My Father's House
Icarus Films • 1h 17m
Directed by Zhao Dayong • Documentary • 2011 • 77 minutes
The troubled story of an underground church founded by Nigerian missionaries offers a rare glimpse inside an immigrant African community in China.
In Nigeria, Pastor Daniel Michael Enyeribe has a revelation to bring the word of God to China. He joins a booming community of African merchants who have settled in the southern city of Guangzhou and established the Royal Victory Church for both Africans and Chinese to worship. The church functions as the spiritual center for the ever-growing African trader community, who struggle with cultural, personal and financial challenges. After being raided by police enforcing strict laws regulating religious practice, Pastor Daniel flees to Hong Kong, where he uses video conferencing to lead his congregation from afar. His colleague Pastor Ignatius assumes daily management of the church, while struggling to support his Chinese wife and their young child.
With My Father's House, documentary filmmakers Zhao Dayong (Ghost Town, New York Film Festival) and David Bandurski capture a complex subculture thriving within a seemingly homogeneous society where immigrants and evangelical religion are kept from view.
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