Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SANDY — Hundreds of people gathered at Jordan Commons Thursday to get a sneak peek of "Meet the Mormons," a documentary about six Latter-day Saints and their families who are from different areas of the world.
Filmmaker Blair Treu has hosted preview screenings around the country for the past couple of months, gauging the reactions from the different audiences.
"We played it for audiences in Los Angeles and in New York and several in between,” said Treu. “We started getting feedback, and it was extremely positive. I mean, like, really off the charts positive. And we thought, ‘we really have something here.’"
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is launching the documentary in Utah on Oct. 7 and in 200 theaters in other areas of the United States Oct. 10.
If it does well, it will be screened in additional theaters in other cities.
LDS Church leaders asked the Hollywood filmmaker to create a movie capturing the day-to-day lives and faith of church members from various areas of the world.
“Over time, we just kind of felt like, this needs to be multiple stories, to give kind of a global sense to who we are,” Treu said. “After all, we are an international church, we're a worldwide family."
The documentary features Mormon bishop Jermaine Sullivan from Atlanta; Ken Niumatalolo, head football coach at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland; Carolina Munoz Marin, an amateur kickboxing champion from Costa Rica; Gail Halvorsen, who became famous as the Candy Bomber during the Berlin Airlift in Germany following World War II; humanitarian Bishnu Adhikari of Nepal; and Dawn Armstrong, better known as the missionary mom.
Some LDS congregations are being asked to spread the word about the documentary, and the “Meet the Mormons” twitter account and website suggest viewers ask their local theaters to show the film.
