A movie premiere — the phrase suggests Hollywood, New York, klieg lights, marquee stars, and a red carpet. On June 14, there will be a movie premiere, but with a difference: the principals are local residents, spotlights to highlight celebrities will not be necessary, and the red carpet will be rolled out at the Madison Arts Cinema. It’s the first showing of an hour-long documentary, “We Built This House,” about the unique design and structure of Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek (CBSRZ) in Chester. Congregants come from communities all along the shoreline.

The synagogue has the distinction of being the only building ever designed by the late Sol LeWitt, one of the leaders of the minimalist and conceptual school of modern art. LeWitt, who lived in Chester and was a member of CBSRZ, drew his design from sources from the wooden synagogues of Eastern Europe to the post and beam barns of colonial New England. Architect Steven Lloyd worked with LeWitt and the congregation to translate their vision into a viable building.

The current documentary is part of the celebration of CBSRZ’s 100th anniversary. The present synagogue resulted from the union in the 1990s of two smaller congregations, Beth Shalom in Deep River and Rodfe Zedek in Moodus. The Moodus synagogue was founded a century ago. This year is also the 20th anniversary of the start of planning for the Chester synagogue.

Stephen Davis, the president of CBSRZ, got the idea for making the film after hearing Jock Reynolds, director of the Yale Art Gallery, give a talk on LeWitt’s work and its influence. The lecture included a picture of the Chester synagogue.

“It hit me how important this space is, not only in the eyes of the congregants but to anyone interested in LeWitt or how art can create a spiritual space,” Davis says.

Davis turned to Jon Joslow, a lifelong member of the congregation, for what he thought would be some advice on fundraising to make the film. Instead, Joslow, a business consultant and strategist with no filmmaking experience at all, decided to make the documentary himself. His bold decision paid off.

“I was amazed by Jon’s talent and vision,” says LeWitt’s wife, Carol, who was deeply involved in the building of the synagogue from design through construction.

“This is a first time ever documentary and it is excellent. Jon gave the film a lot of personality,” Lloyd adds.

For Joslow, the challenges were not only the technical aspects of filmmaking but also doing justice to the memories of those involved in the project.

“I did this because I wanted to preserve and extract what makes this building a spiritual home. I knew there were now people familiar with what went on and if we waited another 20 years, we might lose it forever,” he says. “I thought of it as a piece of storytelling by those who were there.”

Joslow worked with a videographer who filmed interviews while he asked questions, though neither his face nor his voice appears in the final product. Then he transcribed all the interviews, read through the text, and went back to the video, using a computer program to splice different segments together to make a coherent whole.

Six CBSRZ members appear in “We Built This House,” their memories reflecting different aspects of the building process and the synagogue’s past: Lloyd, Carol LeWitt and Davis along with George Amarant, chair of the design committee and co-chair of the building committee, Jacqueline Michael, a lifelong member of Rodfe Zedek, and CBSRZ Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg.

Amarant recounts an utterly unplanned but key moment that led to the construction of the synagogue’s roof. Sol LeWitt had wanted a dome on the building, but the design committee had been advised that a structurally stable dome was a very expensive feature, not feasible within the construction budget. On a trip to England, Amarant and his family visited a restored 16th-century mill in Yorkshire and saw that crisscrossed beams in the shape of a Star of David supported the large water wheel.

“When I saw it I realized, aha, we have the solution for the dome,” he says. At CBSRZ, beams creating a Star of David support the towering post and beam dome over the sanctuary.

Rabbi Goldenberg talked about the spirituality of the building, and the vibrant colors of the large LeWitt design for the doors of the ark where the Torah is kept. The painting, she noted, guides the eyes of the congregation to the focal point of the sanctuary.

“It is a gift to be a rabbi in this space,” she says.

Michael, who describes herself as born into Rodfe Zedek, knew the history of the four ner tamids, or eternal lights, at CBSRZ. Most synagogues have only one, not four. Three of the eternal lights come from the old Rodfe Zedek synagogue, one given in memory of Melvin Baron, a 19-year-old congregant who was killed in World War II; the two other memorialize Rodfe Zedek congregants who died as young women, Eleanor Adler, Michael’s sister, and Stephanie Sprecher. The fourth ner tamid comes from the former home of CBSRZ on Union Street in Deep River.

The synagogue moved to its new building in Chester in October of 2001, with congregants walking the three miles from Deep River carrying the Torah.

“When the congregation moved, the parade, it was a joyful moment of handing the building over to the users,” architect Lloyd says.

Joslow took the title for the film “We Built this House,” from the dedication on a wall of the CBSRZ entryway. He asked former synagogue president Lary Bloom, a noted writer and editor, where the words came from. “I thought he found them somewhere. He told me he wrote them,” Joslow says.

While he was making the film, Joslow undertook another major project, training for his first marathon in Hartford. He is now planning to run the Hartford marathon for a second time, but that is not an indication that he plans to make another documentary.

“I am happy to have done this; doing it was a gift that no amount of money could buy,” he says.

He admitted there was one more consideration that deters him from future filmmaking: he doesn’t think his wife Doreen would put up with him doing another.

What: Premiere of the film “We Built This House”

When: Sunday, June 14, at 11 a.m.

Where: Madison Arts Cinema, 761 Boston Post Road, Madison

Cost: Tickets are $18 through CBSRZ office, (860) 526-8920; if available, also at the door