Filmmaker Pelosi puts focus on evangelicals

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When filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi embarked on a journey into the world of evangelical Christians for her latest documentary, she tried her best to put her subjects at ease. That meant keeping her liberal beliefs under wraps and avoiding the mention of her famous mother, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, the speaker of the House.

On the other hand, her ties to the HBO cable network and New York City didn’t exactly help.

“To evangelicals, HBO stands for Hell’s Box Office. All that sex and violence doesn’t go over very well in the Bible Belt,” she says. “And being a New Yorker is Strike 2. They think people who live in New York are pagans who lead the `Sex and the City’ lifestyle 24 hours a day.”

Fortunately, the affable Pelosi, 36, didn’t allow those perceptions to hold her back. During an 18-month odyssey, the latter part of which she spent pregnant, she traveled to 16 red states to tap into the evangelical experience. Along the way, she saw a drive-through church, a Christian wrestling federation, a Holy Land theme park (complete with Jesus puppets), a Christian stand-up comedian and plenty of billboards spouting messages such as, “Evolution is science fiction.”

The result of all her nomadic reportage is “Friends of God: A Road Trip With Alexandra Pelosi.” It’s an offbeat and eye-opening film that attempts to provide insights into the massive cultural force that helped to put George Bush in the White House.

“I considered myself an ambassador of the blue states who went to make friends in the red states and see what they’re all about,” she says.

Pelosi is best known for “Journeys With George,” the 2000 documentary in which she palled around with Bush during his first presidential campaign. But for “Friends of God,” she deliberately subverted herself, keeping her bespectacled face off camera as much as possible and eschewing the narration.

“I didn’t want to make what I call an egomentary,” she says. “It’s not about me. It’s about this cultural divide.”

The irony is that a couple of major backstories have helped to place added attention on Pelosi. The first is her mother’s historic ascension in Washington. The other is pegged to the man she chose to be the key tour guide on her road trip: The Rev. Ted Haggard, then president of the National Association of Evangelicals, who was forced to resign in the wake of a sex scandal.

Haggard stepped down around the time Pelosi was finishing the film and preparing to give birth to her son, Paul Michael. Consequently, there was only so much she could do in the editing room to diminish his role, which is significant. “I chose the wrong leading man,” says Pelosi, who estimates Haggard was in about 25 hours of footage. “It’s heartbreaking. I got along great with him, and he was my main link to this community.”

Pelosi acknowledges that Haggard’s presence in the film and/or her family name might raise red flags for some. But she hopes viewers approach it with “open minds.” And though she has her differences with evangelicals - mainly over abortion and gay rights - she gained an appreciation for their passion and sense of community.

“I loved their church services,” says Pelosi, who attended 12 years of Catholic school in San Francisco. “Church is fun for them. It’s like a party or a rock concert. And the sermons deal with a lot of self-help. It’s news you can use.”

Pelosi also sympathizes with the evangelicals in their ongoing war with Hollywood. “There are 80 million of them, and yet they never see themselves on television. I can understand their persecution complex,” she says.

Now that work and publicity obligations for the film are done, Pelosi and her husband, journalist Michael Vos, hope to enjoy more quality time with their first child. And yes, they’ll be counting on some help from Madam Speaker. “At home, she’s still Grandma and she changes lots of diapers,” Pelosi insists.

“She may be speaker of the House, but she doesn’t get a pass.”

___

FRIENDS OF GOD: A ROAD TRIP WITH ALEXANDRA PELOSI
9 p.m. EST Thursday
HBO