Film on Jesus Focuses on Mormon Beliefs

LAIE, Hawaii--Oscar-winning director Kieth Merrill didn’t film his spectacular mini-epic about Jesus Christ appearing in ancient America for commercial success, he said, but to present a distinctive belief of his Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Free showings of the 65-minute “The Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd,” shot mostly on Kauai, began at the church’s Polynesian Cultural Center this week. It already is being shown at Mormon visitors centers in Salt Lake City and suburban Washington, D.C.

According to the faith’s Book of Mormon, Jews migrated to the New World centuries before Jesus Christ and taught the same beliefs, then Jesus himself came to minister after his resurrection.

Merrill said he believes those events are true, though he used invented characters and composites in the film version. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley had final approval of the script.