Pray Away
World Premiere

Pray Away

2020 Official Selection: Features
Feature | United States | 101 MINUTES | English
Documentary, LGBTQIA

“I lived transgender, but I left it all to follow Jesus.” So explains self-identified ‘ex-trans’ Jeffrey, whose belief that change is possible reflects the core message of the conversion therapy movement today.

In the 1970s, five men struggling with being gay in their Evangelical church started a bible study to help each other leave the "homosexual lifestyle." They quickly received over 25,000 letters from people asking for help and formalized as Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world.

Julie is one of hundreds of thousands of people caught in Exodus’ wake. When she came out at sixteen, her mom took her to a residential conversion therapy program where she spent the next decade going through weekly psychological, behavioral, and religious counseling to make her straight.

But leaders struggled with a secret: their own “same-sex attractions” never went away. After years as Christian superstars in the religious right, many have come out as LGBTQ, disavowing the very movement they helped start. Pray Away chronicles that movement’s rise to power, persistent influence, and the harm it causes.


Cast & Credits
Directed by
Kristine Stolakis

Kristine Stolakis is a director whose films intimately examine how power, politics, and prejudice unfold in real peoples’ lives. Her debut feature Pray Away, produced by Multitude Films, takes viewers inside the “pray the gay away” movement. She hails from North Carolina and central New York.

Director
Kristine Stolakis
Producer
Jessica Devaney, Anya Rous, Kristine Stolakis
Cinematographer
Melissa Langer
Composer
Laura Karpman, Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum
Editor
Carla Gutierrez
Executive Producer
Ryan Murphy, Jason Blum, Jeremy Gold, Marci Wiseman, Mary Lisio, Amanda Spain, Daniel J. Chalfen, Jim Butterworth, Katy Drake Bettner, Johnny Symons, Julie Parker Benello, Patty Quillin, Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman, Regina K. Scully, Alexis Martin Woodall
Associate Producer
Colleen Cassingham, Paulette Marte, Ryan White
Co-Executive Producer
David Lee, Janet Tittiger, Jenn Lee Smith, Geralyn White Dreyfous
Archival Producer
Erin Chisholm

Contacts
Press Contact
Niki McMahon
Netflix
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Phone: 805 201 8188
nmcmahon@netflix.com
* Rush Tickets available at venue except for
Beacon Theatre
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The Rush system functions as a standby line that will form at the venue approximately one hour prior to scheduled start time. Admittance is based on availability and will begin roughly 10 minutes prior to program start time. Rush Tickets are the same price as advance tickets and are payable upon entry.

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