If you’re in Boston
I got an email from Lindsay with Zingerplatz Pictures about a screening of Hand Of God a film by Joe Cultrera. In his own words:
The film centers on my brother’s abuse by a Catholic priest (Joseph Birmingham) in 1964, back in our hometown of Salem. The film goes on to tell the story of various interactions between my family and the Boston Archdiocese – culminating in the closing of my parent’s church. It is not a depressing treatment of this issue – my brother’s humor and intellect cuts through it all and ultimately it is a film about personal triumph over a corporation.
One of the many things that make this film different than other media treatments of this issue is that it is told brother to brother, from the inside. The film details our Catholic upbringing; his abuse; what it was like for him to spend 30 years in silence; how he eventually came to action and how his own investigation unraveled various obstructions and lies by the Boston hierarchy (years before this material hit the headlines). It is also constructed in a rather non-traditional documentary style.
Sounds like it might be worth a trip. You can see the schedule of screenings on the site. If you do see it, please leave a comment and let us know how you felt about it!
