God Is American

God Is American
Directed byRichard Martin-Jordan [fr]
Written byRichard Martin-Jordan
Produced byPalladium Productions
Release date
  • 2007 (2007)
Running time
52 min
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

God Is American (French: Dieu est américain) is a 2007 French documentary film written, directed and produced by Richard Martin-Jordan [fr]. The film is about a religion invented in Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

Plot

The documentary examines a religion practiced on Tanna, an island in the Vanuatu archipelago. Its followers pray in front of an American flag to a prophet named John Frum. According to believers, Frum was an American pilot who once landed on the island, who return one day with bounty they call the Cargo.

Criticism

The shooting of that film was controversial in Vanuatu; the film was accused of being pseudo-anthropological. Some viewers on the YouTube version of this film have noted that the captions incorrectly translate the subjects' Bislama words into English,[original research?] and other viewers have pointed out that the narrator takes a condescending view towards the people who are the film's subjects.[citation needed]

Awards

This film was selected in 95 festivals worldwide, it has won 20 awards:

References

  1. 1 2 "Dieu est américain". Film-documentaire.fr (in French). Retrieved 2025-11-18.
  2. ↑ Dunne, Susan (28 March 2010). "APRIL SHOWERS US WITH FILM FESTIVALS ACROSS STATE: IN MIDDLETOWN, NEW LONDON, HARTFORD AND KENT". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2025-11-18 – via ProQuest.
  3. ↑ Hughes, Mike (14 October 2010). "The East Lansing Film Festival returns". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved 2025-11-18 – via ProQuest.