Filmmakers Kate Davis and David Heilbroner team up to explore the Stonewall riots, an event that served as a sharp turning point for gay rights in the United States. The setting was a Greenwich Village gay bar called the Stonewall Inn; the date was June 28, 1969. It was a time when homosexuality was still seen as a dangerous mental illness, and raids on gay gathering spots were commonplace. When New York City police raided the mafia-run establishment, they figured the patrons could be herded into paddy wagons without a fight – they were wrong. Over the course of the next three days, gay protestors clashed with police in an uprising that made headlines across the world. In this film, participants from both sides of the conflict offer firsthand testimony about the social climate of the era, and the riots that sparked a revolution.
America's 50-million strong Evangelical community is convinced that the world's future is foretold in Biblical prophecy - from the Rapture to the Battle of Armageddon. This astonishing documentary explores their world - in their homes, at conferences, and on a wide-ranging tour of Israel. By interweaving Christian, Zionist, Jewish and critical perspectives along with telling archival materials, the filmmakers probe the politically powerful - and potentially explosive - alliance between Evangelical Christians and Israel...an alliance that may set the stage for what one prominent Evangelical leader calls "World War III."
The film opens with portraits of three Evangelical families – James and Laura Bagg, a Connecticut couple who work as military jet-propulsion engineers, Tony and Devonna Edwards in McAlester, Oklahoma, and Dr. H. Wayne House in Salem, Oregon—all certain that upon Christ's Second Coming they will be "raptured," or lifted into the skies to join Christ while the rest of humanity suffers for seven years during “The Tribulation." The Edwards' daughters, in particular, struggle with their own future. If they are raptured soon, how will they ever marry, or have children of their own?
Despite their very different lives and locations, all three families find the modern world laden with symbolism that suggests the End Times are at hand, and they proclaim the immense importance of Israel, where the battle of Armageddon will leave the earth ravaged, before Christ creates a new and perfect world.
The film then follows Wayne House and fellow minister Robert Dean as they lead a Christian Study Tour group to Israel — among the tens of thousands of Evangelicals who pour into the Holy Land each year. As Wayne and Robert baptize their entourage in the River Jordon, sing the US national anthem on the Sea of Galilee, proclaim love for Israel, and describe how the Dome of the Rock, one of the holiest sites in Islam, must be destroyed in order for Jesus to return, a revealing and controversial relationship between Christian Evangelicals, Jews, and Muslims emerges.
Finally, we follow Wayne House and Robert Dean to a massive gathering in Dallas, Texas, where Evangelicals debate, in highly sophisticated terms, the need to spread Biblical literalism to counter the dangerous effects of post-modernism. The climax of the conference comes as Pastor John Hagee, the enormously influential Texas Minister of an 18,000-member megachurch, declares, "World War III has started."
By portraying the Evangelical apocalyptic worldview from within their community, Waiting for Armageddon seeks to clarify the elusive relationship between Christian Zionists and Jews, and foster dialogue among dissenting groups. In the end, the film asks whether this large American voting block is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of international holy war.
As you may know, the percentage of women directors hovers around 9%, which is a ridiculous statistic in 2009 (or ever). It's not (just) that Hollywood is sexist—-if female directors brought in the big bucks on opening weekend, studio heads would certainly sit up and take notice, as might Oscar voters. But how to find out when these films are showing? Well... come here! (Update: Hmm, the same year I start this blog, the Academy nominates TWO female-directed movies for Best Picture! Coincidence?)
