sundance

Why Was the LDS Church So Scared of Reed Cowan’s Mormon Prop 8 Documentary?

So Reed Cowan’s 19-month, $250,000 flick 8: The Mormon Proposition — which Queerty first told you about last year, and GLAAD will probably ignore next yearpremiered at Sundance over the weekend, and it was almost worth braving the cold, snow, and obnoxious Park City crowd to see! (That it coincided with a rally headlined by Dustin Lance Black, the film’s narrator, was also a nice touch: “I did not come to Salt Lake City to protest. I came here to introduce myself and to share a message of love and respect.”)

Were there any big surprises in the film? Not for those in know, but one interesting thing to note that, despite Black and producers Cowan and Steven Greenstreet all being raised in the Mormon Church (and since disavowing its teachings), nobody from the church was willing to appear on record in the film. Typical hiding from the cameras!

(“Mormon church officials do appear in the film, but only in footage obtained through other filmmakers, media outlets or in church-produced videos that appeared on the Web,” notes the AP. “Church officials declined requests for interviews, Cowan said. In one of the film’s audio clips, Farah is heard saying the church does not want to be “front and center in a battle with the gay community.”)

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