The fourth annual SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival came to a close Sunday, with top honors going to Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's Jesus Camp, a fascinating look behind the scenes of an Evangelical Christian movement which molds young children into soldiers for Christ. Ewing and Grady now add a Sterling Feature Grand Jury Award to their previous SILVERDOCS Audience Award, for 2005's Boys of Baraka.

Other award winners include: an Honorable Mention for Chairman George, which follows Greek-Canadian George Sapounidis on a quest to use his ability to sing in perfect Mandarin Chinese to live a more meaningful life; an Audience Award for Frank Popper's profile of an idealist's race for Congress, Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?; and a Jury Award in the DOCS Rx category, which honors films that deal with global health issues, for Blood of Yangzhou District.

DCist had a great time at this year's festival (though we still think it should be longer), so we thought we'd share some thoughts on a few of the films we saw, below. Feel free to add your own reviews of what you saw in the comments.

Jesus Camp, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady: Becky Fischer is a preacher on a mission: if radical Muslims (who she openly refers to as "the enemy") are teaching their children to be suicide bombers, then Evangelical Christians ought to be training their children to be just as militant (if not necessarily violent). Thus Fischer's Kids on Fire summer camp was born, and directors Ewing and Grady get a front-row seat to the birth of a growing army of fervent pre-teen proselytizers.

It's difficult not to giggle when camp counselors sternly warn their charges of the dangers of Harry Potter ("warlocks are enemies of God!"); it's even more difficult not to be shocked by how far they will go to break down the emotional defenses of 10-year-old girls (when tiny plastic fetus models are passed around during an anti-abortion discussion, many children sob uncontrollably). But for the most part, Ewing and Grady manage a commendably even-handed approach to their subjects — as the filmmakers explained after the screening, these are people who don't feel they have anything to hide. For anyone with even a passing interest in the Culture Wars, Jesus Camp is a must-see.

The Great Happiness Space - Tale of an Osaka Love Thief, directed by Jake Clennell: It's hard to believe Clennell, an experienced British DP, is a first-time director. The Great Happiness Space is a truly startling, layered look at the lives of young Japanese men who make their livings as "hosts," sort of high-priced male escorts who offer wealthy women not sex, but manufactured love. Operating under the assumption that what women really want is someone to tell them they're beautiful, lavish them with attention, and occassionally scold them for being naughty, these over-coiffed, cynical boys sell the dream of romance without the committment — and profit handsomely.

What starts off as an examination of a quirky subculture quickly transforms into a complex study of the social ramifications of prostitution and modern love. A shocking revelation a third of the way through the film is too good to give away, and in the end it's difficult to say for sure just who is using whom. But it would be impossible to walk away from this story and not be concerned about the future of male-female relationships in Japan, and perhaps in the world at large.

Punk's Not Dead, directed by Susan Dynner: To be fair, this film is not yet finished. D.C. native Dynner has been at work on her punk pièce de résistance for nearly four years, and it's no wonder — her editor revealed in the post-screening q&a that he had been given over 600 hours of original and archival footage to work with. That's just a crazy amount of material. Still, this ambitious attempt to chronicle every highlight of the mainstream punk music scene from the early 1980s onward feels awfully draggy in a lot of spots, and it's tough not to question some of Dynner's choices due to the sheer scope of her subject. Instead of walking out of the film feeling like you've got a much better sense of the evolution of punk, questions abound, such as: What happened to the 1970s? Why focus so heavily on the commercialization of punk style? Exactly how many times can the word punk appear in one film?

Despite its inherent problems, Dynner's film has a lot going for it, number one among that list being the director herself. Having grown up in the influential D.C. punk scene, Dynner knows just about everybody who's anybody, and it shows. She's equally at home with the likes of Henry Rollins, Ian McCallum, Dick Lucas or Billie Joe Armstrong. She's also clearly got a passion for her subject, and a knack for plucking gems out of interviews and archival footage alike (hilarious scenes from old 1970s TV shows portraying fear of the virus of punk are winners). With that many hours of material, Dynner might be better off trying to put together a three-part mini-series than cobbling together a coherent feature, but we'll certainly be interested to see how the final product comes out.

Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?, directed by Frank Popper: Politics is all about the pursuit of the dream. Director Frank Popper documents a riveting David vs. Goliath story where novice/idealist Jeff Smith goes up against a full pool of competitors in Missouri for retiring Dick Gephart's U.S. Congress seat. The grassroots Smith campaign gives its heart, energy and soul to go up against "the man," however much of a longshot victory may be. As characterized by Communications Director Artie Harris, "I saw Jeff and thought, 'God this guy is too short, young, and high voiced.' But I talked to him for ten minutes and thought, 'This motherfucker might just do it.'"

Scenes of Smith getting dumped on phone call after phone call, door knock after door knock, relay the gumption of not only the candidate, but the entire campaign; they refused to give up. One of the final scenes has Smith standing in the rain talking to his volunteers the day after election day, tearing up with emotion, and the moment manages to convey real sadness right alongside undeniable hope. Mr. Smith offers audiences (who rewarded the film with an Audience Award) a unique look at a colorful and idealistic campaign staff that wasn't afraid to flex moxy. (Nicole Berckes)