By Julia Gerke, The Suburban

With Unbuckling My Bible Belt, filmmakers Patricia Tassinari and Laura Kathryn Mitchell created an interesting documentary about the American South - just in time for the looming presidential election.

It's fitting, then, that the original idea was hatched around the time the last U.S. election results were announced in 2004. The two friends and their significant others watched it happen on TV and were dumbfounded.  

 "We couldn't believe that [George W.] Bush was winning," said Mitchell, who grew up in southern Missouri but who's made Montreal her home since 1990. "We wanted to understand what kind of people they were and how this could be happening."  

The two women set out on a road trip, with a camera, a trunk filled with cans of maple syrup and a map that would lead them to various places in Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas. They stayed with members of Mitchell's large extended family (which is made up of more than 140 people) and talked to them about their religious views, politics, war and lifestyle choices. The result is an emotionally-charged film full of ideas and thoughts, connected by shots of beautiful scenery and propelled by a great score. Mitchell and Tassinari don't try to skew (at least not overtly) the audience's reaction and present the wide gamut of opinions out there.  

 "We wanted to make a film that got people to listen to each other," said Mitchell. "It's a very intimate movie; we don't pass judgment on anyone and just let people have their voice. I get fed up with the image that people have of the South. It's often dark because of its horrific part of its past, but people are also very kind and helpful."  

Most of her family members are very religious, and Mitchell raises questions about how religion can justify any political action or if the two should be intermingled at all.  

 "Mixing politics and religion can be deadly," she said without wanting to go further on the subject. "I think this movie speaks to a need out there. The two screenings we had at the Festival du nouveau cinema earlier this year were sold out and I would hope it makes people think and listen to others more. What I found was that you could talk to some really smart people with great ideas, but you wouldn't think it if they just drove by you in a pickup truck. Sometimes you just have to take the time and talk to them."  

Mitchell and Tassinari recorded 80 hours of conversations with Christian fundamentalists, hard-core Republicans, softening evangelists, homosexual family members, rich ones and poorer ones, old ones and young ones, a drag queen and non-believers, cowboys and academics.

"There were a lot of surprises for me," Mitchell said. "For example, when one of my cousins said that 'Sex is the best thing God ever invented.' They are so open and willing to share. A scene with a lot of impact is when my cousin is talking about her son being gay. She is fundamentally Christian, and she loves her son and tries to make as much sense of it as she can. For her husband it's even more difficult."  

Unbuckling My Bible Belt is shown at Ex-Centris from Dec. 14-20. For show times and ticket information, call 514-847-2206 or go to www.ex-centris.com.