Lamplighter Films

08/07/2020

So proud of Lamplighter collaborator and PRAY AWAY DP Melissa Langer for the well-deserved Emmy nom for Outstanding Cinematography for the Netflix series CHEER. Here's to you — and to the exciting new projects we're cooking up together!

08/03/2020

Inside the Telluride Film Festival That Would Have Been

We are thrilled to announce that PRAY AWAY has been selected for the 2020 Telluride Film Festival. Despite the in-person festival being cancelled this year, we are honored to be recognized alongside such an incredible group of films.

“[B]ecause our lineup is so small, it means that there's been a great amount of care," Telluride’s Julie Huntsinger tells The Hollywood Reporter. "This year, this is what we think you should look at.
”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/inside-2020-telluride-film-festival-would-have-been-1305547

The now canceled fall festival programmed 29 films, and tributes to Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins and Chloé Zhao, before a worsening pandemic drove executive director Julie Huntsinger to decide, "I don't want us to be part of a problem."

07/16/2020

Meet PRAY AWAY's exceptional Impact Producer Myles Markham, who shares his personal story of conversion therapy over at Pray Away Film.

Meet Myles Markham, PRAY AWAY's Impact Producer. For him, this project is personal. Here's his story...

I grew up in the Deep South in a mixed-race Christian family and sensed at an early age that my social survival would require trying my best to fit into dominant culture. While on one level I believed in God’s and my family’s unconditional love, my safety in the world more broadly felt tethered to trying to become as white, cisgender, and as heterosexual as possible.

I spent the next 7 years pleading with God to "heal" me from what I was taught was "gender confusion and same-sex attraction." I began pursuing “conversion” therapy and “ex-gay” ministry through online forums, Christian counseling, and 12 step recovery programs. All of these efforts left me ridden with anxiety and weekly panic attacks I wrote off as ‘spiritual warfare.’ I poured my heart into studying ‘biblical womanhood’, meditating on Scripture, and fasting. I tried dating one of the most thoughtful and kind men I will ever know and when that didn’t work out, I began to think instead about vocational celibacy. But all of this was to no avail. I lost weight, pigmentation in my skin, and my heart was literally giving out. No measure of reframing my pain could offset the despair I was spiraling toward.

During my last year of Bible college, I started meeting LGBTQ Christians and was transformed by their stories of healing -- healing not from who they were or how they loved -- but from the damage of the toxic myth that something is inherently wrong or sinful about being LGBTQ. While studying Scripture, theology, and the precedent set in history for the church to change its mind were all important to my process, nothing persuaded me more of the error in what I had been taught than finally acknowledging the pain; my own and that of the countless other LGBTQ people who didn’t and will not survive being made to feel like their faith requires the wholesale rejection of their culture, orientation, or gender identity.

Since 2013 I’ve been on a journey of unlearning and of healing. While it’s been a long road, I am now able to see myself as a whole, healthy, and embodied person. I finally believe in my bones that I truly belong within the family of God because of my queer and trans identities, not in spite of them.

07/15/2020

Facebook, Instagram to remove content that promotes conversion therapy | We Are All Born Perfect

via Pray Away Film: Thanks to the work of Born Perfect, Facebook and Instagram have banned all content that promotes conversion therapy on their platforms by classifying it as hate speech.

Facebook and Instagram will exclude content that promotes conversion therapy. Born Perfect worked with Facebook on this initiative.

06/18/2020

Pray Away Film

The PRAY AWAY team is celebrating this week's landmark Supreme Court decision protecting gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. We extend our congratulations and gratitude to the coalition of organizations, including PRAY AWAY partners PFLAG National, The National Center for Lesbian Rights, and The Trevor Project for their work on this case ensuring that the laws of our country recognize LGBTQ personhood and dignity.

We also know legislation alone can't prevent discrimination. This victory comes on the heels of the tragic murders of at least 15 trans and gender-nonconforming people this year alone, including most recently Riah Milton and Rem’mie Fells. As we celebrate this milestone, we reflect on the words from one of the early movement’s Black trans leaders, Marsha P. Johnson, who said, “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”

We celebrate this incredible milestone alongside recognizing all the work left to be done.

06/02/2020

Lamplighter Films stands with Black filmmakers, Black communities, and all currently working towards justice, equity, and dignity.

As we get our company off the ground, we commit to learning from, joining and amplifying those efforts.

05/28/2020

Tribeca Film Institute Winds Down Operations, Will Close Completely in September

Lamplighter Films is saddened to hear of the Tribeca Film Institute's closure in response to the economic challenges of the COVID pandemic. TFI was an early and consistent supporter of Pray Away Film. Without their team, in particular their director of documentary programming Jose Rodriguez, we could not have gotten our debut feature off the ground.

We send them our sincere gratitude today for all they've done for independent filmmakers.

Tribeca leaders left open the possibility that TFI could rise again.

05/25/2020

Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Kristine Stolakis – “Pray Away”

"My own filmmaking practice starts in deep research. I have a background in cultural anthropology, and before I zone in on how I want to tell I story, I like to be steeped in the topic as much as I can. My research eventually led me to former leaders who had since come out, denounced the movement, and are now working to stop it. This moment, of finding these former leaders’ online apologies, was when I transitioned from being a filmmaker with a seed of an idea to a director determined to make a film."

In an interview with Women & Hollywood, Lamplighter's Kristine Stolakis discusses how Pray Away went from idea to documentary feature.

For more on Pray Away Film (plus women in film, funding for documentaries, and Bend it Like Beckham!) read the full interview here: https://womenandhollywood.com/tribeca-2020-women-directors-meet-kristine-stolakis-pray-away/

Kristine Stolakis is a director whose films explore power, politics, and prejudice — and the way they unfold in real people’s lives. Stolakis’ directorial debut, “The Typist,” cracked open the untold story of a closeted Korean War veteran tasked with writing the military dishonorable disch...

05/21/2020

Documentary Happy Hour

Lamplighter's Kristine Stolakis sat down with Alix Blair for Documentary Happy Hour. Such an honor to be included in the company of Dawn Porter, Jasmin López, Lana Wilson, David Osit, and Alexandria Bombach among others.

Join Kristine and Alix for a cup of tea and a wide ranging conversation about Pray Away Film observational filmmaking, public radio, bluegrass music and more!

We come together, apart. We talk a while about documentary filmmaking. We have a drink.

05/18/2020

Pray Away Film

From director Kristine Stolakis: "Sometimes when you're making a documentary, you film a moment so special that on a cellular level you know, almost instantaneously, that what you've captured will undeniably make its way into your final film.

This might not seem significant, but most documentaries gather over a hundred hours of footage, if not more, that we then painstakingly edit down to ninety minutes of content. Having this confidence that you've captured one minute of those ninety *in the very moment you are documenting it* is rare, and it's incredibly special.

This was the exact experience I had sitting in the interview chair across from Julie Rodgers as she described the nuts and bolts of her experience in a conversion therapy program for my debut feature documentary PRAY AWAY. Her honesty and nuance, her bravery in sharing intimate and painful details about a program that continues to this day to counsel youth, was undeniably powerful. Our exceptional cinematographer Melissa Langer and I couldn't help but hold our breath. This was the inside look at the "pray the gay away" movement we'd been working to film for years. If we feel this impacted now in Julie's living room, I thought, what will it feel like when the world gets to hear her story?

There was a moment like this with every person we filmed with for PRAY AWAY. These moments make PRAY AWAY what it is.

I hope you are just as moved by our film's sneak peek as I was when I first sat down with Julie. We can't wait to share the full film with you soon."

In the 1970s, five men struggling with being gay in their Evangelical church started a bible study to help each other leave the "homosexual lifestyle." They quickly received over 25,000 letters from people asking for help and formalized as Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world.

Julie Rodgers is one of hundreds of thousands of people caught in Exodus’ wake. When she came out at sixteen, her mom took her to a residential conversion therapy program where she spent the next decade going through weekly psychological, behavioral, and religious counseling to make her straight.

But leaders struggled with a secret: their own “same-sex attractions” never went away. After years as Christian superstars in the religious right, many have come out as LGBTQ, disavowing the very movement they helped start. PRAY AWAY chronicles that movement’s rise to power, persistent influence, and the harm it causes.

05/12/2020

'Through the Night' - Critics' Picks: 10 Highlights From SXSW and Tribeca Online

Wow! The Hollywood Reporter has named PRAY AWAY a Top 10 film from SXSW and Tribeca! Such an honor to be included among these exceptional films and filmmakers. Follow Pray Away Film for updates on how and where to see this "Critics' Pick!"

Tribeca

05/12/2020

PRAY AWAY

In PRAY AWAY, the debut feature from Lamplighter Films and director Kristine Stolakis, former leaders of the "pray the gay away" movement contend with the aftermath unleashed by their actions, while a survivor seeks healing and acceptance from more than a decade of trauma.

Learn more and sign up for updates about Pray Away Film at www.prayawayfilm.com.

05/11/2020

Lamplighter Films

Lamplighter Films is live! Check out our new website and stay tuned here for updates. We're excited to have you along for the ride!

Lamplighter Films is an independent production company whose critically-acclaimed films shine a light on extraordinary stories on the issues of our times. We value artistry, research, and attention to ethical and inclusive production practices to make films that reach the widest audience possible. Lamplighter Films is named after the childhood street of director Kristine Stolakis who believes that the seeds of great ideas come from your own backyard.

Lamplighter's debut feature PRAY AWAY (Tribeca 2020) takes you inside the history and continuation of the “pray the gay away” or ex-gay movement, and is a Multitude Films production in association with Blumhouse.

www.lamplighterfilms.com

Lamplighter Films is an independent production company whose critically-acclaimed films shine a light on extraordinary stories on the issues of our times. We value artistry, research, and attention to ethical and inclusive production practices to make films that reach the widest audience possible. L...

05/07/2020

Lamplighter Films's cover photo

05/07/2020

Lamplighter Films

08/21/2018

IFP Project Forum Complete List – 2018 IFP Week

We are elated that PRAY AWAY (directed by Kristine Stolakis and produced by Jessica Devaney) has been invited to IFP's Spotlight on Documentaries! It is an honor to be a part of such a fantastic group of films and filmmakers.

The Independent Filmmaker Project fosters the development, production and promotion of hundreds of feature and documentary films a year.

06/04/2018

Where We Stand

We are delighted to have Paper Bridge's Where We Stand be a part of such an exciting museum exhibition in Chicago this summer. Details below!

We are *elated* to be a featured artist in the Reinterpreting Religion exhibition on display at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago!

Midwest friends and followers, please consider checking out this amazing collection of artists exploring themes of religion and gender in diverse spiritual communities today. The exhibition is on display until July 29th!

05/01/2018

ATTLA documentary film

Happy belated George Attla Day from the ATTLA documentary film team! We cannot wait to share his moving life story with the world.

A new documentary film featuring the legendary dogsled champion George Attla.

05/01/2018

Independent Lens - Independent Documentary Films | PBS

Congratulations to ATTLA Executive Producer Jamie Meltzer and the True Conviction team on their PBS premiere last night!

True Conviction begins streaming online today. We hope you take a moment to watch this compelling and important film.

Independent Documentary Films

11/14/2017

High North News

Thank you, High North News, for profiling our upcoming ATTLA documentary film. We're looking forward to sharing it with audiences soon!

Little known outside of Alaska, an upcoming documentary film explores the life of the legendary sprint dog-sled racer, George Attla.

08/04/2017

Vimeo

This week Where We Stand by director Kristine Stolakis is featured on Vimeo's curated channel Rise Up alongside outstanding work by other independent filmmakers.

Hope you have a moment to watch, learn, and be inspired!

Global activism, captured on 🎥. http://vim.io/2vjsfl6

07/28/2017

KQED Truly CA

We are honored for The Typist to have its California debut on KQED Truly CA this week. Hope you have a moment to watch, like, and share, and thanks to KQED for your support of independent filmmakers.

'The Typist' offers a look at the Korean War through the eyes of Otto Bremerman who served as an office clerk with a unique dilemma. As much a story about history as it is about human hypocrisy, Bremerman struggles to reconcile his task of issuing dishonorable discharges to LGBTQ serviceman, all the while living as a closeted man himself.

Watch it now---> http://bit.ly/2h6eTTj

06/26/2017

The Typist by Kristine Stolakis | Documentary Short Film

Thrilled to announce that The Typist is an official selection over at Short of the Week! Hope you have a moment to take a peek.

#LGBTQ #LGBT #gay #history #americanhistory #indie #womeninfilm #pridemonth #pride

Watch The Typist by Kristine Stolakis on Short of the Week—a Documentary about Identity in Found Footage—USA, 8 min

06/23/2017

The Typist

Today, we are elated to share that The Typist by Paper Bridge Film's Kristine Stolakis is a Staff Pick on Vimeo!

We hope you take a moment to learn one man's story from #LGBTQ history this #Pride month.

"From the archives of the “queer Smithsonian,” San Francisco’s GLBT Historical Society, comes the forgotten history of a gay Korean War veteran tasked with writing the military discharges of outed gay seamen. The Typist details a conflicted clerk’s participation in discrimination and his divided allegiance to homosexuality and heroism."

#pride #pridemonth #lgbtq #lgbt #history

From the archives of the “queer Smithsonian,” San Francisco’s GLBT Historical Society, comes the forgotten history of a gay Korean War veteran…

06/21/2017

Instagram post by Kristine Stolakis • Feb 21, 2017 at 11:02pm UTC

When we started this page, we had big plans to post a lot to keep you updated on everything we are working on. But then, we remembered that documentary filmmaking, despite being a wonderful process, is a very slow process. So while we’ve been working hard, we don't always have the most to share.

Instead, we’ve decided to do a Paper Bridge Films round-up here on Facebook every month or so to keep you up to date. (Don't worry, we'll still post the exciting stuff when it happens.) Hope you enjoy.

PAPER BRIDGE FILMS ROUND-UP #1

*Paper Bridge director Kristine Stolakis had a wonderful community screening of Where We Stand in conjunction with the SFFILM's Education Department at St. Mary’s High School earlier this June. We discussed the importance of supporting young women interested in pursuing film, and we enjoyed the incredible talent displayed by St. Mary’s students who showcased their own original films that evening. The future of filmmaking is bright!

*Where We Stand was picked-up by ABC2! We are thrilled to get to share the film on Australian television, and thanks to our distributor Journeyman Pictures for helping making this happen.

*Paper Bridge director Catharine Axley is hard at work editing our first feature film, ATTLA documentary film. ATTLA tells the story of legendary dogsled champion George Attla and is excitingly being made for public television. Many thanks to Bay Area cinematographer/producer Melissa Langer for helping get the film finished. Stay tuned for more on ATTLA in the coming months.

*And finally, we've also begun research on our next feature documentary on the history and ramifications of the conversion therapy movement, also known as the “pray the gay away” movement. Paper Bridge director Kristine Stolakis has been traveling the country over the past few months researching for the film. We are also delighted to have received development funding from the Hartley Film Foundation. As the project develops, you'll surely be hearing more.

#documentary #film #independentfilm #womeninfilm

84 Likes, 7 Comments - Kristine Stolakis (@kstolak) on Instagram: “Just another day in the office . . . #documentary #documentaryfilm #womeninfilm #orlando #indiefilm”