Monday, April 6, 2009 10:44 PM CDT
Producer hopes Amish young people will travel to UK for documentary
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
ARTHUR — A British film producer is trying to recruit young Amish people to travel to the United Kingdom for a television series contrasting Amish values with modern lifestyles.
Toby Forrester-Paton, assistant producer for London-based Keo Films, said the program would be a documentary, not a reality show.
“The main thing that we are anxious to communicate to the Amish community is that we want to give an honest and authentic portrayal of the Amish people and their way of life because we believe that there is a lot that people in England could learn from the Amish,” said Forrester-Paton.
He said he is in Arthur this week seeking Amish people between the ages of 16 and 24 who would visit England for about six weeks this summer to stay with “carefully selected” families, he said.
While residents of the Arthur and Arcola area Amish communities so far have been “receptive to the idea,” Forrester-Paton said, “The challenge for us is finding people who are actually willing to make the journey.”
Channel 4, one of the five major U.K. television stations, commissioned Keo Films to make the series of documentaries. Producers also are looking at Amish communities in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania, said Forrester-Paton.
“We feel that the traditional Amish way of life offers a very valuable counterpoint to our modern society, which is increasingly defined by fractured communities, self-obsessed individuals and rampant consumerism,” said Forrester-Paton. “We hope that the Christian values of the Amish, their fellowship and their respect for their community will inspire and encourage the English to reconsider where their priorities lie.”
Producers hope to secure the participation of six Amish young people who are at the point in their lives known as “Rumspringa,” Forrester-Paton said.
According to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College, Rumspringa is translated “running around” in the Pennsylvania German dialect, and it refers to the period when Amish youth — especially boys — “experience greater freedom.”
“They are no longer under the control of their parents on weekends and, because they are not baptized, they are not yet under the authority of the church,” said the Young Center.
While many Amish young people choose to follow traditional guidelines for behavior, some “experiment with ‘worldly’ activities (such as) buying a car, going to movies, wearing non-Amish clothes, buying a television or a DVD player,” said the center.
Forrester-Paton said Keo Films would prefer to have the involvement of Amish youths in Rumspringa, rather than those who have already decided to leave the Amish church. “What we are trying to do is find people who still feel very close to the traditional Amish beliefs and way of life because we want to give as honest a portrayal as possible of the Amish people,” said Forrester-Paton.
“We will seek to show that these are real, three-dimensional people who are at an important crossroads in their spiritual and personal lives.”
Participants would stay with families that “we would feel comfortable putting our own kids with,” Forrester-Paton said. “We’re not looking to make a fish-out-of-water reality show.”
In addition to paying for the trip to England, producers also are offering a stipend of $1,500 per participant to compensate in part for any lost wages, Forrester-Paton said. He added that “we are getting some interest” in the Amish communities producers have visited so far.
“The trouble we are having is that those who still feel close to the traditional way of life don’t want to fly to England and they don’t want to be filmed, because it is against their religion,” he also said.
According to the Illinois Amish Interpretive Center in Arcola, the Arthur and Arcola Amish settlement is made up of almost 4,500 Amish people comprising 27 church districts.
For more information on the Keo Films project, call Forrester-Paton on his U.S. cell phone, 330-601-6812. He said he probably will remain in Arthur for the next several days.
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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Mike P wrote on Apr 8, 2009 11:47 AM:
Offering them trans atlantic transportation by train and a ship, would possibly be less of a compromise of their beliefs to start.
Not that these folks are ever materialistic, but they are gennerally quite aware of the outside world, and usually know when they are likely being taken advantage of. Often they will limit expressing that realization openly, and just chalk it up to reducing its likelyhood in the future.
Don't consider it compensating them for their time and lost wages. Either they have something valuable to bring to this idea, or they only have 1500 worth of contributions for participating. Many here in and out of their community value their various daily contributions, which is something much harder to compensate for. Hard to find a time of year for them, planting, field work, harvest, chores and other contributions wouldn't be adversly impacted for that span of time. Most people aren't easily replaced, and many aspects of this culture make their daily lives, something that is near impossible to ultimately compensate for.
Spend some time better understanding their way of life, without filming it. Then try to fit what you learn, into a 2way culture exchange program. Giving them exposures that can ultimately benefit their community, years down the road, could be a win win. These aren't usually folks you can rent for 6 weeks. They are quite skilled and knowledgable, and incorporating long term benefits for them and their culture, accepted by their beliefs, could yield benefits for them and your production.
Amish in the city has been done, I think. Offer exposure to experience and methods not completely against their beliefs. Many things in europe, could ultimately benefit this culture. From the solar power generation germany is expanding, to other ideas, not yet or no longer fostered in this country. Learn their beliefs, and present some ideas to community leaders of how this opportunity can benefit them ultimately. Offer additional trips no flying required, to others in the community, so 6 young adults aren't culture shocked in likely their first time away from home, if trying to keep it respectable and not another reality show is the ultimate goal.
Just getting passports, and other things required, to travel outside of this country is also probably against their beliefs. Even signing a contract of any sort, is possibly also. That may require a 3rd party, and legaly binding rules and protections.
Unless the leaders can be convinced, it is likely a non starter. Be honest and completely up front, and see if there is anything they can see as beneficial from being behind your idea, or at least not against it completely, and what they would want to be made a part of it. They are likely to be honest and direct, with their views on the matter. What do they stand to gain, from participating. They aren't driven by money, it probably has to be something they can translate back into their existence, upon their return. No matter if ultimately they choose to remain in the church or not, they will always respect those that do and the fundamentals they have been raised on. "