THE MISSION
Finland/Germany , 2022 / 96 min / English & Finnish OV with English subt. / Documentary
Every year, over 60,000 missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (most commonly referred to as Mormons) are sent across the world to preach their gospel. The Mission follows four American LDS teenagers who receive a mission from God that takes them from their families and the safety of their remote, religion-filled bubbles to the frozen, forested lands of Finland, home of Europe’s most nonreligious, private and skeptical people. The journey they embark on will prove to be the most emotionally and psychologically challenging period of their young lives. As these wide-eyed, impassioned teens struggle with missing their families, language hurdles, aching feet, and daily rejection, they are pushed beyond their limits, falling deeper into their faith.
“My aim with this film was to connect with the vulnerable teenager behind the religious suit, the human being behind the missionary. Shot in cinema-vérité style, I wanted the audience to be at eye-level with the missionaries, which is sometimes uncomfortably close. The intimacy of the film allows us to capture how young LDS missionaries see and experience everyday life, and gain insight into the well-oiled institution that runs and supports the dispatch of tens of thousands of young people to the four corners of the planet to be of service to locals and share their holy text, the Book of Mormon.”
Director’s statement, Tania Anderson
| Fri | 04/03 | 16:30 | Ciné Utopia | ENG& FI OV with ENG subt | Public | https://luxfilmfestfilms.megatix.be/en/HO00004310?locationFilters=LFFCU&dateTime... |
“An intriguing glimpse into a hidden world” - Allan Hunter, Screen Daily, 25/01/2022
“Intimate” Matthew Carey, Deadline
“An enlightening gateway into the world of missionaries that demands to be seen, no matter one’s religious affiliation” - Silver Linings Reviews
“fascinating” - POV Magazine
“Insightful and always engaging film” - Business Doc Europe
- Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival, (2021), USA
Tania Anderson is a British, American and Swiss emerging filmmaker, based in Helsinki, Finland. She has also worked as a writer and journalist with over 10 years of experience of working in the media, most recently as a writer for National Geographic, where she discovered her passion for telling ordinary people’s extraordinary stories. A conversation she accidentally overheard between two young missionaries in dark, wintery Finland sparked the idea for The Mission, which is also her first feature-length documentary film.
- 2022 – The Mission