Expanding the scope of what we believe can be fixed
It's been an honestly incredible set of weeks since we premiered Mr Jesus. We've shown the film at Oak Cliff, Sidewalk, BEYOND:Cary, and Breckenridge Film Festivals alongside absolutely astonishing films. And we will be playing at the rate of almost one film festival per week until Thanksgiving, if you can believe it!
We even won an award!
But alongside those film festivals, something else is happening. We're being invited to show Mr Jesus inside congregations and faith spaces. In Raleigh at the Open Table Church we showed the film inside the Sanctuary (ok, maybe we should have bleeped the F words). Pastor Sarah had invited us so she could open up a conversation with her congregation about AI use. Is it ok to use for flyers? For sermons? For liturgy? Pastor Sarah is inclined not to use it at all, but she wanted to hear from her congregation.
And what we got to witness was a community of connected people, everyday citizens, grapple with a huge question of our time in one of the most intimate spaces in their lives: the place where they commune with God.
- One man shared that he worked for IBM for 47 years and in the last few years he was being asked not just to use AI, but clearly, he said, to train it to replace him. Though he had a personal goal to make it to 50 years employed, he retired early rather than have AI force him out.
- A young man explained how his employer expects him and his colleagues to use more and more AI, even though he objects to its environmental impact, and he's unsure of his leverage to resist.
- A grandmother expressed fear over what it might mean for her grandchildren.
- Another congregant shared that her belief is that her Pastor is called by God to their work, and she doesn't want AI doing any of that work. She was angry at the thought that AI might be doing liturgy.
And we held the space in the room for that fear and anger—but we could also feel the grief. And it reminded me of this quote:
And that's when I realized we have such important work to do together. We have to expand the scope of what we believe can be fixed.
The campaign for AI Doomerism is a coordinated one—the AI companies can smell their lack of popularity and the coming regulations, they see how citizens are organizing to stop data centers, how young people are resisting adoption—and the only thing they can do to protect themselves is make us feel hopeless to stop it.
So we are starting to better understand our role as storytellers. Not just to open up space for conversation by making people laugh, but expanding imagination about what we all might do about our fear and anger. And—we do need to hold space to process the grief at confronting the moment when the primacy of technology had far surpassed the centering of human dignity.
I would really love to hear your reflections on this. The conversation and our actions are evolving the more we learn about how this little film (and hopefully TV show) can expand how we think about our own agency and what futures might be possible if we lean into it.
Catch Mr Jesus near you
We're playing at Houston Cinema Arts Festival on October 4th, and on October 5th we'll be hosting a community conversation called "Community, Creativity, and the Fight for Agency" in Houston. If you can join us, or send friends, we hope you will!
We are thrilled to be playing at the incredible Montclair Film Festival on October 17th—this festival always has remarkable programming and incredible panels from some of the world's truly great artists and creators.
Next up we'll be screening Mr Jesus on October 26th in probably the most significant place yet: at ILIFF Divinity School in Denver as a part of their Pulplit+Exchange Series, an inspiring series of in-person and virtual gatherings where clergy, lay leaders, activists, scholars, ministers, journalists, and community organizers come together to wrestle with the most pressing questions of our time. The goal is to explore powerful stories of hope, healing, and action—each rooted in a shared vision of justice and liberation. The screening will be followed by a powerful conversation led by (m)otherboard member Dr. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi who is associate dean of non-degree programs and associate professor of leadership and formation at Iliff School of Theology.
And on November 8th, we'll be screening as a part of the Georgia block of films called Red Clay Shorts at the Rome International Film Festival in Rome, GA.
Keep the faith,
god(m)other Emily