“Touch of the Masters Hand” wrote: Elder Hyde, a young Mormon missionary serving in Mexico, attends a monthly interview with his mission President. Unable to share the same zeal for the Lord as his fellow adherents, it becomes clear that Elder Hyde has something he needs to get off his chest. His subsequent confession, and the object of his transgression, is what caps off this absurdist comedy. Short film.
“DaN” wrote: I’m pleased to report that, just a few minutes ago, the Interpreter Foundation’s theatrical film Witnesses was announced by the Association for Mormon Letters as the winner of its 2021 Film Award. (More information on this to follow.) I’m so very grateful to our filmmaking team of Mark Goodman, James Jordan, and Russell Richins, and to Mitch Davis, who wrote the initial script for the dramatic film, and to all of the donors and volunteers
Wow! What an honor for Witnesses. DCP must be shedding tears of joy knowing that Witnesses, along with a film about an Elder who chronically masturbates, have both been named as finalists.
Could the film possibly sound more porny? Touch of the Master’s Hand? Really? Although, if I had to guess, the masturbation film is probably much more accurate and enjoyable than Witnesses.
ETA: Did I read that correctly? The film lists “Come, Come, Ye Saints” and “He is Risen” as songs on the soundtrack?!
Good Lord! We really are living in a simulation.
"I'm on paid sabbatical from BYU in exchange for my promise to use this time to finish two books."
Well, well: congratulations to Dr. Peterson. I bet it’s gratifying to him to have won this award. And yes: I’m quite certain that defeating the “wanking” film only adds to the feelings of affirmation.
"If, while hoping that everybody else will be honest and so forth, I can personally prosper through unethical and immoral acts without being detected and without risk, why should I not?." --Daniel Peterson, 6/4/14
Looks like His Name is Green Flake, directed and written by Mauli Bonner may have won other film awards outside of Utah, but Witnesses won in Provo. Who says the home team does not have an advantage or that age and connections cannot conquer youth and enthusiasm?
The comments from Mark Goodman, director of Witnesses, in accepting the award are worth noting. In part, he said:
It's interesting, early on we had a screening of Witnesses with some scholars and some of the feedback that we received was that we had humanized Joseph and the Witnesses too much. Or in other words, we were showing too many faults. And that's, perhaps, something that we're not used to in Latter-day Saint cinema. And I have to admit that that feedback caused me some sleepless nights, and, in fact, we had a wealthy donor offer to pay for it if we were willing to fix it. And so a year later we found that--here we are. One of the things that audiences have loved the most about the film is this honest portrayal.
I don't know what Goodman was trying to say in the penultimate sentence quoted above. But it's helpful to know that at least one donor sought to influence the content of the film.
Last edited by Tom on Mon Jul 25, 2022 4:45 pm, edited 5 times in total.
