Description

Synopsis

Damned to Heaven documents the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a polygamist religious sect on the Utah/Arizona border headed by Warren Jeffs. Jeffs was placed on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list in May of 2006 and captured the following August. He was tried and convicted of rape as an accomplice in November 2007 for his alleged role in the ceremonial marriage of a teenage girl to an older cousin. He is also facing felony sex charges for his alleged role in arranging underage marriages in Arizona. John Rudolf of Havasu’s Today’s News Herald described Damned to Heaven as gut-wrenching and heartbreaking.” The film goes past the headlines and charts the long-lasting emotional and psychological damage inflicted on women and girls forced into early polygamist marriages. Or as one female survivor says in the film: “If that is what heaven is, then I accept hell.”

Directors

Thomas Elliott and Pawel Gula

Elliott has over 20 years experience in the film and television industry. “Damned to Heaven” marks his third feature-length documentary. Gula graduated from the Polish National Film School, the same institute attended by Roman Polanski and Andrzej Wajda. Gula has worked on seven documentaries as a cinematographer. “Damned to Heaven” is his debut as a feature-length documentary director.