In 2018, American missionary John Chau, age 26, traveled illegally to one of the most difficult-to-reach places on Earth– North Sentinel Island, in the Bay of Bengal– with the single-minded goal of converting one of the world’s most isolated populations to Christianity, despite knowing that trespassers risk being shot at with arrows. This misguided mission would quickly see him killed. Through voice-over readings of John’s journal entries and heart-wrenching observations from his grieving father, The Mission provides unique insight into the persistent dangers of religious fanaticism. Bolstered by beautifully imagined, animated reenactments and thoughtful selections of archival film footage, this intriguing documentary explores the troubling legacy of the romanticized colonial-era exploration narratives that inspired John’s mission. Highlights include interviews with historian Adam Goodheart and anthropologist T.N. Pandit– some of the few people to have seen North Sentinel Island up close– as well as darkly amusing anecdotes from linguist and former missionary Daniel Everett, who recounts losing his Christian faith to the Amazonian Pirahã tribe.
Series Media Partner
Media Partner
USA/India
2023
Insights
In English, Latin, Piraha, Hindi, Sarikoli and Onge with English subtitles
Nudity; violence; sexual language
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Carolyn Bernstein, Doug Bock Clark
Producer
Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine, Will Cohen
Cinematography
Thorsten Thielow
ANIM
Jason Carpenter
Editor
Aaron Wickenden
Directors
Jesse Moss & Amanda McBaine
Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss have been filmmaking partners for 20 years. They directed Boys State, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Apple Original Films and A24. The film won the 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for Best Nonfiction Film and received DGA and Emmy nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement. Their previous film, The Overnighters, won the Special Jury Prize for Intuitive Filmmaking at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was distributed by Drafthouse Films and Netflix.
Jesse also directed The Family, a five-part series for Netflix, as well as the Payday episode of the Netflix series Dirty Money. Their recent film about Pete Buttigieg’s campaign for president, Mayor Pete, was released by Amazon Studios.
Filmography: The Overnighters (2014); Boys State (2020); Mayor Pete (2021)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Love
This warm, thoughtful piece offers shrewd comic observations on modern dating as it trains a quizzical eye on the trysts of a female doctor, Marianne (Andrea Bræin Hovig), and her colleague, a gay male nurse, Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen).
Sex
Two chimney sweeps living in heterosexual marriages find their views on sexuality and gender challenged by a series of unexpected events. In a set of sharply scripted conversations, both men confront heretofore unexplored aspects of their identity.
3 Faces
Iranian filmmaker Panahi and actress Behnaz Jafari, both playing themselves, receive a video in which a distraught teenaged girl, whose acting dreams have been quashed appears to kill herself. Panahi and Jafari decide to investigate...
Dreams
The third installment in the Sex/Dreams/Love trilogy is another rich, absorbing tale. 17-year-old Johanne writes a confessional about her flirtation with a (female) teacher. But the writing is too good to stay private...
Transit
Trust the director of Phoenix and Barbara to re-imagine a WWII romantic intrigue into something unsettlingly contemporary. With occupying forces closing in, a German refugee (Franz Rogowski) assumes a dead writer's identity and flees to Marseille.