The Record Keeper

[Gregory Matthews]

The story of The Record Keeper is well known.  For thoes of you who would like to view the movie, see the following which contains a link to the movie:

NOTE:  If you are not aware of the controversy about The Record Keeper, the following also contains a link on that subject.

Thanks to Spectrum for:

Quote

After the dinner break, attendees gathered for Night 2 of the “Convergence Festival,” with a viewing of the movie Libertos, a medium-length film produced by the South American Division, and partially funded by the GC, that released last year. Beautifully shot on location in the Amazon rainforest, Libertos is a modern-day retelling of Jesus’ crucifixion, and His sacrifice for humanity. In the movie, a character named Emanuel sacrifices his freedom and life to set two young women free from their kidnappers. One kidnapper asks forgiveness before Emanuel dies, while another when given the opportunity, does not. The two women escape, and are later reunited, telling others of Emanuel’s sacrifice for them.

From speaking to several audience members after the film was shown, reaction was mixed. Positives included that it was visually stunning, well-acted, and had a sweeping musical score. More neutral responses were that it was a bit too on-the-nose in terms of dialogue and plot, but was still powerful. Negative reactions included surprise at what some audience members felt was gratuitous violence toward women, as the main plot focused on sex traffickers and three kidnapped women. Though not shown, it was made clear as the plot unfolded that at least one woman was raped by the captors. She gave birth during captivity, and lived long enough to find out her baby had been sold, before she died from infection. (The other two aforementioned women escaped thanks to Emanuel.)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ill-fated The Record Keeper, which was officially scrapped after filming for what the Biblical Research Institute felt were creative theological liberties, but now lives again on the TheHaystack.TV, was mentioned by more than one attendee. One person remarked that it was interesting that a film featuring feminine aspects of God (the Holy Spirit was portrayed by a female actor in The Record Keeper) would receive the General Conference’s ire, while one prominently featuring violence against women should receive such praise. It’s certainly possible that some of the nuance of Libertos was lost in translation for audience members who do not speak Portuguese and had to rely on the English subtitles, which could have made the dialogue feel more stilted than it actually was. And cultural barriers should be noted, too — what resonates in Brazil may not resonate in the United States or Zambia or the Philippines, for example.