THE HUTTERITES | Full Documentary | National Film Board of Canada

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons conveyed

The Hutterites’ core identity and longevity

• The Hutterites live by a long-standing set of community rules believed to trace back to Jacob Hutter, set four centuries ago.
• Unlike many historical “utopia” projects, they have maintained their identity for centuries.
• Their survival hinges on keeping tradition while still being practical about change.

Tradition with selective openness to change

• They are not opposed to change in general.
• They welcome innovations that improve efficiency, while avoiding changes that would pull them toward “worldly” ways.

Collective communal life built around land and shared purpose

• Many Hutterite generations have lived on the land.
• Historically, they have often been forced to move repeatedly to find land where they can live together in colonies across regions including:
  • Germany
  • Hungary
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • and America
• A colony is typically centered on a sizable landholding. The film notes:
  • In Northeast Alberta, one community owns about 7 square miles
  • Typical colony size mentioned: about 100 people

A colony’s social organization

The documentary portrays Hutterite communities as highly structured:

• Meals are communal and gender-separated (men together, women together, children separately).
• Clothing is described as uniform.
• Leadership is elected rather than inherited:
  • A preacher, elected by the community
  • A manager, elected to oversee practical and financial matters
• Work and religion are tightly connected:
  • Daily life is framed as religious duty—using scripture to justify work and emphasizing God’s presence in everyday actions.

Faith permeates work and community roles

• Individuals may hold mixed responsibilities, such as:
  • A person serving as both a craftsperson (e.g., shoemaker) and an assistant preacher.
• The documentary emphasizes their devoutness while showing that religious life includes practical trades like poultry farming.

Family life inside a communal system

• The film contrasts Hutterite family routines with “ordinary Canadian family” life:
  • Simple communal-house housing patterns
  • Limited separation of personal space from the community
• Children have defined roles as they grow:
  • Schooling and training begin early
  • Work contributions begin around legal/age milestones
• Marriages have changed:
  • Historically arranged; now described as less arranged than “years and years ago,” though still influenced by parental involvement
  • The film notes differences in marriage customs (e.g., no rings; beards as an indicator; ceremony details implied to differ from mainstream norms)

Rejecting outside influences to preserve community integrity

The documentary frames technology and entertainment as threats to communal life and religious practice, including:

• Reasons given for not having radios:
  • Music can lead to social behaviors (dancing, late nights) that disrupt work and worship
• Reasons given for avoiding television:
  • It would disrupt schedules and encourage imitation of outsiders’ lifestyles

They still have schooling consistent with provincial standards, but the most important part of the day is their own religious education.

Education as moral/religious formation and skill training

Hutterite education is portrayed as:

• Historically rigorous, with an emphasis on reading religious texts
• Essentially religious: moral precepts are taught primarily through the community school system
• Involvement of the schoolmaster and his wife in governing daily life details (including children’s dining)
• Teaching children to be:
  • Obedient, peaceful, God-fearing, friendly, and loving
• Preparing boys (e.g., Eddie) for lifelong roles in the colony, with the possibility of establishing new colonies if populations grow

Shared property and shared work

• Individual wealth is minimized:
  • People may have personal items (like a hope chest), but most resources are communal
• The documentary contrasts “ownership” inside the colony versus outside it.
• Work-sharing is emphasized, with only a few roles described as more individual (such as specific craft roles like shoemaking).

Worship practices centered on the schoolhouse

• Rather than a separate church building, their “church” is the schoolhouse.
• The schoolhouse becomes the site for worship and preaching—linking religious practice directly to education and daily structure.
• Their singing is described as loud and shrill, tied to persecution history (hymns sung in prisons).

Persecution history and mistrust of the outside world

• Their history includes repeated displacement and religious conflict.
• The documentary frames their memory of persecution as a reason for remaining cautious about the outside world and its “false values.”
• It highlights earlier religious conflicts:
  • Bible study and reinterpretation during the era of printing and translation
  • Religious wars, martyrdom, and persecution of groups such as the Anabaptists
  • Jacob Hutter is described as a founder of such a sect, with followers reportedly going to death singing hymns.

Growth, conflict, and continued determination

• Numbers are presented as dramatically increasing from about 300 Hutterites to 15,000 (as of the documentary’s present).
• Colonies are described as:
  • Admired by some for agricultural capacity and machinery
  • Resented by others for not contributing as others think they should
  • Feared by others for land use and because the group doesn’t conform
• Despite opposition, they believe their way of life is ordained and should continue.

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Methodology / “how they do it” (detailed bullet list)

• Maintain identity by combining:

  • Strict adherence to community rules and scripture-based life
  • Selective acceptance of innovations that improve efficiency (but avoiding changes that shift them toward outsider culture)

• Protect the colony from outside cultural influence by:

  • Avoiding technologies that bring entertainment and disruptive social behavior (example: no radios, no television)
  • Relying on internal community education and schedules to keep youth aligned with colony values

• Run the colony through elected leadership and role specialization:

  • Elect a preacher for spiritual guidance (explicitly tied to scripture and framing work as part of God’s purpose)
  • Elect a manager to oversee practical operations, field assignments, and finances
  • Allow some individuals to serve dual purposes (e.g., trade work plus assistant preaching)

• Organize daily life so work and religion reinforce each other:

  • Integrate faith into everyday tasks and meals
  • Use communal routines such as communal eating patterns, shared living spaces, and shared work systems

• Ensure continuity through education and early training:

  • Provide provincial-standard schooling plus a community school day centered on religious/moral instruction
  • Teach moral precepts and practical skills needed to become productive members of the colony
  • Train youth to expect lifelong membership, with the option to found new colonies if growth requires it

• Preserve communal economics through shared property norms:

  • Share work broadly
  • Keep most possessions and resources common, allowing only limited personal property (e.g., hope chest)
  • Restrict accumulation of individual wealth to maintain collective stability

• Respond to external pressure with mobility:

  • If outside pressure becomes too great, the documentary emphasizes their historical pattern of “pull up stakes and move on.”
  • This is presented as survival strategy rather than compromise.

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Speakers / sources featured (explicitly identifiable)

• Jacob Hutter (historical founder associated with setting community rules)
• Mike (appears as a narrator/voice referenced in the opening subtitle: “right details later Mike …”)
• Preacher (role mentioned; specific person not clearly identified by name in the subtitles)
• Manager (role mentioned; specific person not clearly identified by name in the subtitles)
• Peter Hofer (shoemaker; also described as assistant preacher)
• Jake Chat(h)ar (poultry man; devout member; markets eggs)
• Susie Chat(h)ar (Jake’s daughter)
• Eddie Chat(h)ar (Jake’s son; school boy-in-training)
• Eli Chat(h)ar (Jake’s son; working member since age 15)
• Barbara Chat(h)ar (Jake’s younger daughter; helps in poultry house)
• Sarah (Jake’s youngest daughter)
• Jerry (appears near the end: “life head yeah this on side Jerry … the secret of their survival …”)