Latter-day Saint Life

Why Latter-day Saint Women Should Care About "Jane and Emma"

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"Why does anyone care about a film about women?. . . Why should anyone care about that?" Jane and Emma producer Jen Lee Smith asks in a new LDS Living video.

It's questions like these that drive the upcoming film about two important but sometimes overlooked characters of the Restoration, Jane Manning James and Emma Smith.

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Weaving together the complex and often difficult lives of these two women, the film shares a side of history not many people are aware of: the multi-faceted, complex sisterhood between the wife of the first prophet of the Restoration and one of the first black Latter-day Saints. 

"I think by telling some of their truths [Jane and Emma's], we free other people up to share their truth. And it frees up their spirit to be real-life, flawed women who try to keep it together and try to stay in faith," producer Tamu Smith says in the video. "We see them trying to live this Christ-centered life and I think that that's beautiful. And that means that for me, trying is enough."

So why should anyone care about a film about these two very human, very strong women of the Restoration? 

"I think they should come for the story," Jen Lee Smith says. "I think that's what unites us at the end of the day is a well-told story about real, human emotions."

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