HJEM PRODUKSJONER JAN DALCHOW GWD PRODUCTION FILMCENTRALEN ENGLISH VOICEOVER KONTAKT

DIRTY, SINFUL ME (BE - SKITNE, SYNDIGE MEG)

Our objective in producing this film is to disclose Christian oppression of homosexuals and to show the consequences this has for individuals and their lives.

Click here to download a clip from the film (10MB).
 
This is a story about love, faith, conflict, tragedy and the search for answers. Answers about how persons who believe in God and who fall in love with a member of their own sex can survive.


Jesus, my Lord and my Savior, what is your will for my life? I have praised you, I have prayed and I have shared testimonies. Even so I have to ask you: what is your will for my life? How can I serve you, I who have lost you in sin every day of the week by lusting after my brothers, my very best friends with the desire that has been created to exist between a man and a woman? God, what do you want, is it to make me feel dirty?
 
The above words are from the diary of Bjørn Erik written when he was twenty. On October 20, 1992, about 9:30 p.m., he left his home at Nesbru, a suburb of Oslo, and has never been seen since.

Bjørn Erik was both Christian and homosexual, two elements in his life he couldn’t manage to reconcile.
 
Yes, yes, now I have it. Bjørn Erik’s theater performance is over for this time. The last act is being performed now, when the curtain shall fall no one knows. I am glad it will be over, it is not easy to play a role, especially when one is always playing the major role of his life. (From Bjørn Erik’s diary.)

              

 Bjørn Erik’s sister Mai-Britt, his senior of three years, says there is no doubt in her mind that her younger brother took his own life even though he has never been found. The last traces of Bjørn Erik were at Semsvann, a lake, in Asker, where his jacket was discovered. She now wants to tell his story in order to bring the situation of many Christian homosexuals out into the open. She hopes that this will help in the prevention of other tragedies.
 
But how is it possible to live as a Christian if you are gay? Is homosexuality a sin or not? Is there a solution? And if there is, who can provide it for us?
 
We shall introduce two men who each present an answer, though their solutions greatly differ.

Jan-Aage Torp is a minister of the Gospel and the leader of Seierskirken (the Victory Church), an independent congregation in the Pentecostal movement. He believes that the Church of Norway is much to blame for gays being shoved aside. The official church forgets that there are persons behind the “façade of homosexuality” who need hope and an offer of help. Through his offer “To freedom” he assists many individuals who struggle with their homosexuality. He counsels homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals to a life within what he considers to be God’s perfect plan. He helps them to be liberated, i.e. to be heterosexual. He calls this “sexual restoration.”
 
Homosexuality does not come from God! Homosexuality is the devil’s attempt to destroy God’s creation! No one is intended to live as a homosexual! With Divine help it is possible to be liberated from homosexuality—you can be free. (From Good News for Homosexuals by Jan-Aage Torp.)
 
The Victory Church is a member of Exodus International, an umbrella organization for the ex-gay movement. Exodus was founded in the USA in 1976 and has about two hundred member congregations around the world.
 
Through Jan-Aage we wish to give a much deeper and more basic description of sexual restoration (homosexual healing) than what has been presented in the media in recent years. He sincerely believes that the problems experienced by homosexuals are the result of their sinful nature and can be resolved through sexual restoration, even though he admits that in recent years both his attitudes and the attitudes of society also affect the life-quality of homosexuals. This has taught him much about how he has personally contributed in shoving gays aside.

Nils Jøran Riedl is a trained theologian who entered into partnership with Petter Møller in 1993 (the second legal partnership couple in Norway). He has served as leader of Open Church Group (Åpen Kirkegruppe), an ecumenical fellowship of gays and lesbians with members representing several Christian denominations. Nils Jøran continues to officiate at services of Holy Communion in Open Church Group. He believes that God has called him to the ministry, but also acknowledges that the Church of Norway is not “open” or “mature” enough to certify his ordination. He believes that Bjørn Erik could have been helped out of his dilemma if the church had shown more tolerance.

 
Jan-Aage and Nils Jøran do not agree on any solution, but both agree that the Church of Norway must accept much of the blame for many of the tragic situations relating to gays. What they consider to be solutions, however, are based on widely differing premises.

Nils Jøran, Jan-Aage and Bjørn Erik - through Mai-Britt and his diary - are the leading persons in the film. The film focuses on how a person can live as both a homosexual and a Christian. The conflict is between the solutions presented by Nils Jøran and Jan-Aage.

WE LEARN ABOUT THE EXPERIENCES OF PEOPLE IN NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES
 
We journey with Jan-Aage to Stockholm. There we meet Ulf Lidman who for seven years believed he had succeeded in overcoming his homosexuality. He married a woman and wrote a book about how he was restored. That much greater the shock when he again came to the realization that he was still attracted to men.

He has done some real soul-searching and feels he is once again a whole person. He has managed to integrate his sexuality and Christian faith in a manner he never thought possible. He is now studying for the ministry and working to help the Church of Sweden take a stand against the “restoration” of gays. Ulf has painful first-hand experience of the tragic consequences this may have. His best friend shot himself when he saw that God couldn’t make him heterosexual. Ulf wants to tell Jan-Aage about his personal experiences.
 
Nils Jøran has a dream that the Church of Norway will soon achieve “openness.” That the church will be open to gay pastors, the ordination of gays and lesbians, and that it take a stand against so-called sexual restoration. That the church, in other words, be open and mature enough to treat homosexuals like anyone else.

Just a few hours from Norway, in Denmark, the national church has come much further. There is no problem for homosexuals, who have entered into partnership, to be ordained as pastors. This has been the case for several years now, and has hardly been an issue for debate. The marriage of gays in the church has, however, met with some resistance. In spite of this, the bishops have concluded that a special service of blessing may be held for gay couples. This is Utopia for Nils Joeran. Together we travel to Copenhagen to meet with Ivan Larsen.
 
Ivan is the parish pastor in St. Stefan’s Church. He entered into partnership in 1989 with psychologist Ove Carlsen. They are the second couple in the world to enter into legal partnership. Ivan now “marries” other gay couples in his church.
 
Ivan has very good experiences with openness toward homosexuals in the Danish national church. Much groundwork has been done to create a place for homosexuals within the framework of the national church. He knows this has helped many Christian gays to understand that they, too, are created in the image of God. He is convinced that openness saves lives.

Bjørn Erik’s sister Mai-Britt is convinced that openness on the part of the church would have helped her brother. It appears as though the topic is too difficult for the Church of Norway to face up to; the church would rather pretend that there is no problem.
 
The church must soon face up to the seriousness of stamping Christian gays as sinful that is synonymous with their love. Hope quickly vanishes when one is placed outside the fence, so to speak, regarding fellowship with God. Life can then be difficult for many to tackle. What then becomes of love for one’s neighbor? asks Mai-Britt.
 
Through our documentation of exciting meetings and conversations the viewers will be surprised, provoked and involved in a debate that in time may prove to be determinative for the future of the Church of Norway.

Production/ distribution

Directed by: Trond Winterkjær / Jan Dalchow
Produced by: Ivan Gasparini / Jan Dalchow

50 min, Digital Betacam 16:9

gwd production 2000


 
Sales contact:
TV 2 / Danmark Programme Sales
Contact person: Lone Borsing
Phone: +45 35 37 22 00
Fax: +45 35 37 22 27
E-mail: sales@tv2.dk
 
Festivals:
The Norwegian Film Institute
Contact person: Toril Simonsen
Phone: +47 22474500
Fax: +47 474597
E-mail: torils@nfi.no

Publicity stills for download:
01maibritt.jpg
02bjoernerik.jpg
03bjoernerik.jpg
04bjoernerik.jpg
05nilspetter.jpg

Bjørn Eriks parents, Anne-Lise and Jan Erik Andersen, are very open for response and communication with their audience. They can be reached via e-mail: jeri-and@(remove this)frisurf.no

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