The Return of Elder Pingree - Memoir of a Departed Mormon

[Everybody Wang Chung]

If you have ever served a mission I can't recommend this film enough. It's available for rent ($2.99) on Amazon and I was very surprised at the profound questions the film wrestled with and how moving it was. I served my mission almost 30 years ago and not a day goes by that I don't remember a face or experience. I often wonder about the people I knew, loved and served with. This movie is about a returned missionary who decides to do more than wonder. He decides to find out.

The film stands in stark contrast to the Witnesses. This film treats religion seriously and isn't afraid to ask the hard questions, while Witnesses is a shallow fluff piece with no substance.

25 years ago, Elder Geoff Pingree was a stellar missionary by every measurable standard. He would serve as zone leader, AP, branch president and he was sent to open two new areas for missionary work. All in all, he was responsible for over 100 baptisms.

His mission was in Guatemala and his mission president was Carlos Amado (https://www.mormonwiki.com/Carlos_H._Amado). Truth is stranger than fiction and several decades earlier, Elder Pingree's father (who also served a mission in Guatemala) baptized Carlos Amado.

5 years after Elder Pingree returned home, he left the Church and never looked back. The film is about Elder Pingree's return to Guatemala as he seeks to discover what has become of the Guatemalans who once trusted him with their religious faith. It's also about his coming to terms with his identity and his place within the world and Mormonism. The film grapples with the basic human dilemma of how one can and ought to do good in the world.

Every missionary hopes to do good but does the good they do really last? And over time how does their mission effect the people they came in contact with? And what if your own beliefs have shifted? This film tries to answer these questions.



https://www.returnofelderpingree.com/

[Doctor Scratch]

Holy cow…they got this into Cannes??? I can only imagine the sheer sense of jealous outrage that’s surging through the Mopologists right now. This is an *anti-Mormon* film! Openly so, in fact. I haven’t seen it yet, but I can guarantee you that there are at minimum 600 things that the film has gotten wrong, and that are being misrepresented, or are being framed a certain way because the filmmakers are hostile to the Church.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Holy cow…they got this into Cannes??? I can only imagine the sheer sense of jealous outrage that’s surging through the Mopologists right now. This is an *anti-Mormon* film! Openly so, in fact. I haven’t seen it yet, but I can guarantee you that there are at minimum 600 things that the film has gotten wrong, and that are being misrepresented, or are being framed a certain way because the filmmakers are hostile to the Church.

I really wish DCP could've watched this film and learned.

If I had to guess, I would say this film was probably made on a budget of $90,000 or less and it is far superior in almost every aspect than Witnesses. It deserves every accolade that it has received. It's quite a remarkable film.

[IHAQ]

LONELY SEAL INTERNATIONAL FILM, SCREENPLAY & MUSIC FESTIVAL On Sunday, October 13th, at the closing ceremonies of the Lonely Seal International Film, Screenplay & Music Festival in Boston, Geoff Pingree’s latest feature documentary, The Return of Elder Pingree – Memoir of a Departed Mormon, was awarded the festival’s Grand Jury Prize, which consists of $118,000 of in-kind production support for his work, including one year of international film distribution; a dedicated custom page hosted on the festival’s website for twelve months, showcasing both The Return of Elder Pingree as a film and Geoff as a filmmaker; and a targeted marketing campaign and showcase for the film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2020.

https://www.returnofelderpingree.com/awards

Take a look at the awards, accolades and nominations this film has received from completely independent bodies...
https://www.returnofelderpingree.com/awards

It's also noteworthy that this film has been picked up by Amazon Prime.

[IHAQ]

Director’s Statement – by Geoff Pingree
This film took me nearly fifteen years to make, easily three times as long as any of my other projects. Progress was slow because of my discomfort in telling a story that, on the face of it, might seem self-absorbed (an autobiographical documentary composed from my experiences, my journal, my voiceovers) or unnecessary (do we really need to hear from another white, cis- gender, upper middle-class, educated, straight male?), and from my uneasiness in laying bare some of my deepest spiritual, psychological, moral, and familial vulnerabilities.
Unlike my experience in making other documentaries, production for this film was improvisational and ongoing. Because I had not kept in contact with the people I knew in Guatemala, I was not able to organize visits, schedule interviews, or make plans in advance; I literally had no idea what I’d find after twenty-five years.

https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/f ... tagged.pdf

THE RETURN OF ELDER PINGREE blends DVCam PAL digital video footage with a lesser amount of Kodak Ektachrome Super8MM reversal film footage to underscore the difficult and slippery relations among documents, memories, and ongoing experiences. In addition to Elder Pingree's wealth of photographs, documents, and sound recordings, the film includes on-camera interview and location shoot footage and features an original musical score.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3420230/pl ... _=tt_ov_pl

Geoff Pingree wrote, directed and co produced the film.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3420230/fu ... =ttco_sa_1

[IHAQ]

We make independent documentary films about pressing social issues in order to promote education, encourage public dialogue, and enable change.

We also provide professional development opportunities for Oberlin College alumni pursuing careers as filmmakers by hiring new StoryLens Fellows each year. These Fellows are involved with the entire filmmaking process from conception to release.

To date, StoryLens, with the support of the Nord Family Foundation and other generous donors, has created eight original short documentaries. The films bring focus to specific non-profit organizations in northeast Ohio and explore issues such as prison recidivism, opiate addiction, child homelessness, gun violence, food access, the foreclosure crisis, and arts education.

StoryLens donates its program content to the organizations whose work its films highlight in order to help them tell their stories to clients and to provide material for their fundraising and outreach efforts.

We present our films at community gatherings, in festivals, on public television, and on digital journalistic platforms in order to bring the subjects’ perspectives and experiences to a wide audience.

https://storylens.org/team

Now that's how to operate a non profit film making enterprise.

[Paloma]

https://storylens.org/team

Now that's how to operate a non profit film making enterprise.

I so agree with IHAQ's assessment.

And I can see how this film would be of broad interest and inspire lively discussion.

Mormons, exMormons, non-Mormons - all have some connection with Mormon missionaries. Everyone can relate to personal stories - and who doesn't like to share their own anecdotes? I hope to watch this, to get insight into this one former missionary's experience. Though I'm not sure if it's available to watch or rent non-Stateside.

I hope to see the way this film explores the deeper issues of identity and implications of one's beliefs and actions amidst changes in one's own life. (I see that as faithfulness, in its own way - being true to oneself and to one's ongoing personal revelation and development.)

[dastardly stem]

I'm intrigued.

[DrW]

Just finished watching the film. Best documentary I've seen in a long time. I greatly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone, regardless of church affiliation or belief. There are universal truths about organized religion that are laid bare between the opening and closing credits.

One of my sons served a mission in Latin America and so some of the hardships facing missionaries there as reflected in the film were familiar. My younger brother, who served a mission in Argentina, and I have worked in Guatemala and Paraguay, and I have a real affinity for those two countries and their people. Much in the film seemed familiar. Best of all, it leaves the viewer with a few important questions to ponder.

The film costs three bucks to rent for 48 hours from Amazon. Best three bucks you will spend this year.

[Philo Sofee]

OK, that's it! I'm renting it to watch. This does sound utterly fascinating.