Believer (2018)

Movie
Original title	Believer
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	2018
length	101 minutes
Rod
Director	Don Argott
production	Sheena M. Joyce , ; Heather Parry , ; Robert Reynolds
music	Hans Zimmer
camera	Anton Floquet
cut	Demian Fenton
occupation
	Dan Reynolds; Aja Volkman; Ben McKee; Daniel Platzman; Wayne Sermon; Tyler Glenn;

Believer is a documentary directed by Don Argott that premiered on January 20, 2018 at the Sundance Film Festival . The biography is dedicated to Dan Reynolds , the singer of the US band Imagine Dragons , who tells of his life as a Mormon .

Plot / content

The film shows, among other things, in the last third Dan Reynolds helping to organize the LoveLoud Festival Concert for the LGBTQ community in Orem , where he and his band Imagine Dragons at Utah Valley University's Brent Brown Ballpark in front of 17,000 people in August 2017 had an appearance.

Biographical background

In Believer , Dan Reynolds shares his life experiences as a Mormon

As a Mormon , lead singer Dan Reynolds has a remarkable history behind him. As a musician, he said he often felt uncomfortable with this past and was also extremely depressed when he looked back on the conflicts he had over his Mormon beliefs.

As part of the presentation of the Hero Awards 2017 at the Trevor Project live night, the US singer reported on his early childhood, his search for meaning in life and the role of Mormonism, which has had a strong impact on his life. As part of a Mormon family, Reynolds grew up with eight siblings. Unlike his older brothers, he failed to identify with faith and find hope in God. However, he was later sent to Nebraska as a missionary. After talking to his mother, he decided to put all his heart and soul into the job. He spent the next two years studying the Bible and knocking on thousands upon thousands of doors. Reynolds later apologized for portraying tolerance of same-sex love as something bad at the time. He further stated that he would love to undo what he had said, but that he was unable to do so, even if he had always known in his heart that what was being preached was wrong, and it had taken a long time for him to realize this . According to his own statements, Reynolds achieved his openness primarily through his current wife Aja Volkman , who was living with two lesbian friends at the time of their first meeting. Therefore, in the film Believer , Reynolds confronts the Mormon Church with its attitude towards the LGBTQ scene.

Already in It's Time , one of the first Imagine Dragons songs from 2012, Reynolds processed the experiences within his family. On February 1, 2017, the Imagine Dragons released the song of the same name, Believer , the title of which was adopted for the film. At the beginning it says: "I will say what I think because I am annoyed and tired of the way everything has been." That was the concert in Orem shown in the film on August 26, 2017 in favor of the LGBTQ community first of its kind for the Mormon Church. Reynolds told Deseret News : “LoveLoud is about bringing our community together to talk about how we can love our LGBTQ youth, how we can make them feel accepted and loved within the community so that these suicide rates drop.” The proceeds from the concert went completely to the LoveLoud Foundation, which supports the Utah Charities Encircle and Stand4Kind.

Mormons in the LGBT community

In a year of self-discovery, Reynolds had met with Mormon parents of children who had committed suicide after discovering they were homosexual. In Utah, teenage suicides had risen sharply, and in just five years the suicide rate among teenagers between the ages of 10 and 17 had more than doubled, while church leaders were unable to keep up with the pace at which LGTBQ rights were allowed have moved forward to keep up and accept the full legalization of same-sex marriage. The Church had also enabled children of Mormon LGBT parents to remain in their religious community only if, as adults, they publicly distanced themselves from their legal guardians.

production

Dan Reynolds at the screening of the film at the Montclair Film Festival in May 2018

In addition to Dan Reynolds , his wife Aja Volkman , lead singer of the band Nico Vega , also has a say in the film.

The shooting took place in Salt Lake City , the center of Mormonism , and the city of Orem , also in Utah , founded by the Mormon pioneers . Other locations were New York City and Las Vegas , where Reynolds was born in 1987.

The film music was composed by Hans Zimmer . Reynolds also wrote two songs for the film. The soundtrack was released by Interscope Records in June 2018.

In January 2018 it was announced that HBO Documentary Films had secured the US distribution rights to the film. HBO plans to add Believer to its program in summer 2018. The film premiered on January 20, 2018 as part of the Sundance Film Festival . It was shown at the Montclair Film Festival on May 5, 2018. The film was released in selected American cinemas on June 15, 2018.

reception

Reviews

Sean P. Means of the Salt Lake Tribune says Dan Reynolds of the Imagine Dragons shows humility and heart in this moving documentary.

Awards

Hollywood Film Awards 2018

Received the Hollywood Documentary Award

Hollywood Professional Association Awards 2018

Nomination in the category Outstanding Editing - Feature Film ( Demian Fenton )

Miami Film Festival 2018

Nomination for Best Documentary for the Knight Documentary Achievement Award ( Don Argott )

Web links

Commons : Believer - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Believer in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Keith L. Brown: Dan Reynolds to Spearhead LoveLoud Festival in Orem Utah to Support LGBTQ + Youth In: mormonmusic.org, August 25, 2017.

↑ Morgan Jones: Q and A: Imagine Dragons' lead singer Dan Reynolds talks music, Mormons and more In: Deseret News, August 16, 2017.

↑ Gavin Edward: Billboard Cover: Imagine Dragons on Being 'Atypical' Rock Stars, and Singer Dan Reynolds on His Depression Struggles and Conflicts With His Mormon Faith In: billboard.com, February 13, 2015.

↑ http://de.blastingnews.com/entertainment/2017/12/dan-reynolds-die-vorgeschichte-des-imagine-dragons-sangers-002200501.html

↑ http://variety.com/2017/film/news/imagine-dragons-dan-reynolds-confronts-mormon-churchs-lgbtq-stance-in-sundance-bound-doc-believer-1202626097/

↑ http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/05/dan-reynolds-its-time-is-a-song-i-wrote-at-a-low-point-in-my-life-3380799 /

↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/believer-review-1076472

↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/devinthorpe/2017/08/17/imagine-dragons-lead-dan-reynolds-hosts-festival-for-lgbtq-youth-with-blessing-of-lds-church /

↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/believer-review-1076472

↑ https://www.theutahreview.com/sundance-2018-believer-documentary-captures-inception-utahs-loveloud-movement-led-imagine-dragons-dan-reynolds/

↑ https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8095198/imagine-dragons-dan-reynolds-believer-hbo-documentary-exclusive-clip

↑ Hans Zimmer Scoring Don Argott's 'Believer' In: filmmusicreporter.com, November 29, 2017.

↑ http://filmmusicreporter.com/2018/06/22/dan-reynolds-hans-zimmers-skipping-stones-from-believer-released/

↑ http://deadline.com/2018/01/imagine-dragons-dan-reynolds-gay-rights-mormonism-believer-documentary-sundance-film-festival-live-nation-productions-1202234778/

↑ https://www.billboard.com/articles/events/sundance/8086028/imagine-dragons-hbo-dan-reynolds-sundance