Every
year the Pentecostal Movement hosts a major camp meeting conference in
Husbondliden, a village in the north of Sweden. The meadows are filled
with tents and caravans. During meetings people present subjects for
prayers and receive intercessions. You Have to Believe revolves around
these camp meetings. The point of departure is the connection between
prayer and the placebo effect. To make intercessions is basically a
very nice idea. However, a great deal of faith is required in order to
create an answer to these prayers.
The documentary feature of the film changes into a more personal
storytelling where my family's relation to the place is brought out as
well as my own relation, or capacity, to pray for others. My role today
as a film-maker instead of a participant is made clear and becomes a
standpoint in itself. The repetition of an event, in the past and the
present time, shows us that the camp meeting is a timeless
zone to some extent – new children grow up within the movement
but the same miracles and healings take place.
You Have to Believe is a personal documentary where memory is
investigated – the memory of a place and a way of looking at
reality. However, this personal story is told by a traditional male
voice over in order to show the generally applicable aspect of the
private and the fictionalization of our own memories.
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