Deadline Hollywood:
Alex Gibney Scientology Documentary Highlights Specialty Box Office Weekend
http://deadline.com/2015/03/going-c...ex-gibney-scientology-documentary-1201391786/
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Oscar-winner Alex Gibney has taken on organized religion before but his latest documentary, Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief, has turned into a head-on collision with church officials. The film bows this weekend in limited theatrical release by HBO, and is the most notable of the weekend’s new specialty releases.
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Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief
Director-writer: Alex Gibney
Writer: Lawrence Wright (book)
Subjects: Paul Haggis, Lawrence Wright, Mike Rinder, Mary Rathbun, Jason Beghe
Distributor: HBO Docs
Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Gibney turns the spotlight on Scientology two years after he went after the Catholic Church in 2012’s Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God (also an HBO film).
Based on Lawrence Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book of nearly the same name, Going Clear profiles eight Scientology members, including A-list Hollywood celebrities such as Haggis. The doc details how the church cultivates true believers, their experiences and what they are willing to do in the name of their religion.
The film highlights the church’s origins with founder L. Ron Hubbard, a science-fiction writer, to its Hollywood prominence. Going Clear‘s core, though, is a series of shocking revelations by former insiders, including high-ranking, recognizable members who describe a systematic history of abuse and betrayal of church officials, including current leadership. Going Clear also moves beyond the book’s allegations to new ones, such as alleged harassment of Nicole Kidman, the former wife of church titan Tom Cruise.
“I was interested in Wright’s book because it was a deep dive into the psychology of blind faith,” said Gibney. “It certainly helped to explain Scientology, but also put in perspective what is going on broadly today, whether it be ISIS, or people’s unyielding belief in politicians or religions.”
Ahead of its Sundance premiere, Scientology began a media assault on Gibney and the film, taking out ads in major newspapers and posting heavily on he internet. Gibney said the church’s tactics were a step beyond from past forms of what he describes as harassment against perceived enemies.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Gibney said. “What surprised me was how frontal [their response] has been. In the past, Scientology would smear its critics behind the scenes…but this was very much out front with full-page ads in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.”
Gibney began working on Going Clear two years ago with HBO, BSkyB and Content Media (which owns half of Gibney’s company Jigsaw). The big-screen version of Going Clear features on-screen interviews with individuals who participated in Wright’s book, including filmmaker Haggis and others.
“I’d say it took a certain amount of work to get some people to appear,” said Gibney. “It’s one thing to be in a book but when your face is out there, you become a much more public figure. And frankly, the film will reach many more people than the book did. So I think there was pause. I think there was also pause because they knew what kind of abuse they would be in for, and now I’ve seen it.”
Going Clear will open theatrically in L.A., New York and San Francisco ahead of its HBO premiere March 29.
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:surprise1:
:mindblow:
:dance2:
Daddy is coming for you Davy and he's angry really angry 
