About In God We Trust
The Amish, often called “the Plain people” for their modest dress and simple lifestyle, are members of a Protestant Christian group that first came to Pennsylvania in the early 1700s seeking religious freedom. Today, they maintain their traditions and live a life of service to God, the family and their community.
Behind the Scenes
Statement by Director
"My first in person encounter with the Amish was in 2013 as a Fulbright Teaching fellow at Kenyon College, Ohio when I saw them on campus on Middle Path setting up shops with wares that they brought in on their horse-drawn buggies. Whipping out my camera, I was admonished by one of the elders who said sternly, “No photos!”. This was very much in line with the impressions on has from TV and films. I had always seen these distinctively dressed Amish characters as weird, odd and unfriendly. That impression quickly underwent a change when I met the Troyer family headed by Robert Troyer, Bishop at Sugarcreek, Holmes county through mutual friends Stuart Schott and Lisa Schott, who runs the Philander Chase Conservancy at Kenyon.
The Troyers are a fascinating Amish family that not only accepted me as a friend and welcomed me into their home but were also open about their life, their outlook on the world and the love and values they hold dear in their family. And they have allowed me to delve into their small little corner of the world with my camera and my curious questions. Over three years, my student crew and I filmed their interviews and activities that made for some very interesting interludes – they had no concept of technology and often referred to our mics with their windshields as mops, and were fascinated by the visuals we shared on my laptop. The students from fairly privileged and academic backgrounds had also had very minimal contact with the Amish. It was a challenge to respect their space and be as unobtrusive as possible while also having to ask pointed questions. For instance about marriage with Hannah and Caleb;
Constant chatter and talking by Stu, Robert and James who did not understand the needs of live sound while interviewing; Naomi running around everywhere and my student crew getting distracted and moving cameras around to capture footage that was interesting but irrelevant to what we were doing. Often, their counter questions about me , my family, county and culture and my long winded replies were recorded but were not meant for the film at all. The biggest challenge was to resist eating first for it would have been impossible to film on such replete tummies. We formed friendships that have lasted a decade now. The film went through three cuts. The editing team were hard put to patch this film together but finally the story and portraits emerged. I hope that this portrait of the family will make for a reframing and understanding of the conservative Christian traditions that they live by and help many of us to see their world from a unique perspective that may help us negotiate our own conflicts."
- Uma Vangal
