AUDIENCE OF ONE
*** out of *****

Reviewed by Stevie McCleary

Screening in the 2007 New Zealand International Film Festival
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Genres
Documentary
Movie & TV Making
Religion

2007
Directed by
Michael Jacobs

Audience of One is the documentary about Richard Gazowsky, pastor of the Voice of Pentecost Church in San Francisco (you know, the types of churches that tend to involve groups speaking in tongues and having dancing fits), and his belief that God spoke to him and told him to take his congregation on the path to creating the biggest Biblical epic in film history. It was to be entitled Gravity: The Shadow of Joseph and set in the future. This is the story of Pastor Richard and his goal that has shaped the life of his Church for the last ten years as they attempt to fight against all odds, with none bigger than their own naivety and ignorance. But then the question remains…is this any different than any other aspiring filmmaker?

This documentary is extremely fun to watch, although tinged with sadness. If you remember the end of Borat, where he visited a Pentecostal Church then you have a small insight into what I mean. It’s kind of humorous watching people blame Satan for the power company shutting off their power, when they really should be blaming the fact that they didn’t pay their power bill in six months. But then, it’s sad to know that people live this way…never really understanding the way the world really works, expecting hand-outs and special treatment constantly, and when that doesn’t work out then it’s ‘evil forces’ conspiring against them. This is pretty much the case in this film.

I’m a pretty big fan of documentaries like this one. And right from the get-go I think you already know whether there is any chance of you going to see it…if this type of thing doesn’t interest you then you're not going to go. If it does, the main questions are ‘will it be any good…will I be preached to…what angle is taken?’ Simply; yes, it’s a good one. And the pleasant thing about this filmmaker is that there is no preaching, or anti-religion message, from them. They remain completely neutral and you never get an idea for how they feel about the situation as it unfolds. That is a key point here, as you need an impartial eye to follow the Pastor and his dedicated flock, as well as follow the tales of the poor people taken along for a ride they never signed up for. Things, of course, are edited a certain way (as with all docos) to create a certain effect, but the events that take place are still things that actually happened. It’s a good job by all.

This is worth seeing for the bizarre people involved. From the poor actor (with no specific religious inclination-just looking for work) who gets trapped in their production, to the naming of their production company ‘WYSIWYG’ (What You See Is What You Get…catchy) to another main actor who I’m pretty certain is Tommy Chong’s illegitimate child. There is much humour and many awkward moments contained within for your viewing pleasure. And hey-you haven’t heard of this film taking the world by storm, so there’s an indication of how it all turns out...

Having seen a lot of these types of documentaries, ones about filmmaking and ones about religious groups, I found this quite entertaining and fascinating. I heartily recommend it for an enjoyable watching experience.

This film will screen in Wellington at The Film Archive on August 3 at 8:15pm and at Sounding Theatre, Te Papa on August 4 at 1:30pm.

Please refer to the Film Fest homepage for more information on screenings in other parts of the country

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