''God Loves Uganda'' is a 2013 American documentary film produced and directed by
Roger Ross Williams
Roger Ross Williams (born September 16, 1962) is an American director, producer and writer and the first African American director to win an Academy Award (Oscar), with his short film ''Music by Prudence''; this film won the Academy Award for Bes ...
, which premiered at the
2013 Sundance Film Festival
The 2013 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 17, 2013, until January 27, 2013, in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah.
The festival had 1,830 volunteers.
Films
A r ...
. It explores connections between evangelicalism in North America and in Uganda, suggesting that the North American influence is the reason behind the controversial Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, which at one point raised the possibility of the death penalty for gays and lesbians. The filmmakers follow a group of young missionaries from the
International House of Prayer
The International House of Prayer (IHOPKC) is a charismatic evangelical Christian movement and missions organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, and the nearby suburb of Grandview that focuses on the inerrancy of scripture, and biblical pra ...
in their first missionary effort in another nation, as well as interviewing several evangelical leaders from the US and Uganda.
Williams was inspired to make ''God Loves Uganda'' when he met
David Kato
David Kato Kisule ( – 26 January 2011) was a Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda's gay rights movement and described as "Uganda's first openly gay man". He served as advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities ...
, an
LBGT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is ...
activist who was killed in 2011, ostensibly in a robbery. Kato told there was an untold story of the damage American fundamentalist evangelicals are doing in Uganda; of the insidious nature of their aggressive effort to harvest young, unclaimed souls to preach a gospel of love intertwined with a gospel of intolerance.
The Dutch premiere of the film was at the Movies that Matter Film Festival in
The Netherlands
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in 2014.
Reception
In late May 2014, the film aired on several
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
stations in the United States as part of the ''
Independent Lens
''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Ho ...
'' series. In response, the International House of Prayer issued God Loves Uganda FAQ on their website which responds to a number of the issues raised in the documentary. Website '' Right Wing Watch'' subsequently criticized this response.
Critical reception
Joe Mirabella at ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' described it as the "most terrifying film of the year"; Tim Wu at ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' and Bill Blezek at the ''
Omaha World-Herald
The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ch ...
'' described the film as "disturbing". On the other hand, John G. Stackhouse Jr. of ''
Christianity Today
''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
'' criticized the film for "evangelophobia" and trading in "propaganda", likening the film to the 2006 film ''
Jesus Camp
''Jesus Camp'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing about a charismatic Christian summer camp, where children spend their summers being taught that they have "prophetic gifts" and can "take back America for ...
''. On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 29 reviews, and an average rating of 7.67/10.
Awards
''God Loves Uganda'' has won the following awards:
* Full Frame Inspiration Award at the
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema.
The festival is a program of the Center for Documentary Studies, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) at Duke University. ...
Ashland Independent Film Festival
The Ashland Independent Film Festival is held in Ashland, Oregon, United States. It has been organized by the non-profit Southern Oregon Film Society since 2001. Founded by D.W. and Steve Wood, the festival is held each spring over five days at th ...
* Audience Award Documentary at the Mountain Film Festival
* Best Overall Documentary at the DocuWest Film Festival
* Sheffield Youth Jury Award at the
Sheffield Doc/Fest
Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest), short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England.
The Festival includes film sc ...
* Grand Jury Pink Peach Feature at the
Atlanta Film Festival
The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is a long-running, international film festival held in Atlanta, Georgia operated by the Atlanta Film Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Started in 1976 and occurring every spring, the festival shows a ...
* Jury Award for Documentary Feature at the
Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is a movie screening event that takes place each October in Tampa, Florida. The primary venue is the Tampa Theatre, but several other cinemas in or near the downtown area and in St. Petersburg si ...