One of the Most Celebrated Cult Films Premiered at New York SoHo International Film Festival

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Tue

Apr

2011

One of the Most Celebrated Cult Films Premiered at New York SoHo International Film Festival

God’s Land, directed by Preston Miller and starring Shing Ka, Jodi Lin, and Matthew Chiu screened on Monday (April 18) at the 2nd Annual SoHo International Film Festival. TV Host and social media expert Li Jing (Cultureli.com) and reporter Mia Zhang talked to the director and cast members about what the film means to them and what the audience will find while embarking on this cinematic journey that is both emotional and haunting.

by Li Jing 荆莉, Mia Zhang 张梦

Based on a true story, Preston Miller’s God’s Land tells the story of a group of Christian believers who follow Teacher Chen from Taipei, Taiwan and come all the way to Garland, Texas to witness the revelation of God and wait for the return of Jesus. Among the followers, the experience of one particular family is focused and through which we as the audience are led into a cult life that is at moments touching, frustrating, shocking, but most importantly, compelling.

Picture above: Li Jing at the red carpet for the 2nd Annual SoHo International Film Festival

Picture below: Li Jing at SIFF with the actor Shing Ka (on the left)

One of the underlying themes the film explores is cultural dislocation. Shing Ka, the star in the film who plays Ming-Tien Hou, the father of the family tells us that one can only imagine how difficult the life would be for the characters to basically give up everything in Taipei to follow God’s message in Texas, America; they must have felt so frightening and isolated at times. Hou’s wife Xiu (played by Jodi Lin) is, according to Miller, “a quite unconventional but interesting role.”

Contradicted and torn between her own values and her husband’s devoted belief, she finally decides to leave Hou and goes back to Taipei with her son Ollie (played by Matthew Chiu). It is really rare to see an Asian woman who is so firmly living up to what she believes, let along to confront her husband and raise the child alone. “So there is really no villains in the film”, said Miller; everyone tries their best to follow their beliefs and dreams, no one is to be judged and no one particular value is naturally better than the other. God’s Land offers us a fresh perspective to see all these seemingly contradicting and competing values with an open mind and a more tolerating attitude.

Picture above: Li Jing at the red carpet for the 2nd Annual SoHo International Film Festival

Picture below: Li jing interiewing the actor Antonio

Having been screened in November last year in both Buffalo and Denver, the film has earned a number of positive critical reviews and the show house was always full with audiences eager to watch. When Mia Zhang asked the director Miller about what motivated or inspired him to make this film, he said that he was personally intrigued by the true story which the film is evolved from, and he was touched by a sense of conviction conveyed from that true event and believed that he should make a film themed on cult subject to see what will come out of it.

Jeremiah Kipp, the producer of God’s Land told us that the biggest difficulty he encountered while making the film was to decide when to cut the film and when to keep it. Being a film with the running time of 164 minutes, it is quite long; but in order to keep the integrity of the storytelling, Kipp had to make sure that he preserved all the important details while not dragging the film and boring the audience. For both Miller and Kipp, rhythm is one of the important factors they bore in mind while making God’s Land.

“I think the audience will be intrigued and compelled, but they definitely will be educated”, said Miller when asked how the audience will react to the film. And we have to agree with him, behind the film’s humorous absurdity, you will be challenged from time to time by a series of complex subjects the film approached; yet despite all that, the whole experience is captivating.

God's Land was nominated for several catgegories. Li Jing and Lead actor Shing Ka greeted this year's Icon Award receipient Frank Vincent at the awards ceremony at the Capitale in New York.