2014 Red Rock Film Festival

Families are Forever
(USA) 21 min. (2013) Documentary Short
DIR Vivian Kleiman CAST Tom Montgomery,  Wendy Montgomery, Jordan Montgomery
Tom and Wendy were devout Mormon parents living in a conservative community: Attending church every Sunday, actively serving in their callings in the ward, and knocking on doors to promote support for California’s Proposition 8 to prevent same-sex marriage. Then one day, Wendy read 13-year-old Jordon’s diary and discovered he was gay. What happened next changed their lives forever.

Fight Church
(USA) 84 min. (2013) Documentary Full-length Feature
DIR Bryan Storkel, Daniel Junge CAST Paul Burress
Pastor Paul Burress runs Victory Training out of his church in Rochester, New York.  His church is one of many around the country adopting fight ministries as part of their mission.  Not only does Burress use fighting as an evangelical tool with men and boys, but he, like many in this new movement, believes today’s Christian needs more of a warrior ethos which can be honed through mixed martial arts.Burress has a dark past and a history of unsanctioned fighting in which he's suffered ten concussions. With the rise of MMA’s popularity, he’s tempted to get back into the ring himself, in spite of his doctor's warnings. Complicating matters is that New York is only one of two states in the nation where MMA is illegal – the legislative battle for which Paul and others in the religious community are fighting. Alongside, Pastor Burress’s complex story, there are several other pastors who are also fighters. Through their inter-twined narratives, culminating in several riveting fights, this film seeks to discuss the compatibility of Christianity and mixed martial arts and, moreover, the confluence of religion and violence in our culture.  Through sympathetic subjects on both sides of this debate, the film asks provocative questions about sports, masculinity, free will and morality.