Read how filmmaker Nancy du Plessis handled Mormon authorities, young men on her doorstep and her devoted cat.

How did you first meet the young men and women profiled in your film?

The three young men that I followed in GET THE FIRE! were presented to me by the Mormon Church’s Public Relations Department. I had requested help in locating three who were being sent to Germany. I went to Salt Lake City and met the three boys separately, talked with them and their parents about the film, and got their permission a few days before they received the news about where they were being sent.

My first contact with young Mormon missionaries had been years before when I was attending German language classes: from time to time, in the morning, the subway train was full of clean-cut young men, all wearing dark suits and white shirts and ties, looking very out of place. Then, after I had shot a film with a German in Ghana, I was working on post-production one Sunday afternoon when the doorbell rang. I opened it to a single young man, dressed like the others, who asked in bad German if he could talk with me “about God”.

I was horrified—a New Yorker in her right mind doesn’t let in a single young man to talk with her about anything! The fact that just at that very moment I had been telling a friend how I’d discovered Ghana to be over-run with missionaries intensified my reaction to that young man. A year later, I was riding the train, when a soft voice said tentatively, “Oh, what a pretty coat you’re wearing! Did your aunt give it to you?” I looked up in shock: it was anything but a pretty coat. It was a ratty old ratty fur whose sole attraction was in keeping me warm. The voice belonged to a young woman who was wearing a badge identifying her as a Mormon sister missionary. She went on and on about how wonderful it was to be in a foreign country. She was nice, but also seemed totally out of place. I hadn’t known there were girl missionaries.

Months later, I looked her up. She and her female companion explained to my friend and me about the young, full-time Mormon missionary program—and I decided it was a subject.

Why did you choose to make a film about the Mormon missionary program? What sparked your interest about this rite of passage?

I love long-term observational studies: I enjoy seeing how people change. My only earlier contact with Mormons had been hearing about Mormon-wife-and-mother Sonia Johnson’s ex-communication for having come out in support of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, so I was rather surprised to learn that there were any girl missionaries at all. At first, I would have liked to just follow a girl, but as I was developing my project I got more ambitious. It was also obvious that the almost obligatory two-year mission for boys (as opposed to one-and-a-half years for girls, who are not encouraged to go on missions) was the real story. Beyond that, I am fascinated by cross-cultural themes, “American innocents abroad”, as well as questions of belief and behavior.

Was it difficult to get permission from the Mormon Church to make this film? What were their concerns?

When I requested permission, I had been researching for almost two years and had developed a good relationship with the then Mission President, who liked the idea of making a film. When I received permission, he told me that there had been a significant loosening up with the media following the Living-Prophet-and-President-of-the-Church’s TV interview with Mike Wallace some years earlier.

The Mormon authorities didn’t want me to interfere or try to influence the outcome of the mission in any way. That was fine with me! I wanted to observe. To obtain authorization to film, I had to agree that I would throw away all the material should my subject give up and go home. So to hedge my bets, I had to follow three young men (instead of just one). It was very suspenseful the whole time: even assuming they all made it through, was I going to be able to make a story that hung together out of what I had managed to tape?

Hoping to show the differences between male and female realities on a mission, I did also follow one young woman. Unfortunately, her arrival coincided with a newly arrived Mormon Authority who imposed severe restrictions—14 months into the shoot. After I had to explain that he could not control the contents of my independent film, I suddenly was no longer allowed to set foot in the missionaries' apartments. I could only shoot in members' homes and public places, where the sound quality was miserable.

What do you hope to achieve with this film?

In GET THE FIRE! I approach the full-time, young Mormon mission as a rite of passage. Not only did I study anthropology and learn to think in such terms, but as Mormon parents always say, "They go away boys and come home men!"

I planned a strictly observational film, following a young Mormon from before the mission until after the end. Although the first missionary who ever approached me was a young "sister", it became obvious that this is a boys' story: young men have long missions and as Mormon males, have more responsibilities (and advantages) than their "sisters" who are not encouraged to go on missions, and instead are supposed to marry early and bear children. But my film was not intended to be about sexual inequality among the Mormons. Nor was it meant to explain Mormon history or beliefs: it was supposed to show the mission as the stage for the transition from Mormon childhood to adulthood.

Because my subjects chose not to respond to any number of questions, and I needed answers as well as divergent viewpoints to tell the whole story, I later taped former missionaries who did address these issues. At the same time, since I had observed the full-time missionaries for 26.5 months, I did not make the former missionaries’ elaborations an equal part of the film.

I would like viewers to get a sense of what the 60,000 young people who are knocking on doors and approaching people in public transportation and pedestrian zones and saying the same thing in lots of different languages all over the world are about. I did not make a film about the Mormon Church. I made a film about young people who went through this experience and came to different conclusions. Because I do not give so much detailed information about Mormons, viewers can meditate on the effects of authority and socialization of all young people. For more specific details, people can browse the Internet.

What didn’t you get done when you were making your film?

It was impossible to have a social life of any kind. Even my cat felt ignored. The people who were working with me were my only family. (Fortunately, my cat stuck by me—until the heavy editing phase: that was too much, even for him.) My parents ended by being very patient and understanding, once they recognized that it really was better not to have me around on holidays when I was completely obsessed with the filmmaking and the many emergencies and problems that come with it. Now I’ve got a good deal of celebrating to make up for!

If you could have one motto, what would it be?

Seize the day! (And get good sound.)