Again this year, Denver Film Festival artistic director Matt Campbell is offering his must-see picks for each day of the event, which is largely virtual and continues through November 8. Keep reading to get his take on the selection for November 3: 'Til Kingdom Come.
’Til Kingdom Come
Directed by Maya Zinshstein
Limited screening: Accessible until 11:45 p.m. November 8
November 3 is, of course, election day — and that timing, Matt Campbell believes, makes ’Til Kingdom Come an appropriate film to screen while waiting for returns to be counted.
The documentary "follows Trump-supporting evangelical Christians from a church in Kentucky who are really big supporters of Israel from a financial perspective," he explains. "They donate a lot of money to Christians and Jews there. And if you wonder, 'Why would evangelicals care so much about Israel?,' it's because they want Armageddon to happen, and they think one of the signs that Jesus is going to come back is recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel."
Such an event wouldn't necessarily be good for Israelis, Campbell continues. "To the members of the church, it's as plain as day, based on their reading of the Bible, that when Jesus comes back, all the Jews are going to be slaughtered unless they get converted to Christianity. And Trump moved the capital to Jerusalem to assuage them."
Despite these political overtones, Campbell feels that director Maya Zinshstein, who's Israeli, as was her filmmaking team, "takes a very neutral tone. It's almost an anthropological study of how American society works, and it's not judgmental. They embed themselves within the church, and they're welcomed with open arms."
Click for ticket information and more details about the 43rd Denver Film Festival, including how to access selections online.