Saturday 16 January 2016

[Film] Meet the Moonies

Towards the end of last year I was asked to make a documentary with rare inside access to the Unification Church, following a day in the life of a second-generation Unificationist - or, Moonie - called Michael.

Michael is 21 years old and a life-long member of the Church. Known for its cult-like tendencies, the Unification Church is perhaps most famous for its belief that world peace can be attained by marrying everyone off into couples and forming "true families". Just last year, Michael himself was matched at a mass-marrying ceremony in South Korea and is now eternal partners with a Japanese girl of similar age.

Left to right: Michael, Jake (the producer & presenter) and a fellow member, praying in front of a sacred tree.









The term Moonie derives from the name of Sun Myung Moon: the founder of the Church in 1954 and believed by members to be the second coming of Christ. He is known as the True Parent and is idolised as the personification of absolute perfection. 

I attended their Sunday service in North London before meeting Michael again at his home in a Moonie commune to make this film...