PARK CITY, Utah — The Utah-based Mormon church plays a starring role in a new Sundance Film Festival documentary about the 2008 ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in California.

"8: The Mormon Proposition," premieres Sunday. The film contends that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built on decades of anti-gay teachings to justify its political activism and was the driving force behind the coalition that helped pass Proposition 8.

In telling the story, filmmaker Reed Cowan — himself a gay Mormon — draws from internal church documents, public campaign finance reports, statements from church leaders and first-person accounts from gay Mormons and their family members.

In a statement, church officials say the film's online materials about the faith lack accuracy. (AP)