, but the children were actually "praying over him". Indeed, the woman clearly tells them "pray for" Bush and "speak a blessing to him". Stretching hands toward someone is a derivative of laying hands on someone, which is a very common practice in Pentecostal and charismatic churches.

There is also a scene at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where Levi and his family go on vacation to hear its renowned pastor, Ted Haggard. (Less than two months after the release of the film, Haggard became embroiled in a high-profile scandal involving homosexual prostitution and methamphetamine use.) Afterward, Levi, Rachael, Tory, their families and several other children take part in a Justice House of Prayer rally held by Engle in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Additionally, there is a debate between Fischer and Mike Papantonio (an attorney and a radio talk-show host for Air America Radio's "Ring of Fire").

The DVD, released in January 2007, includes several deleted scenes. In one of them, Levi's father and mother suggest that the next president may well have been at Kids on Fire. In another, Tory's mother takes several of the kids to a pro-life women's clinic located next door to a Planned Parenthood clinic. In an interview, the clinic's director says that she was very pleased to see children so passionate about ending abortion. The DVD also includes commentary by Grady and Ewing. They reveal that when they arrived in Kansas City, there was a great deal of excitement over the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. However, according to Grady and Ewing, Fischer and the others did not see their activism for socially conservative causes as political, but as a matter of faith. They also reveal that Fischer and the others did not understand why some of the scenes of them speaking in tongues and praying over objects got in the film.

Controversy

"Jesus Camp" was screened at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival against the wishes of the distribution company, Magnolia Pictures.Kilday, Gregg. [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002950410 "Moore fest defies distrib over "Jesus"] . The Hollywood Reporter, 2006-8-4. Retrieved on 2006-12-11.] Magnolia had pulled "Jesus Camp" from the festival earlier in the summer after it purchased rights to the film, in a decision apparently inspired by Moore's association with the film festival, with Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles saying "I don't want the perception out in the public that this is an agenda-laden film." [ [http://www.indiewire.com/ots/2006/08/jesus_camps_uni.html indieWIRE: When A Fest Strategy Goes Awry: Traverse City Screens "Jesus Camp" Against Magnolia's Wishes ] ]

According to Ron Reno of Focus on the Family, "The directors' claims that they were simply trying to create an 'objective' film about children and faith ring hollow. I don't question the motives of the Christians shown in the film. Indeed, the earnestness and zeal with which the young people pictured attempt to live out their faith are admirable. Unfortunately, however, it appears that they were unknowingly being manipulated by the directors in their effort to cast evangelical Christianity in an unflattering light." [ [http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0002908.cfm Jesus Camp ] ]

North Dakotans were largely shocked by the activities of Fischer, a native of Bismarck, as most born-again Christians in the state have more moderate views. [ [http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=148951&section=Columnists&columnist=Jane%20Ahlin In-Forum ] ]

In November 2006, Fischer announced that she would be shutting down the camp indefinitely due to negative reaction towards her in the film. According to Fischer's website, the owners of the property used for the camp shown in the film were concerned about vandalism to the premises following the film's release and thus will not allow it to be used for any future camps. Fischer has said that the camp will be indefinitely postponed until other suitable premises can be found, but it will be back. [ [http://www.kidsinministry.com/ClosingDownCamp.html :: Kids In Ministry International ::. - Home ] ]

Reviews and Awards

Jesus Camp received a 87 percent rating on Rottentomatoes.com, counting 83 positive reviews vs 12 negative reviews. It received a 7.6/10 on IMDB, reviewed by over 6,000 viewers.

Michael Smith of the Tulsa World gave it three stars (out of four), describing it as "…impressive in its even-handed presentation…", "…straightforward…" and "…a revealing, unabashed look at the formation of tomorrow's army of God." [http://www.tulsaworld.com/Entertainment/Movies/MovieReviewsStory.asp?ID=060915_Mo_s4_makin]

The Chicago Tribune reviewer Jessica Reaves gives the film three stars (out of four) and writes that Jesus Camp is "…an enlightening and frank look at what the force known as Evangelical America believes, preaches and teaches their children…" and concludes that what the filmmakers "…have accomplished here is remarkable—capturing the visceral humanity, desire and unflagging political will of a religious movement." [ [http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/mmx-060929-movies-review-camp,0,7222931.story?coll=mmx-movies_top_heds Movie review: 'Jesus Camp' | Metromix Chicago ] ]

David Edelstein of CBS Sunday Morning, New York Magazine, and NPR finds Jesus Camp, "a frightening, infuriating, yet profoundly compassionate documentary about the indoctrination of children by the Evangelical right." [ [http://newyorkmetro.com/movies/reviews/21366/index1.html The Science of Sleep - All the King’s Men - Jesus Camp - Old Joy - New York Magazine Movie Review ] ]

Some reviewers responded negatively to the film; Rob Nelson of the "Village Voice" called the movie " [an] absurdly hypocritical critique of the far right's role in the escalating culture war", [ [http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0638,nelson,74510,20.html 'Jesus Camp' by Rob Nelson] . Retrieved on 5-26-2007.] and J.R. Jones of the "Chicago Reader" criticized the film for "failing to distinguish the more fundamentalist Pentecostals" and for inserting "unnecessary editorializing" by using clips from Mike Papantonio's radio show. [http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/moviereviews/060929/ Retrieved on 5-26-2007.]

Jesus Camp was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature section of the 2007 Academy Awards.

References

External links

;Official sites
* [http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com/ jesuscampthemovie.com] - official site for the film
* [http://www.jesuscampers.com Levi's parents site for reaction to film]
* [http://www.magpictures.com/profile.aspx?id=07c96423-06b3-43c6-9c47-64d782362b8e "Jesus Camp" synopsis - from Magnolia Pictures]
* [http://kidsinministry.com/ Kids in Ministry International (KIMI)] , the sponsoring organization of the camp depicted in the film

;Television/Podcasting news reports and discussions
*The Alcove with Mark Molaro
** [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4877588947630198518 In-depth feature video interview Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady - The Alcove with Mark Molaro]

*ABC News
** [http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2502035 "Good Morning America"] - discussion on video
** [http://youtube.com/watch?v=XBWG4U1ul20&mode=related&search= "Good Morning America" - Fischer, Papantonio, & Diane Sawyer] - report and discussion on video
** [http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2456227 "World News Tonight"] - video report

*CNN
** [http://youtube.com/watch?v=caX9g6uHciU A talk with Becky and Mike] - discussion on video
** [http://youtube.com/watch?v=87wKU8U-T-w&mode=related&search= "Headline Prime", Erica Hill talks with Fischer and Papantonio] - discussion on video

*CBN News
** [http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/35804.aspx CBN News] - video report and discussion with Pastor Becky Fischer

*MSNBC
** [http://video.msn.com/v/us/fv/msnbc/fv.htm??g=6bff15ef-1f31-46e7-9675-efefee5a10dc&f=00&fg=email "Scarborough Country"] - video report

*Other networks
** [http://www.country95radio.com/JesusCamp TV & Radio: Several Becky Fischer interviews] - video & audio

;Newspaper and internet reports and reviews
* [http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid285076654/bclid290736373/bctid560421839 Interview with Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady] at LX.TV
* [http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/jesuscamp Jesus Camp Reviews] at Metacritic.com
* [http://beingtheremag.com/reviewfilm.php?id=531&issue=21 Film review from Being There Magazine]
* [http://www.efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=1946 "Religion, Worldviews and Controversy Pitch Their Tents at "Jesus Camp"] — interview with filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady and children's pastor Becky Fischer (featured in the film) by Uri Lessing
* [http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/pixel_vision/2006/09/true_religion_genes.html#more "True religion genes"] - interview with filmmaker Heidi Ewing in the San Francisco Bay Guardian
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1883730,00.html Guardian (UK)] - commentary on Jesus Camp
* [http://imdb.com/title/tt0486358/ IMDB Page]
* [http://www.michaelmedved.com/pg/jsp/eot/review.jsp?pid=3279 The Michael Medved Show] America's "cultural crusader" takes a sympathetic view to the children in the film.
* [http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Nov2006/Eye_On_Entertainment.asp#F2 "Eye on Entertainment: Jesus Camp" from AmericanCatholic.org, November 2006] Sister Rose Pacatte's Catholic view on the film