Last night, I attended the premiere of Freetown, which opens this year’s LDS Film Festival.

Freetown tells the true story of native LDS missionaries in Liberia who find themselves stuck in the middle of a civil war. Their only chance of survival is a dangerous cross-country trip by car. It is based on a true story that happened in 1990 when Liberia’s First Civil War rocked the country from 1989-1996 and claimed over 200,000 lives. The events happened just 25 years ago, and there are places in Africa where a similar story could very likely happen again today.

The movie is directed by Garrett Batty, who also directed The Saratov Approach. Batty shot the film in Africa with a cast of African actors. The movie is similar to The Saratov Approach, in the sense that it was filmed overseas and explores the political tensions missionaries sometimes face. However, Freetown explores these ideas even deeper.

The theme of Freetown is to follow faith over fear. Batty says that his purpose in making films like The Saratov Approach and Freetown is to shed light on faith. “Faith is tough, it’s exhausting, and yet it’s what we endure to keep moving forward and place our trust in God,” Batty said. “[God] is always watching over us. If I can make a film about [faith] that people want to go to the theater to see, I think it’s a worthy effort.”

After the missionaries completed their full-time missions, they remained in Freetown until the war in Liberia was over, almost 7 years later. Most of the missionaries lived in refugee camps during that time.

The casting was done in West Africa and over 125 actors came to the audition. Three of the six main missionaries in the cast are LDS and one member was placed in each of the three companionships. Two are returned missionaries and the other is preparing to serve a mission.

The movie is inspiring. The cinematography and music capture the beauty of the country in contrast to the brutality of the civil war of one tribe against another.

Below is the movie trailer for Freetown. The movie will be in theaters beginning April 8.