Peoples Temple in the Arts

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. Documentaries
    1. Witness To Jonestown: A Producer’s Notes, by Stephen Stept
    2. CNN Documentary To Air November 13, by James Polk
    3. Stanley Nelson Reflects on Lessons of Jonestown

    2.  

  2. Art
    1. Walking through Jonestown’s Garden, by Karin Smith

    3.  

  3. Books and articles
    1. Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple Offers Fresh Perspective
    2. And That Ain’t The Half Of It, by Laura Johnston Kohl
    3. Author seeks additional sources for Jonestown book, by Julia Scheeres
      1. A Trip to Jonestown, August 2008
    4. Living with Ghosts, by Barry Isaacson
      1. What I learned about Peoples Temple, by Kimberly Gomez
    5. And Then They Were Gone: The Children of Peoples Temple, San Francisco to Jonestown, by Judy Bebelaar and Ron Cabral
      1. And Then They Were Gone: A Synopsis
    6. The Jonestown Chronicles, or on trying to write a book a little shorter than the Bible, by Kathleen McKenna
    7. German Magazine Article On Hold, by Johannes Scharnbeck
    8. David Conn’s Dilemma, by Matthew Farrell
      1. Excerpt from Lednorf’s Dilemma, by David Conn

    4.  

  4. Music
    1. The Gift of Tears: “The Ballad of Annie Moore”, by Ken Risling
    2. Gift-Wrapped Stories and the Smooth Sounds of Melvin Johnson, by Brian Kevin
    3. Interpretations of Jonestown Video Opens Possibilities, by Blake Edwards

    5.  

  5. Drama and Film
    1. The People’s Temple Completes Chicago Run
      1. People’s Temple Reveals Jonestown’s Diversity, by Tim Decker
      2. Alchemy of Theater Turns Straw into Gold, by Cheryl Graeff
      3. From the Road to the Stage, Jonestown Teaches, by Editha Rosario
      4. An Evolving People’s Temple, by Laura Johnston Kohl
    2. The People’s Temple Reaches Students in South Dakota, by Terry Winter
    3. Jonestown, The Opera??, by Scott Lines, Ph.D.
    4. Exploring Peoples Temple through theater, by Carl Kelsch
    5. American Prophet completed, by Jeff Keilholtz
    6. Documentary Film Focuses on Peoples Temple Location in San Francisco, by Heidi Petty
    7. Filmmaker Explores Lives of Survivors in Fictional Work, by Alex Smith
Originally posted on July 25th, 2013.
Last modified on August 26th, 2014.
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