Thanks for your interest in the KNOCKING documentary. We apologize if this is a repeat for some. Now that it is fall, look for another update soon!
Also, there is something new on the web site www.knocking.org. Check it out. Now we have a demographic survey that will for the first time help journalists and academic researchers understand who Jehovah's Witnesses are -- for example, a very racially diverse religion. If you are one of Jehovah's Witnesses, please fill out the survey. A lot of information is available about the membership of other religions, and now we have the chance to get a clear snapshot of Jehovah's Witness membership. The survey is voluntary and the information won't be sold to any commercial interests. It will be offered to sociologists, religious scholars, journalists, and the research department at Watchtower. Tell your Jehovah's Witness friends to fill it out, too.
To take the survey, go to www.knocking.org and click where it says "click here for updates and more information" at the bottom of the home page.
KNOCKING DOCUMENTARY NEWSLETTER #1 SUMMER 2005
Thanks for your interest in the KNOCKING documentary about Jehovah's Witnesses. I'm Joel Engardio, director of the project. Since the www.knocking.org web site went live recently, I've been hearing from interested ones from Arizona to Arkansas and everywhere in between. The site is new, and is still a work-in-progress. Check back from time to time to see new features, including the film clip downloads.
SPREAD THE WORD
Please forward the link www.knocking.org far and wide. Beyond a national broadcast on public television (PBS) in the United States, our goal is to make the film available to international audiences with language subtitles. Indeed, Jehovah's Witnesses are in more than 200 lands, and their story about blood, the Holocaust and preservation of civil liberties resonates around the globe.
OUR GOAL
The aim of KNOCKING is to give a general, non-Jehovah's Witness audience a fair look at a religious group that has long been misunderstood and relegated to cartoonish stereotypes. KNOCKING uses the real life stories of real families to humanize Jehovah's Witnesses. But we don’t shy from criticism. Our aim is that everything is fair and accurate. We show both the ups and downs, including what it is like for Witnesses who have unbelieving or opposing family members, and how divided families can find common ground. For instance, the young man who undergoes a groundbreaking bloodless liver transplant has opposing family members who come to the hospital to see first-hand how the new bloodless technology works.
WHO SHOULD WATCH
KNOCKING will be educational and illuminating for a non-Jehovah's Witness audience. Extended family, neighbors, co-workers and classmates of Jehovah’s Witnesses will certainly be interested to take a look. Closer to time of broadcast, we will offer DVDs for home and school use. The DVD will be a feature-length version of the film (the broadcast on PBS will be shorter) and will include extras like expanded interviews. We’ll be sure to send more details on that later.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
As of Summer 2005, the film is being edited in San Francisco. Throughout the course of the project, we filmed in California, Georgia, Ohio, New York, Nevada, and Texas as well as Austria and Poland. We filmed in Kingdom Halls, conventions and in the door-to-door ministry.
WE ARE INDEPENDENT
Keep in mind that every Jehovah's Witness who has contributed to this film, either on camera or behind the scenes, has done so by their own personal choice. There is no official connection to the Watchtower Society, though the Bethel organization in Brooklyn, Patterson and Wallkill, New York has been cooperative with the producers of this film. We interviewed Watchtower representatives on camera and filmed inside Bethel. Watchtower has no financial ties to this project, nor any editorial control. It is important to know that this project is independently produced for public television, using a combination of public, foundation and individual funds. No one on the production staff is a Jehovah's Witness. The director's mother, however, is a Witness. And we do have Jehovah's Witnesses who are serving as consultants for factual accuracy. We also have academic, historical and medical consultants who are experts in their field but not Jehovah's Witnesses.
HOW TO SEE IT
We intend to premiere KNOCKING at a prestigious film festival such as Sundance in early 2006. A national television broadcast on PBS will follow. And the film will be made available on DVD. We also hope to bring KNOCKING to cities throughout the United States in 2006 for special screenings. This will be a chance for you to see a sneak preview and perhaps meet some of the film's subjects in a live Q&A session. The KNOCKING web site and these newsletters will provide updated information about where and when the sneak previews will take place. If you are interested in volunteering to organize such a screening in your city, contact us directly at [email protected]. Please type “Volunteer” in the subject heading.
We look forward to seeing the positive impact this film has in telling the untold stories of Jehovah's Witnesses. We hope you do, too. Thanks again for contacting us, and the KNOCKING staff will be sure to keep you up to date on the latest progress.
Sincerely,
Joel P. Engardio
Producer/Director
[email protected]
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