Bright Spark: The Reconciliation of Trevor Southey

Directed by Nathan Florence

Bright Spark: The Reconciliation of Trevor Southey follows the journey of artist Trevor Southey, a convert to the LDS Church from British Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) who dreamed of being a Latter-day Michelangelo and transforming Temple Square into a place where people came from around the world to look at the art. He immigrated to Utah in the mid-1960s and soon found a gang of like-minded artists at BYU. These artists formed a loose art colony in Alpine, Utah to pursue their dreams. It all came crashing down when Trevor's homosexuality was exposed and he was excommunicated from the Church. Thirty years later, as his adult daughter suffers a major health crisis, the Church steps in to help and he finds himself in the strange position of being fellowshipped and invited to rejoin the Church that rejected him. "Bright Spark" explores conflicts of personal freedom, religious belonging, and artistic expression with honesty and compassion.