Arts Section

A number of artists, writers and filmmakers have, completed – or are still working on – many creative projects which consider the people of Peoples Temple and the events in Jonestown. The articles below describe those projects, introduce the creative forces behind them, and consider how they perceive their own work.

1. Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
   1. Jonestown Documentary Wins Awards, Theatrical Release, by Sonya Childress
   2. The First Real Film on Peoples Temple, by Lela Howard
   3. Reliving the Love, Recalling the Pain of Temple Experience, by Laura Johnston Kohl
      1. Film Creates Opportunity for Temple Member Reunions
   4. Film Focuses on Religious, Not Political Side, of Peoples Temple, by Vernon Gosney
   5. A Peoples Temple survivor remembers, by Garrett Lambrev
   6. Jonestown Film Recalls Both Good and Bad of Peoples Temple, by Nell Smart
   7. Supporting Preconceptions: A review of the Jonestown film, by David Parker Wise
   8. Documentary Raises Issues for Future Films to Explore, by Michael Bellefountaine
   9. Film Inspires Us to Considers Difficult Questions, by Rev. Richard A. Lawrence
   10. Jonestown: Tough, Exhausting, and Important, by Susan M. White Hicks
   11. Jonestown: The Reviews and Awards

 

2. The People’s Temple
   1. The People’s Temple Looks Towards 2007, by Leigh Fondakowski
   2. The Portrayal of a Temple Member on Stage, by Kelli Simpkins
   3. Reviews of The People’s Temple, 2006

 

3. Books and writing projects
   1. A Writer’s Journal, Part II, by Annie Dawid
      1. Resurrection City: A Novel of Jonestown – An Introduction and an Excerpt
   2. Writing Project Considers Life After November 18, by Kimberly Winston
   3. Close Encounter with a Modern-day Cult, by Leonard Geddes
   4. The Crime Of The Century: Death in Jonestown, by Richard Williams

 

4. Music & Recordings
   1. Writing Propaganda and my work with the Jonestown Audiotapes, by Paul Steffler
   2. Slain In the Spirit Completed, Writers Seek Backers, by Susan Yankowitz
   3. Tracking Donald Freed and Mark Lane through Jonestown, by Michael Sheppard, Transparency

 

5. Films, Documentary, and Drama
   1. Documentary on Temple Attorney Charles Garry Completed, by Hrag Yedalian
   2. Jonestown Docudrama Completes Shooting, Anticipates Release, by Greta Knutzen
      1. A View from the Set
   3. My Road to Jonestown, by H.D. Motyl
   4. Documenting a Network’s Role in the Jonestown Tragedy, by Patricia Lynch
   5. British Documentary on Peoples Temple Begins Research, by Tom Deverell
   6. Documentary to Consider Life of Jackie Speier, by Michealene Cristini Risley
   7. An Interpretation of Jonestown, by Adeline Colangelo
   8. Missing Pieces Temporarily Shelved, by Anna Wisniewski