Manifest Destiny Jesus (2021 | USA | 40 minutes | Josh Aaseng, Daemond Arrindell & T. Geronimo Johnson)
Local Sightings’ 2021 Closing Night Film, another (in this year’s generally hybrid program) which is only available with an in-person screening and no fest virtual component, is a documentary about colonialism and how that intersects with racial justice, gentrification, and religious faith in Seattle.
If that sounds a bit unfocused, maybe too wide of a subject area for one 40-minute film to attack with any depth, that’s because in some ways it is. But Josh Aaseng, Daemond Arrindell & T. Geronimo Johnson’s co-directorial effort has its eyes on big ideas, and holding on to all the threads it tries to pull together is certainly a worthwhile endeavor.
This documentary’s format is mostly built around talking-heads interviews with Seattle community members, some of whom are at odds with each other. One particularly effective sequence features Ian Eisenberg (proprietor of the controversial Uncle Ike’s local chain of cannabis shops) basically defending the concept of gentrification (“20 years ago gentrification meant the economic revival of a neighborhood, and the city encouraged it!”), intercut with a Black minister talking about the concrete ways in which the gentrification driven by businesses like Eisenberg’s has directly contributed to worsening quality of life for people of color in his neighborhood.
Eventually the documentary’s narrative, such as there is one, seems to coalesce around a church in Columbia City whose congregation and leadership are focused on racial justice. They noticed that their stained-glass image of (white) Jesus had a particularly commanding posture, dubbed it with the nickname from which the film takes its title, and created some alternative artwork to better represent their values.
There’s some reckoning with America’s “manifest destiny” colonialist underpinnings and with Seattle’s specific growth driving displacement, first of Indigenous peoples and then of people of color, with some touching on redlining, housing covenants, and other historical legal tools of white supremacy. Local politician and activist Nikkita Oliver shows up to shed a bit of light on those details. But most of what the film seems concerned with is Christianity’s awkward intersection with white supremacy – often being used as a tool to spread and enforce cultural hegemony – while religion also personally informs and enriches the spiritual lives of many of those interviewed. If there is one thesis to this film, it’s not clear enough to restate in a sentence, but it chews on some interesting subject matter and leaves its audience with plenty of food for thought and conversation going forward.
Manifest Destiny Jesus is playing tonight, September 26th, in-person only as the Closing Night Film of the Local Sightings Film Festival; it’s one of the only films of the fest without a virtual component, but will actually soon be available virtually via Northwest Film Forum for the entire month of October.
Follow other updates from this year’s festival via our Local Sightings 2021 coverage.