Our Gods are Real
Devil worshippers. Sex cultists. Devotees of the tentacled Old Gods. Fake cult grifters. All are chronicled by a documentary crew as they show their subjects are really just everyday people who do everyday things, ranging from laundry to human sacrifice, leading up to and during their biggest annual event: Cult Con.
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Brian FH ClementDirectorDark Paradox, Meat Market, Exhumed
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Brian FH ClementWriterDark Paradox, Meat Market, Exhumed
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Arinn WestendorfProducer
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Chloë LaiKey Cast"Chloë"
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Arinn WestendorfKey Cast"Arinn"
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Brian FH ClementKey Cast"Brian"
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Medha GauthamKey Cast"Jaya"
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Brad MacneilKey Cast"Derek"
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Edwin PerezKey Cast"Francis"
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Tatiana AlexeevaKey Cast"Tiffany"
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Dakota VeghKey Cast"Marv"
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Sara BynoeKey Cast"Carly"
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Rob HuntDOP
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Project Type:Feature
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Genres:comedy, horror, mockumentary
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Runtime:1 hour 38 minutes
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Completion Date:February 28, 2024
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Production Budget:15,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Canada
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Country of Filming:Canada
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Of a mixed Japanese and English background, Canadian Brian FH Clement was never sure as a child which direction to go in, until he discovered sci-fi and horror in book and movie form. After returning from a year in Japan as a young adult, he set to making micro-budget horror from 2000-2007, before moving to Toronto and getting to work in video and film distribution. Directing fell by the wayside, but following a 10 year hiatus spent writing novels, he returns to his love of feature filmmaking, encouraged (or coerced) by his friends in Vancouver.
Our Gods are Real is not so much a satire of real religion - too low-hanging a fruit - and more a take on the image of "cults" as portrayed in popular fiction. Our aim was to use the mockumentary format to poke fun not just at these characterizations, but also so many other groups, subcultures, and fandoms that likewise function in much the same way as so-called cults.
We chose deliberately to take a deadpan, Christopher Guest style of humour, as if the characters all truly believed what they were saying, oblivious to their own absurdity. Everything takes place in the ostensible "real world" but with no direct references to genuine fringe or alternative religions. The approach we took was as if a documentary crew interviewed and followed around several different absurd cult members, and despite attempts to portray their subjects as sinister, threatening, lurid, or powerful, they instead come across as self-absorbed, dull-witted, and silly.
Our Gods are Real was entirely funded by director Brian Clement and producer Arinn Westendorf, with no sponsors or grants. About one third of the budget came from Brian's earnings working a second job as a beer vendor at Toronto Blue Jays games during the 2022 season.