I Am Jesus

Italy

2010

75 Min

Color

1.78:1

English, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, German

Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

DIR Valerie Gudenus, Heloísa Sartorato

SCR Heloísa Sartorato, Valerie Gudenus

DP Heloísa Sartorato, Valerie Gudenus

CAST David Shayler, Inri Cristo, Vissarion

SOUND Matteo Bernacchi

São Paulo (New Filmmakers Competition), Rotterdam

Synopsis

I Am Jesus is a documentary that portrays three communities that have formed around different characters claiming to be the Second Coming of Christ. An organic farming community in Siberia has evolved around a charismatic, but introvert man called Vissarion. His teachings focus on developing a society prepared to survive in a scarce future. In Brazil INRI Cristo, a simple but educated man has become a media phenomenon. While appearing in almost every TV show of the country he has built a safe haven for his mainly female followers. David Shayler is a former secret service agent in the UK who has become spiritual after going to prison. He is part of a young squatting community fighting capitalism and rejecting the system. The documentary shows the everyday life of each community and explores differences and similarities between them while raising questions about leadership and spiritual belonging.
I AM JESUS has been screened at: Zagreb Film Festival 2010, Mostra Sao Paulo International Film Festival 2010, Festival dei Popoli Firenze 2010, International Film Festival Rotterdam 2010, Hot Docs 2011, DOXA Documentary Film Festival 2011, Warsaw Film Festival 2011, Leeds International Film Festival 2011, Lago Film Fest 2011

–Fabrica

Director

Valerie Gudenus

Valerie Gudenus (Vienna, Austria, 1984) studied graphic design and advertising at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. She spent one semester in Brisbane, Australia where she discovered her passion for film and video, working on animations, music videos and a short documentary. She graduated from university in 2008 and found her way to Fabrica, Benetton’s Research Centre on Communication, by winning a poster
competition about freedom of speech. After eight months of exploring visual communication she started focusing on film and video. In Fabrica she has been working on a commercial for Colors Magazine 75, a short documentary Making Colors, a glimpse behind the scenes of Colors Magazine 75 and a music video for Iranian musician Mohsen
Namjoo. Her latest project is I am Jesus a documentary about the Second Coming of Christ. Now she is is working on a new documentary project in India.–Fabrica

Heloísa Sartorato

Heloisa Sartorato (São Paulo, Brazil, 1984) studied Radio and TV Communication Sciences at the Universidade Metodista in São Paulo, Brazil. Afterwards she worked as production assistant and then as director
assistant at the film production company Cinemacentro Filmes.

In 2006 she worked as DOP assistant with the photographer Marcelo Yamada, for the brazilian TV Rede Record and she was in the team of the fictions Cidadao Brasileiro and Luz do Sol.

In 2008 Heloisa was awarded a scholarship at Fabrica, Benetton’s communication research centre in Italy, where she realized a series of
interviews for Colors Magazine nb. 75. Her latest project is I am Jesus a documentary about the Second Coming of Christ.
She is currently working for Fremantle Media production, based in Brazil.