By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.75
Director: Markie Hancock
Country: united_states
Year: 2007
Running time: 70
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540797/reference
Chris says: “Markie Hancock’s middle-class childhood in Altoona, PA was typical in every way except for one: she was raised as a Fundamentalist Christian. Later, as an adult, she came out as a lesbian and renounced her faith. This documentary is an autobiography of sorts and for the first half, it’s your standard low-budget, self-indulgent video essay, combining voice over narration with ancient home movies, diary entries read aloud to the visual accompaniment of stock footage and the like. Hancock’s story takes an interesting turn, though, as she begins to incorporate interviews her family. Her older sibling has also renounced his faith, while her parents and her younger sibling are still devout. What emerges is a portrait of a family ideologically divided, yet one that struggles to uphold a semblance of unity despite that rift. Lucky for Hancock, her family is mostly willing to be candid about how they feel. While making this film is clearly therapeutic and validating for her, for us it’s nearly as insightful to watch this dynamic play out and feel its repercussions, both positive and negative. 3 cats
“BORN AGAIN was screened at the Provincetown International Film Festival”
Michael says: “My final film at the Provincetown International Film Festival was a curious, somewhat awkward autobiographical
documentary by Markie Hancock called BORN AGAIN. Born and raised in central Pennsylvania as an Evangelical Christian, Markie explores what that means in the context of family, the rejection of that faith as she discovers she is a lesbian, and how that affects her family even today. The first ¾ of the film focus heavily on Markie’s early childhood through the years after college, and they truly have a home movie feel to them. Photo stills, video reels, and Markie’s studied voiceover are intercut with brief interviews between Markie and her family members. There is some interesting content here, about being Evangelical, about family dynamics, but it seems a little introspective.
“Where the film starts to get interesting is when Markie begins to have discussions as an adult, with her parents and two brothers. On camera, she tries to get at what exactly it means for the family that she and one of her brothers have left the church, but her other brother and her parents have not. How can they find common ground? Is the division in their family representative of the division in our country? A little more focus on these discussions and perhaps the way this division is affecting our country might have made BORN AGAIN a more successful film. Perhaps a director who was not the film’s subject could have provided a little more distance as well. As it was, the film comes across as very personal and important for Markie to have made, but maybe less so for us to see. 2 ½ cats.
“BORN AGAIN was screened at the Provincetown International Film Festival”