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GOD'S LAND Filmmaker's Statements |
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PRESS
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“We sent forth Moses with Our signs and with clear authority to Pharaoh, Haman and Korah. But they said: ‘A sorcerer, a teller of lies.’ The Koran 40:24
After hearing about “God Saves the Earth Flying Saucer Foundation” when they briefly made the news in early 1998, I was immediately hooked into the story of these funny looking Taiwanese visitors. They were decked out in their all-white jump suits and cowboy hats worn so that they could “fit in” with their new suburban Texas neighbors. The fact that their religious beliefs bordered more on a Marx Brothers farce than any actual dogma delighted me. What later struck my passion was that most of these followers were not disenfranchised youngsters but well-paid doctors and lawyers, most with college degrees. Under much introspection of faith and family, they decided to sell off their possessions and follow Teacher CHEN to America, much to the derision of their society that is less tolerant to this behavior than our own. Many wives and children had little choice but to follow their husbands and fathers on this quest.
This is when the struggle within the father of this imagined family appeared to me. He loves his family as any good father does, but believes that he is here for a higher purpose. The mother, forced to live a way that she’s not accustomed to must make the decision to place the loyalty to her husband above what she thinks is best for her self and her son. There are no evil, selfish characters here. Everyone wants what is best, but that in itself is irreconcilable. The decisions must be made to act with the group or alone.
The sincerity and concrete convictions of the individuals of a religious ‘cult’ are too often dismissed by those who claim to be wiser, who seem to know better. A friend of mine summed it up well. He said imagine if you were the only one you knew who dreamed when you sleep. How could you explain to others what you saw? Would people think you were mad if you told them? Would you think that you were cursed or insane yourself? I wanted to see how these loving, peaceful characters would react under such intense scrutiny, such self-doubt. |