The Documentaries of Steven M. Manin

In 1997, at their annual convention, The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation’s largest protestant denomination, overwhelmingly passed a resolution urging their 16 million members to devote their energy and resources to bringing the “Good News” of Jesus to the Jewish people.
 
After learning of this resolution, Steve Manin, a culturally Jewish atheist cum film maker living in New York City, decided to make a film that, in effect, takes the SBC up on their kind offer.
 
“Chosen Again” (click to see trailer) was intended to be a fish-out-of-water comedy in which Steve, by most accounts the quintessential “New York Jew,” finds himself in the heart of the bible belt learning why he needs to be “saved” lest he spend eternity in the fires of hell.  While the film is, at times, comic, it is also scary, educational and controversial.  Filled with interviews with some of the nation’s preeminent religious leaders, it is, arguably, Steve’s best film. Given the continued strength of the religious right in this country, “Chosen Again” remains as timely today as it was what it was filmed in 1999.