Where Has Eternity Gone is the name of a documentary by Barney Snow. In the film Snow visits Gerald and Linda Polley, two people who live on the margins in a North Dakota trailer-park. Along with their friend Jesse, the Polleys believe that they are benign visitors from another planet who are on a mission to save heaven and earth.

Pre 9/11, the Polleys consider Al Gore as a force of evil and campaign against him in the run-up to the 2001 presidential election. The film follows their activities.

Linda contributes some of the most poignant moments of the film with her beautiful songs written not by her but channelled, she says, through the spirit of John Lennon.

Where Has Eternity Gone is a lovely, funny and thoughtful film. Barney Snow told me some more stuff about it:

How did you find the Polleys? What attracted you to their story?
It started when a friend of mine was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. One aspect of his behaviour was that he believed he was John Lennon, and grew his beard and assumed the Lennon look circa 1969. Later on he recovered and has returned to normal life. He was probably misdiagnosed as it turns out. On his travels during his wayward years, he discovered others who thought they were Lennon. We planned to do a film about this, but the Polleys came up through a search he did. They didn't interest him as such, but I suddenly thought there might be something in it and took a chance. I spoke to them briefly over the phone, and was interested that they had their election campaign running. It sounded like it was worth taking the risk - the worst that would happen would be that I would spend a few days in Fargo and have to find something else to do.

Are they really such unusual people, or do you think folks like them are the bedrock of America?
I would imagine that they are unusual, but I believe that America creates people like the Polleys. One of my favourite filmmakers, Werner Herzog, once spoke about how funny he found it that the Americans travel all over the world looking for exotic people and places - but they don't realise that they are the most exotic people on earth. The Polleys are an example of this form of exoticism. The Polleys are isolated and poor and have been made to feel like weirdo outsiders. But, like true Americans, they are optimists and I believe that they've created their own reality out of the melange of sci-fi, religion, literature and so on that the culture produces. I've never felt comfortable giving an opinion on their mental state, but many people say they are severely delusional. I like to celebrate them as inspired artists. Not forgetting Jesse of course. But in general, yes, I would say they are an all American product.

So, um, is heaven going to end, or has Jesus gone back? Were the negotiations between the Polleys and Jesus successful?
Heaven is continually in crisis. Jesus did come back but there is always something else, something evil that needs the attention of the members of the afterlife to prevent disaster on earth. The Polleys have always got the vital role of holding heaven and earth together in a sort of shaky truce.

How do the Polleys, and their friend Jesse, rationalise the fact that a Lot of people think they are mad?
They just think that other people can think what they like. I didn't push it endlessly with them.

You said that you worry some people might think the film is exploitative, what do you have to say to them?
At the first screening, somebody in the audience likened it to a c.19th freak show. It differs in that the film doesn't ask people to gawp, it asks the audience to try taking the Polleys on their level, then you can ask questions of yourself, the nature of belief and so on. Some of it is amusing, but I defend that as well. Are people with strange beliefs to be treated with a sort of hushed reverence? And are they to be hidden away? No, it may make a viewer feel uncomfortable, but that's fine isn't it? Many TV documentaries today assume a moral position silently. They worry that the viewer will turn over if their world-view is not confirmed. I believe that more films should be made outside parameters of so-called taste, decency and moral certitude.

Where can people see Where Has Eternity Gone?
Other than at film festivals, I'm not so sure. TV so far, hasn't been interested. I can sell people copies if they e-mail me.

What are you working on now?
I'm about to do two Channel 4 half hour documentaries. They're not mine, I'm a hired hand. My next independent film is still in my head.

Is there anything else you'd like to say?
I hope there's a revolution in the way that people get to see films, and that TV ceases to be the dominant force, but becomes one of several different means of viewing films. This way you'll get different voices coming through. I don't want to bite the hand that feeds me, but I think it would be healthier all round.