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Key Films of the Fifth Wave Click on individual films for full details and history. This is a small sampling of the many films from this period, all of which can be searched from here. These films are chosen due to their quality, popularity, or influence. Some are listed because they represent innovations, major trends, or emerging genres. |
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| USA; 2000; Richard Dutcher |
Inaugurates Mormon Cinema in the Fifth Wave by being a financially profitable theatrical release of an independent Mormon-produced and Mormon-themed film. This film inspires Richard Dutcher's next films and establishes the niche market for Mormon commercial features. | ||
| USA; 2001; Richard Dutcher |
Sophomore Mormon-themed theatrical feature by Richard Dutcher acclaimed for its powerful self-examination of Mormon culture within a murder mystery. | ||
| USA; 2001; Mitch Davis |
Most costly independent Mormon film to date ($7 million), this adaptation of Church leader John Grobert's missionary memoir was marketed heavily nationally and distributed on video by Disney. Played down many Mormon elements to attempt mainstream crossover. Starred Christopher Gorham and Anne Hathaway. | ||
| USA; 2002; Kurt Hale |
This, the first major theatrical Mormon comedy, launched the career of Kurt Hale and Halestorm Entertainment, the most important production company of the eary Fifth Wave. | ||
| USA; 2002; Adam Anderegg |
This is an adaptation of the immensely popular LDS novel from 1980, the second post-God's Army film adaptation from literature, and the first from a fictional source. It is also director Adam Anderegg's feature debut. | ||
| USA; 2003; Scott Anderson |
Adapted from the stage play by Scott Anderson (1983) and based on his missionary experiences in Holland, where it was shot, this missionary comedy/drama helped establish HaleStone (the distribution arm of Halestorm Entertainment) and was well received critically. | ||
| USA; 2003; Mike Nichols |
Tony Kushner's famous and controversial AIDS-themed play adapted for HBO and starring Mary-Louise Parker and Meryl Streep. Perhaps the most seen contemporary film with central Mormon characters. Received five Golden Globes and eleven Emmys, but disappointed many for earneing its acclaim partly through misrepresentations and exploitation of Mormonism. | ||
USA; 2004; |
Ryan Little’s second Fifth Wave film is about Allied soldiers—one LDS—trapped behind German lines in the Battle of the Bulge. The religious identity of the soldier is not made obvious. | ||
| USA; 2004; Russ Holt |
The first of three theatrically released films adapting the immensely popular Mormon historical fiction of Church leader Gerald N. Lund. Directed by former Church film producer Russ Holt in much the same style as institutional church films. | ||
| Napoleon Dynamite |
USA; 2004; Jared Hess |
Odd-ball comedy about high school misfits that unexpectedly became a national cult classic and launched the career of Mormon director Jared Hess and actor Jon Heder. Based on a student film, Peluca, created at BYU. | |
| Big Love |
USA; 2005 | Polygamy-themed HBO series starring Bill Paxton and Jeanne Tripplehorn. Plays into old Mormon stereotypes but complicates these by placing the suburbanite polygamous family headed by Paxton's character between fundamentalist polygamists and mainstream Latter-day Saints (who serve both as background and contrast to the principal polygamist families). | |
| New York Doll |
USA; 2005; Greg Whiteley |
Most significant independent documentary film of the Fifth Wave (to date). Biopic of faded glam rock star and Mormon convert Arthur "Killer" Kane appeals on many levels to diverse audiences within and outside Mormonism. | |
| States of Grace / God’s Army 2 |
USA; 2005; Richard Dutcher |
Richard Dutcher's third and most significant contribution to the Fifth Wave. This film epitomized Dutcher's dream for a spiritual, Christ-centered cinema emanating from Latter-day Saints. Though it received great critical acclaim for its aesthetic and thematic elements, it did not achieve popularity. Subsequently, Dutcher has expressed his bitterness about Mormon audiences and his disappointment that the movement he started has been ruined by others. | |
| Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration | USA; 2005; Gary Cook, T.C.Christensen |
Most recent Church biopic of Joseph Smith, tailored for the large Legacy theater at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. | |
Feedback: GideonBurton@byu.edu