A pentecostal preacher sees his first movie at age 40. He receives a vision from God telling him to produce a science fiction epic. He convinces his family and parishioners to dedicate all their money and time to shooting this movie in Italy, on a 65 mm camera. The plan involves God providing a 200 million dollar budget after they start shooting. No, just in case you were wondering, this isn't going to end well.
Director Mike Jacobs gives us a front-row seat as Pastor Richard Gazowsky and his Christian WYSIWYG production company fight a losing battle against reality. Thirty years after Jim Jones led a similar San Francisco congregation on a descent into madness, there's an element to this tale of history repeating itself as farce. Yet Gazowzky comes off more like a deranged version of the Music Man than a sinister cult leader. He's a charming and naive huckster who has conned the people around him, including himself, into indulging his fantasy. When he bravely led his wife and kids onto the stage at the Silverdocs Festival to answer audience questions, it was hard not to feel some grudging admiration for a man who is so unwilling to let others discourage him from pursuing his dreams.
But "Audience of One" relentlessly chronicles his reckless abuse of other people's money and faith in pursuit of those dreams. At times, the terrible decision-making on display is stressful to watch. This is a fascinating character study, and a fair and honest treatment of a strain of religious faith that deserves to be seriously questioned.
It is a rich irony that God's plan for Richard Gazowsky gave us an excellent film after all.
Director Mike Jacobs gives us a front-row seat as Pastor Richard Gazowsky and his Christian WYSIWYG production company fight a losing battle against reality. Thirty years after Jim Jones led a similar San Francisco congregation on a descent into madness, there's an element to this tale of history repeating itself as farce. Yet Gazowzky comes off more like a deranged version of the Music Man than a sinister cult leader. He's a charming and naive huckster who has conned the people around him, including himself, into indulging his fantasy. When he bravely led his wife and kids onto the stage at the Silverdocs Festival to answer audience questions, it was hard not to feel some grudging admiration for a man who is so unwilling to let others discourage him from pursuing his dreams.
But "Audience of One" relentlessly chronicles his reckless abuse of other people's money and faith in pursuit of those dreams. At times, the terrible decision-making on display is stressful to watch. This is a fascinating character study, and a fair and honest treatment of a strain of religious faith that deserves to be seriously questioned.
It is a rich irony that God's plan for Richard Gazowsky gave us an excellent film after all.