DiscussMormonism Triumphs Again as "Witnesses" Garners Top Prize

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

How many films were up for this prestigious award I wonder.

- Doc

[Everybody Wang Chung]

How many films were up for this prestigious award I wonder.

- Doc

Doc,

There were only 4 other films competing in the same category:

The Santa Box
Quarantine For Two
Into The Soul
Heart of Africa 2

It’s interesting that the judge and president of the LDS Film Festival is Kels Goodman, brother of Mark Goodman the director of The Witnesses. I’m sure there was no favoritism though.

I know 2 people who were at the premier and are both trying to leave reviews on IMDB. So far the IMDB entry for the film hasn’t activated the user review link. Strange. I would think the producers of the film would welcome any and all reviews.

As soon as they allow reviews I imagine we will be in for a real treat. Spoiler alert, I’ve heard the movie is a real howler. One of the individuals told me that movie critic Jack Mathews perfectly described this film when he said, “Forensics experts will be digging through the rubble of this fiasco for a long time, trying to reconstruct the accident. How did so many lines fall flat? Why were the action scenes so corny and unconvincing? Who put the stink on this?”

[Doctor Scratch]

How many films were up for this prestigious award I wonder.

- Doc

That's a good question, Dr. Cam. I don't know the answer. I know that there were at least three movies up for the "Best in Show" award (or whatever it was called). The film set in Africa--Heart of Africa 2--only managed to come in 3rd place. Just look at how condescending DCP was about the movie prior to seeing it:

Our reservations about such gatherings notwithstanding, my wife and I will probably be attending a screening of Heart of Africa 2: Companions this evening. I want to be supportive. I want this film, and this director, and this movie-making team, and LDS film generally, to thrive and to prosper. Plus, I want to see the movie! We’ll try to arrive early and find an isolated corner, if we can.

He later goes on to diss the movie as basically "a retelling of the story in the first Heart of Africa movie"--in other words, a dull and unoriginal "retread." Well, I'll just note in passing that he didn't bother to announce when (if at all?) this film will be distributed more widely. Nor did he mention any "making of introductions" with his distributor. I guess just him merely showing up and viewing the film is the extent of the "support" here? After all, "Witnesses" kicked the film's ass at the Awards Show. It's very difficult not to see this behavior as a backhanded swipe against the "competition."

And note that he didn't even bother to see The Santa Box.

[Doctor Scratch]

Doc,

There were only 4 other films competing in the same category:

The Santa Box
Quarantine For Two
Into The Soul
Heart of Africa 2

Ah--thank you for clarifying, Stake President Wang Chung.

It’s interesting that the judge and president of the LDS Film Festival is Kels Goodman, brother of Mark Goodman the director of The Witnesses. I’m sure there was no favoritism though.

Wow! That's an incredible revelation! And to think that this is happening the same weekend at the Golden Globes, which have recently faced criticism for alleged "cronyism"! Well, I suppose we'll have to see what kind of support / "brotherhood" / camaraderie is extended to the other films that were nominated. If the President of the Interpreter is as committed to "LDS filmmaking" as he claims, then presumably folks from the other movies will turn up, e.g., in the blog postings of Mormon Interpreter (e.g., in the form of interviews and that sort of thing), and perhaps as guests on the "Interpreter" radio show? I know that I'd really look forward to an "Interpreter Radio" interview with the director of The Santa Box.

I know 2 people who were at the premier and are both trying to leave reviews on IMDB. So far the IMDB entry for the film hasn’t activated the user review link. Strange. I would think the producers of the film would welcome any and all reviews.

As soon as they allow reviews I imagine we will be in for a real treat. Spoiler alert, I’ve heard the movie is a real howler. One of the individuals told me that movie critic Jack Mathews perfectly described this film when he said, “Forensics experts will be digging through the rubble of this fiasco for a long time, trying to reconstruct the accident. How did so many lines fall flat? Why were the action scenes so corny and unconvincing? Who put the stink on this?”

Huh: that's interesting. Even films at Cannes are permitted to be reviewed--despite the fact that they've only been screened for festival audiences. Of course, critics honor the idea of not giving away spoilers (mostly), but the reviews themselves are still permitted.

[dastardly stem]

It appears the concern of nepotism can be dismissed:

P.S. One of my obsessive anonymous critics is claiming online that Witnesses won at the LDS Film Festival because of favoritism. The Festival’s director, Kels Goodman (who actually announced on Saturday night that he is stepping down from that position), is supposedly a brother of Mark Goodman, who is the director of Witnesses. But Kels Goodman and Mark Goodman are not brothers. Nor, so far as I’m aware, are they significantly related at all.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... qus_thread

That's a relief. I'd hate to see the sterling work of this crew get dragged down by such concerns. I wonder what "significantly related" may mean? Mormonism suggests any relation is significant other than the devil's kinship.

And to note, there's no shame in coming up short in the audience pick category. Did you see the bio of that Santa box movie? A young girl feels cursed by Christmas due to misfortune and gets a gift that causes her to praise Jesus again! That's the kind of pick-me-up the audience needed. Can we say pandering to the voting audience?

[IHAQ]

“Witnesses” won the Feature Film category.
What other films were in that category?

[Doctor Scratch]

Boy, Stake President Wang Chung--Dr. Peterson really seems torqued over your assertion that Mark Goodman (the Witnesses director) and Kels Goodman (Director of the LDS Film Festival) are brothers. Well, obviously, they *are* "brothers" in the LDS sense, right? I'm sure that, at Sacrament Meeting, they both address the other as "Brother Goodman."

Still, even if they aren't blood relations, we still have plenty of reasons to suspect that the first-place award to Witnesses was rigged in some way. Given the lack of financial transparency surrounding the film project, there are a lot of questions floating around.

[Gadianton]

Let me point out what our Stake President actually said:

I’m sure there was no favoritism though.

looks like his words are being misconstrued out yonder on the Internet.

Hey -- remember that time SP Chung went on that trip?

I'll admit that right now a boat trip sounds like a blast. This Covid stuff is a real drag. But, I've sworn not to go anywhere until I get the vaccine.

[Doctor Scratch]

I wonder if Dr. Peterson is going to try to obtain a list of the names of all the people who bought tickets for the screening so that he can cross-reference it with Church records of actively serving Stake Presidents?

[Moksha]

“Witnesses” won the Feature Film category.
What other films were in that category?

Witnesses
The Santa Box
Quarantine For Two
Into The Soul
Heart of Africa 2
Lou & Kiwi vs The Mongoose