About the Film
Sanctuary is a feature-length documentary that exposes the plight of LGBTQIA+ individuals within modern faith systems—told through the eyes of a visionary architect whose passion project becomes a lifeline. As doctrine collides with identity, a sacred space rises from rejection, offering refuge and hope.
What started as a quest to better understand and honor his family members became a movement as Doug took the Sanctuary to Pride festivals across the nation in 2024.
Alongside his journey, scholars and spiritual leaders from a variety of religious traditions share how they are transforming their institutions to welcome the marginalized and reimagine what it means to belong.
step inside Doug staker's sanctuary
Sanctuary is an art installation exploring the essence of sacred space. It reexamines the fundamentals by recreating a sacred space from scratch in an unexpected setting. It operates at a scale that is architectural but as low cost as possible so it can be disconnected from tradition and institutional oversight. The project constructs a space intended to be dedicated to existential contemplation, while in parallel creating personal and interpersonal experiences that will mark the space with a spiritual dimension. Doing this in an unconventional space (a public sidewalk) amidst a community marginalized by many current religions (LGBTQ+ Pride Festival) reexamines the fundamentals of sacred space while asserting that the sacred should be accessible to any human or group of humans by nature of their humanity.
A cardboard surface designed with parametric modeling software is erected on a sidewalk to form a domed space with three side chapels. While visibly a product of technology, the structure’s materials - cardboard and repurposed manufacturing waste - clearly manifest its fragility and its theme of constructing beauty from the mundane. The form of the structure with its computer-designed complexity reads as being of our time while reimagining historical elements of sacred space such as the arch and the stained-glass window. Participants complete the experience by writing directly on the surface. They share their inner joy, hope, or sorrow in the context of LGBTQ+ lived experience and read what others have shared. The spatial experience and the community acts of expression combine to create what many describe as meaningful and emotionally evocative. The space aspires to transcend the everyday in becoming a monument to personal struggle and triumph, as metaphorically expressed in the conversion of simple materials to something more transcendent.
The project was presented at Utah Pride, then Rexburg Pride (in Idaho), and finally at West End Church during New York City Pride Week, where it was shown in a closed-street festival and then installed in the historic church as a backdrop to the sermon.
Doug Staker is the Principal Architect with Squaremoon Studio, a small design firm based in Salt Lake City focusing on residential architecture, adaptive reuse, and sacred space. Since receiving his Masters in Architecture at UCLA, Doug has been a design architect in the Mountain West. He explores new conceptions of sacred space with his art/architecture installation series entitled Sanctuary. Step into Doug's Sanctuary HERE.
Meet the filmmakers
AUTUMN McALPIN (she/her) is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and owner of Side Gig Productions. She wrote, directed, and produced the feature film, Miss Arizona, starring Johanna Braddy, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Robyn Lively, Missi Pyle, & Steve Guttenberg, which premiered at the 2018 Bentonville Film Fest where it won the Audience Award for Best Feature. Miss Arizona also received IMDB’s Reframe stamp of approval for gender-balanced films, was nominated for Best Score at the 2018 Hollywood Music in Media Awards, and was acquired by Cinedigm and released theatrically and on streaming/VOD in 2019.
Autumn co-wrote and produced the 2015 Netflix feature film, Waffle Street, starring James Lafferty and Danny Glover, which won several awards on the festival circuit and was released worldwide by MarVista Entertainment. She also wrote, produced, and directed award-winning short films, Shadow and Another Time, as well as several PSA campaigns, and is the author of the best-selling graduation gift book, Real World 101: A Survival Guide to Life After High School, and the literary memoir, But Jesus: A Conversation. A graduate of USC’s Master of Professional Writing program, Autumn’s play, In Front of the Children, won first place in USC’s 2015 Writing for Stage and Screen Competition. Autumn is a member of Women in Film, Film Fatales, and the Alliance of Women Directors. To view Autumn’s projects, visit sidegigproductions.com
Deeply passionate about storytelling, co-director VIENNA BOYES (she/her) has worked full-time in the field of film and video production for seven years as an editor, video producer, cinematographer, and director on commissioned and personal productions including documentaries, music videos, live broadcasts, commercials, wedding videos, and short films. This is her first feature film, and she brings to the table an impressive array of skills in cinematography, editing, color, and sound design.
In pursuit of mastering her craft, Vienna uses storytelling to amplify the voices in society in a way that promotes understanding, evolution, and reconciliation. This has led her to create for non-profits and companies such as Aspen House (Domestic Violence Shelter), The OCD & Anxiety Centers, I Am Ventures, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Vienna’s work has also included commercial productions for clients such as Thread Wallets, Mark Kohler Tax & Legal, Public Service Production Studios, Savvi, Teak Style, and individual entrepreneurs such as Dan McKormick (NuSkin) and Brad Roberts (One Enterprises).
Step into Vienna's studio.