A new feature film produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints opened in theaters Friday, not only in Utah but across the country. Meet the Mormons will play on over 300 screens in 47 states.
Blair Treu, the director, called the film an introduction that will help viewers get a clear picture of LDS people.
The unscripted documentary follows the lives of six LDS families living around the world. Treu said the film shows that the church is not only a Utah faith.
“There are more members outside Utah, domestically speaking, than in and worldwide, globally there are more members outside the United States than live in the United States,” Treu said.
Treu said the project began four years ago when a group he was a part of was asked to come up with a replacement film to run in the Legacy Theater at Temple Square, which he says receives 2 to 4 million visitors per year. However, he said the response to first cuts of the film was so positive they decided to expand their efforts.
“These were from people not of our faith,” Treu said. “They were saying things like, ‘It’s inspiring, it’s uplifting, it’s funny, it makes me laugh, it makes me cry,’ because there were some universal themes in the film that everybody could identify with.”
“One of the aspects of the film that we think is so magical about it is we feel like there’s a little something in it for everybody. As we ran it for audiences we couldn’t get anybody to agree on their favorite story; they all identified with somebody different,” Treu said.
The film will play in the Legacy Theater after its external theater run, according to Treu.
Treu said they have received mixed reviews concerning the film, however he says many negative reviews have been critical of the church, not necessarily the movie. Treu said the film may surprise some people.
“They don’t go to a film like this expecting to see little clips from the Simpsons or South Park or 30-Rock or several other contemporary film clips which kind of poke fun at us, and I think they are surprise to see that Mormons can laugh at themselves.”
All net proceeds from the film will go to the American Red Cross.