I, PASTAFARI
Mike Arthur | Germany, Austria, USA 2019 | 57 Min.
European Premiere
The church of the flying spaghettimonster was founded in the USA as a reaction to the governmental acceptance of creationism. Even before starting his political career in Austria, the former neoliberal parliamentarian Niko Alm legally enforced the right to wear a colander as a religious symbol on his passport photo. Even in other countries the Pastafari are keeping courthouses busy with their demand of being recognized as a religious community.
I, Pastafari takes on a satirical stance on this seemingly bizarre religion and through the collage-like montage of various imagery sources asks the question of what meaning religion has in a secular, western world.
Director: Mike Arthur
Camera and Sound: Mike Arthur, Jason Wells
Editing: Mike Arthur, Zandy Ariss
Producer: Mike Arthur
Screenings
Nashville Film Festival, USA (Oct 2019) – World Premiere; Chagrin Falls Documentary Film Festival (Oct 2019); Bend Film Festival, USA (Oct 2019); Napa Valley Film Festival, USA (Nov 2019); St. Louis International Film Festival, USA (Nov 2019); Thin Line Film Festival, USA (March 2020); Docfeed Film Festival, Netherlands (Feb 2020) – EU Premiere
Biography
Mike Arthur holds a business degree from a prestigious public university, which collects dust in his mom’s basement. In 2011 while working in a cubicle, he took a filmmaking class to balance out the monotony of corporate retail. The film that resulted went from short to feature and eventually aired on US national TV in 2013. The experience ruined his cubicle aspirations. When his wife came across a job in Amsterdam, he agreed to move on one condition: he could make a 2nd film: I, Pastafari.
