National Geographic Announces Release Date And Debuts Trailer For "The Mission"

National Geographic Documentary Films has announced the theatrical release of THE MISSION, which premieres tonight in Telluride, and arrives in theaters on October 13th, telling the tale of the death of a young missionary who attempted to contact a remote, indigenous culture in 2018.

What’s Happening:

National Geographic Documentary Films announced today, in partnership with distributors Picturehouse and Altitude, that its forthcoming film, THE MISSION, will debut in U.S. theaters on Oct. 13 and in the U.K. and Ireland on Nov. 17. The accompanying trailer and key art reflect the strange events at the heart of the global news story in the new film from Emmy Award-winning directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (Boys State), and Lightbox’s Academy Award-winning producer Simon Chinn (Man on Wire, Searching for Sugar Man), Emmy Award-winning producer Jonathan Chinn (LA 92, Tina) and Emmy Award-nominated producer Will Cohen (Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie).
THE MISSION will have its world premiere at the 50th edition of the Telluride Film Festival later tonight, Thursday, Aug. 31. In the lead-up to its theatrical debut, the film will also screen at numerous festivals around the world, including the BFI London Film Festival.
The film will open in select North American theaters beginning Friday, Oct. 13, in New York and Toronto, with a continued rollout to theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Vancouver, Portland and other cities across the country through November. It will debut in U.K. and Irish theaters on Friday, Nov. 17. Altitude Film Sales will handle international rights to the film and will launch sales at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In 2018, a shocking event made headlines around the world: A young American missionary, John Chau, was killed by arrows while attempting to contact one of the world’s most isolated Indigenous peoples on remote North Sentinel Island. From Emmy-winning directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (Boys State), and Oscar-winning producer Simon Chinn and Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Chinn of Lightbox, comes National Geographic Documentary Films’ THE MISSION, which uncovers the gripping story beyond the headlines. Through exclusive interviews and with unprecedented access to Chau’s secret plans, personal diaries and video archives, THE MISSION examines the mythology of exploration that inspired him, the evangelical community that supported his quest, and reveals his own father’s heartbreak as Chau’s youthful thirst for adventure became a fatal obsession.

McBaine and Moss worked patiently for years to gain the cooperation of John’s friends, teachers and advisors. Several are featured in the film, including Levi Davis, who formed an “accountability group” with John when they were fellow students at Vancouver Christian High School; Adam Goodheart, historian; and Dan Everett, professor of linguistics and a former missionary who shares his firsthand experiences of the enduring myths of colonial evangelism.
John’s father, Patrick Chau, is given voice via excerpts from written statements reckoning with John’s faith, his death and Patrick’s own anguished failures as a parent to prevent John from undertaking the “foolhardy mission.” Meanwhile, John’s personal diary, including a 13-page entry of his last days, social media and blog posts, letters he shared with supporters, and a secret 26-page “master plan” he wrote outlining his understanding of the Sentinelese and plans for converting them, serve as a window into his innermost thoughts right up until his final days.
To visualize John’s master plan, which outlined in detail his strategy to reach the island and convert the Sentinelese, filmmakers drew on the same art form that inspired him — comics. Hand-drawn animation brings to life key moments in the story, in the vein of Tintin and Through Gates of Splendor, a 1970s Christian comic book about the five young American missionaries killed by the Huaorani people in Ecuador in 1956.
THE MISSION is co-produced by Vanessa Tovell and Carolyn Sperry Lewis, edited by Aaron Wickenden (ACE), and executive produced by Doug Bock Clark with animation from Jason Carpenter and Holly Stone and music by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans. Thorsten Thielow serves as director of photography. Carolyn Bernstein serves as executive producer for National Geographic Documentary Films.
National Geographic Documentary Films previously released the Academy Award, BAFTA and seven-time Emmy Award-winning film “Free Solo” and the Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning film The Cave. In 2022, they released Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated Fire of Love, two-time Sundance Award-winner The Territory, critically acclaimed Retrograde as well as the short film The Flagmakers, all of which were shortlisted for a 2023 Academy Award. In 2021, they released BAFTA nominees The Rescue and Becoming Cousteau, and three-time Emmy Award winner The First Wave. Other critically acclaimed films under the banner include Fauci; Torn; Emmy-nominated We Feed People and Rebuilding Paradise from Ron Howard; Sundance Audience Award winners Science Fair and Sea of Shadows; Emmy winners LA 92 and Jane, both of which were included in the top 15 documentaries considered for an Academy Award in 2017; and Dupont Award winner Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS.

What They’re Saying:

Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss: “Looking closely at John Chau’s death, we found a complicated, layered story, equal parts adventure and tragedy. At its core, it’s an intimate drama, an emotional dialogue between father and son. But it also raises questions for all of us about the great historical forces that have shaped our world, about the implications of faith and the legacy of the so-called Age of Discovery. It's a story worthy of the big screen, and one that echoes the epic tales that inspired John and finally doomed him.”
Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president of Documentary Films for National Geographic: “THE MISSION contains multitudes, thanks to Amanda and Jesse’s artful, empathic and nuanced storytelling. It is a gripping murder mystery that examines the moral and ethical implications of John Chau’s story to probe deeply into the complicated history of colonialism and global exploration. We are thrilled to collaborate once again with our friends at Lightbox on this captivating and provocative film.”
Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn, co-founders of Lightbox: “We were both moved and troubled by the news of John Chau’s untimely death in the Andaman Islands in 2018 and our partners at National Geographic immediately saw the potential that we saw in his story for a feature documentary. The film that Jesse and Amanda have made has used that story as a springboard for a thought-provoking and multilayered narrative that also asks difficult questions about our fraught relationship with Indigenous people, and we are hugely excited to be returning to Telluride to premiere the film.”