Devout probes the crisis of faith
‘Agnostic Buddhist’ filmmaker questions reincarnation and the afterlife
The debut feature film of B.C.’s Connor Gaston, 26, is a crisis-of-faith drama that centres around reincarnation.
After gaining wide attention through his short films, Gaston is looking forward to seeing how audiences respond to The Devout, which follows an evangelical Christian schoolteacher who has a crisis when his daughter, who is dying from cancer, tells him she had a previous life.
Set in the Fraser Valley Bible Belt and North Vancouver, the film follows the earnest schoolteacher as he risks his marriage and faith to probe the meaning of his daughter’s claim she was, in a previous incarnation, an astronaut who died in a fire aboard the spaceship Apollo 1.
The Devout will premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival at 9 p. m. on Oct. 2, and at 12: 45 p. m. on Oct. 4, both at International Village Cinemas. Q What made you choose to do a film revolving around the theme of reincarnation? A I read about a child who remembered a past life with extraordinary detail. He happened to grow up in a Christian household. His parents had their faith challenged when they started to believe their son. This sort of crisis of faith was very intriguing to me. Q Where and how were you raised? Was there anything about it that drew you to become interested in religion or existence after death? A My parents are practising Buddhists, so I grew up immersed in that ideology. They asked me about my past life when I was three and apparently I was a carpenter named Peter who fell off a roof. I’ve always been fascinated with the life-after-death debate. Q You studied film at the University of Victoria. Did you grow up on Vancouver Island? Was your family artistic? A I moved to Victoria when I was 10. I was born in Halifax and grew up in Fredericton. Yes, both my parents are published authors, Bill Gaston and Dede Crane. I couldn’t compete with them in the fiction world so I made the jump to screenwriting. Q Metaphysically speaking, do you think Eastern-style reincarnation is more likely to be a reality than some sort of life after death as suggested by the biblical tradition? A I like the idea of reincarnation, the cyclical nature of it. I don’t want to say which belief is more likely, as I try not to believe in anything I can’t directly experience. I guess I’m an agnostic Buddhist. Q How do you deal with the suggestion — by your own young self — that you were once a carpenter named Peter? It sounds more plausible than past- life stories from others, who claim they were once Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Rasputin or some other famous personage. A Again, I like the idea of reincarnation, but try to leave belief out of the equation. According to my parents, my three-year-old self was very matter-of-fact on the matter. Maybe it was an old memory. Maybe I had a very practical imagination as a child. I’m not sure. All I know is that I will be asking my children the same question. Q Where do you think The Devout fits into cinematic history in regards to the subject of reincarnation? A I couldn’t track down too many narrative films directly related to reincarnation. Little Buddha comes to mind. Then there’s Cloud Atlas — but I think The Devout tackles the subject more directly. Q That is a fascinating paradox. How did you gain your knowledge of the world of contemporary Christianity, particularly evangelicalism? A I went to church a few times to get a sense of things. I also spoke to a bunch of Christians, mostly people who had left the church. Q Have you ever had such an experience (a crisis of faith)? A Nothing to that extent. In a way, I wish I had had such an experience so I could draw from it, be inspired by it. Maybe in a next life. Q Good one. On the subject of credulity, one of the characters in the movie believes it’s possible for humans, particularly dying people, to have visions of the future. What about you? A I like the idea that science can’t prove everything, that there is something immeasurable. But more than anything, the idea is simply a good dramatic premise. Q Do you think your movie will get any pushback from evangelical Christians? A I am interested to see how people, religious or otherwise, will interpret it. I like to think the film doesn’t demonize religion. … The film explores the power of belief rather than pokes fun at it.