Jesus Camp(2006)
dir. Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady
A summer camp that trains child soldiers for God.
Where to watch: Free: Kanopy and Hoopla (library card), Roku Channel, YouTube and Fandango At Home (with ads); subscription Dox Amazon Channel ($2.99/mo); rent $2.99-3.99 (JustWatch US, checked 2026-10-30). Verify.Letterboxd ↗
A documentary about Kids on Fire, an evangelical summer camp in North Dakota, where children are taught to see themselves as soldiers in a spiritual war. We watch them pray, weep, pledge allegiance to a Christian flag and lay hands on a cardboard cutout of the president. The directors let the pastors and parents speak for themselves, and a radio host argues the other side.
Why it’s here
It's a film about how a movement raises its next generation. What's punk is its refusal to narrate for you, which makes some viewers laugh and others shudder. What's pedagogical is the question it raises for every parent: what do we teach our kids to be for, and who is in the room? Pairs with The Power Worshippers, Jesus and John Wayne and The Family. Note: the subjects have said the film was edited to look worse, and the directors were Americans from the outside looking in; kids are the subjects, so watch with context. English.
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