Posted on 09/20/2002 1:40:18 PM PDT by Utah Girl
Filmmaker Lee Groberg has a pretty big fan for his new Nauvoo Temple documentary that will soon be televised on PBS.
While leaving the premiere screening at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building Thursday, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley gave Groberg public kudos for his work on "Sacred Stone: Temple on the Mississippi."
"Thank you very much, Lee," President Hinckley said in front of the captive audience. "And congratulations."
President Hinckley, who led the charge to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple, told Groberg he'd shake his hand if he wasn't standing on the other side of the Sharon Room. Without hesitating, Groberg zipped over and extended his hand as the crowd laughed and applauded.
Moments before, Groberg had asked everybody to patiently allow President Hinckley and his wife, Marjorie, to leave before anybody else. Not wanting to sound like he was trying to push him out the door, Groberg told President Hinckley that he was, of course, free to stay as long as he wanted.
"No," President Hinckley replied with a smile. "We were invited out."
It was a humorous ending to the first of two debut sessions of the film that Groberg and his crew have labored on for the past few years. It's the third in his LDS trilogy. He portrayed Joseph Smith's life in "American Prophet" and documented the pioneer trek in "Trail of Hope."
Groberg and cinematographer Mark Goodman journeyed across the globe to make "Sacred Stone: Temple on the Mississippi," written by Heidi Swinton, who also wrote the companion book, "Sacred Stone: The Temple at Nauvoo," which was released earlier to coincide with the rebuilt temple's open house and dedication. He earned thousands of frequent flier miles traveling to Nauvoo for research and production.
"I know President Hinckley has been there a lot," he said. "But I've been there 30 times in the last three years."
Groberg, director and producer, is about to see the fruition of his travels and tribulations.
"Sacred Stone" will be broadcast in Utah Sunday, Sept. 29, on KBYU, Channel 11. By the end of the year, it will also be televised in other Western states. Eventually, it is expected to air nationwide. Brigham Young University President Merrill J. Bateman, who spoke briefly, thanked PBS for agreeing "to consider showing this on all public TV markets in the U.S."
"This," the BYU president said, "pleases us very much."
Without pushing doctrinal beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Sacred Stone" gives a 90-minute, in-depth look at the new and old Nauvoo temples. It thoughtfully ties the recent construction of the near-exact replica in with stories of how the Saints erected the original edifice only to evacuate it and Nauvoo shortly thereafter 150 years ago.
It documents the happiness, the heartbreak and the heavy trials experienced in the early years by church members.
More than 50 interviews of scholars, including Mormons and non-Mormons, were conducted. More of the non-LDS scholars' opinions were used because Groberg wanted "to give insight more palpable to a PBS audience."
For that same reason, Groberg used journal accounts from 1840-era Nauvoo residents to provide a historical perspective and offer some spiritual comments. The project couldn't come across as being too preachy.
"It's an effective way of telling the story and letting the facts stand on their own," he said of the journal use.
Groberg especially relied on "copious notes and ledgers" about the temple's architectural plans taken by William Clayton, whom he was inspired by and felt he "came to know in a way." He also painstakingly researched archives and received help from various church departments.
The more Groberg searched, the more hidden gems of stories he found. He compared this process to an artichoke.
"You have to peel things back to get to the heart," he said.
Not everything could be included in the film, so he compiled his treasured leftovers and is putting them in a DVD version that will be available soon. The DVD features an interview with President Hinckley ? Groberg calls it "a sweet, wonderful message Saints need to hear" ? and explores 13 religious topics such as temple-building societies and prophets. It also has original music from local artists Sam Cardon and Merrill Jenson.
Groberg believes the film and extras will serve as an invaluable teaching instrument for LDS seminary and institute students, families and members of the church in general. It will be used as a missionary tool as well. Or simply as a historical account of this chapter of 19th-century America.
"When you see this film, I would hope there'd be an emotional attachment," he said. "Each time I see this I have a deeper appreciation."
In the film, narrator Hal Holbrook compares the Nauvoo Mormons to worshippers in Old Testament times: "Like the Israelites of old, these Saints were determined to build a temple to God one stone at a time."
The film tells how concerns about being attacked by spies and enemies in Nauvoo were so high that one man hid his gun in wood chippings as he worked on the temple. It details how construction began on the temple before other buildings in Nauvoo, including churches and even homes.
It also shows how Brigham Young and other Saints unanimously voted to leave their beautiful Nauvoo, which had become one of the three largest cities in Illinois, to find peace out West. The temple they worked five years to build was abandoned, eventually toppled by arsonists and a tornado. "Its glory short-lived," says the narrator.
Not anymore. The temple's glory and story are now long-lived.
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