The Mormons

With unusual access to church archives and interviews with church leaders, scholars and dissident exiles, filmmaker Helen Whitney explores the history of the Mormon Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has more than 11 million members worldwide, is one of the fastest-growing religions, and, based on its size, one of the richest as well. Still, according to Whitney, it is at the same time one of the most fascinating yet least understood religions of our time. What began as a fringe sect is today a thriving religion embracing traditional American values and boasting in its ranks a number of corporate leaders, college presidents and prominent politicians, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who made a bid for the presidency in 2008. She traces the religion from its beginnings in the visions of Joseph Smith Jr. to the efforts of LDS President Gordon Hinckley to bring the religion into the mainstream, and to the church's current reality. …