[Artículo publicado originalmente por Pablo J. Ginés en Religión en Libertad]
The year 2020, with its pandemic, was chaotic for the whole world and also for the cinema. Production companies, large and small, had to decide to postpone the premieres and productions, postpone them again, premiere them at half throttle in theaters with limitations or upload them directly to the Internet and encourage the public, confined or just cautious, to pay to see them online.
Many viewers change their habits and try online payment, that perhaps we had never considered before. Small production companies with Christian values like Bosco Films, Goya Productions or European Dreams Factory They tried a little of everything. But the films were coming out and there they are, on the net -some also in theaters-, available to everyone. Here are 10 spiritual films that arrived in Spain (sometimes in Hispanic countries) in 2020 and to which we pay attention in ReligionEnLibertad.
*Small production companies encourage the public to support their work -and the creation of new films- by avoiding pirate and illegal sites and paying the ticket “online”, which -in addition- is cheaper than at the cinema: for a ticket of 4 or 6 euros, for example, the whole family sees the film in the living room of the house.
1. Ether
the protagonist of Ether he is the bad guy, which is very bad, but in the last 10 minutes everything changes. How is a film like this sustained, and also hooks and intrigues us? Because its director, Krzysztof Zanussi, is an “old fox” in this art and is brave and tries things that are politically incorrect. Faust, Frankenstein, the technical pride in the prelude to the massacre of the First World War… but evil does not have the last word.
2. Jordi’s lyrics
Jordi has very limited mobility and communication skills. But his head works perfectly and he uses an alphabet to point to his letters and communicate. He likes to make a pilgrimage to Lourdes and pray there. He is quite mystical, but without fuss. “When I hear the voice of God I stop what I’m doing and listen,” he says. the documentary maker, Maider Fernandez, is agnostic but she is fascinated by Jordi, also by the Lourdes grotto, and, above all, by the human being’s ability to communicate. The everyday and the spiritual, hand in hand, looking beyond.
3. Wojtyla: The investigation
Jose Maria Zavala manages to show the life and historical relevance of Saint John Paul II in a very complete documentary, with unpublished documents and images and the participation of Cardinal Dziwisz (secretary of the Pope for many years) and the postulator of canonization, Slawomir Oder, among other friends and connoisseurs of the holy Polish pope.
Wojtyla includes, for example, the surveillance to which the communist regime subjected him. With a vision of faith and history, it is an agile, inspiring and complete way to introduce this Pope to young people who hardly knew him (anyone who is 20 years old or younger today) and to remember him and broaden our vision to those who did. we had him as our Pope.
4.Unplanned
The exciting and true story of Abby Johnson, a young woman who had an abortion twice and was the director of an abortion clinic in the US, until she became aware of the horror that abortion really meant. The hard scenes are in the first third of the film, then there are spirituality and questions about God and prayer and also ‘thriller’ of courts. An essential classic now to deal with the issue of abortion. Today Abby helps many people who work in this macabre industry to get out of that realm and dedicate their skills to a better cause.
5. The power in my hands
An agile and profound documentary about the power of the Rosary in history and in the lives of specific people. It is full of testimonies from Eastern Europe (with the memory of communism and the current armed violence in Ukraine), survivors of genocide in Africa, fighters for peace in the Philippines, soldiers in Afghanistan… It is not a sappy documentary and it insists on the strength of the Rosary as a powerful weapon for both men and women. It is the movie to see to be encouraged to pray with faith, hope and perseverance.
6. Pilgrim’s Progress
The spiritual and allegorical classic of John Bunyan in cartoons (without the anti-Catholic touches of the original 17th century book), in a spiritual adventure in cartoons that engages children and adults; to the children for their action and changes of scenery, to the older ones for their spiritual symbology, which is that of everyone who struggles to progress in the life of faith and virtue.
It opens something in the mind and heart, instilling a desire to love God, the truth and his Kingdom. Pilgrim’s Progress it is a story that will never expire and can be reviewed several times. It was the first to bet on the online premiere during the pandemic.
7. Burning Heart
This documentary with fragments of fiction premiered in Spain in February and in March in other Hispanic countries, but the pandemic blocked its dissemination, which could be greater. Not yet available for online purchase. the popular actress Karyme Lozano plays a writer who investigates the apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, helped by her journalist friend (who is the writer Maria Vallejo-Najera).
There is a familiar plot of hurt and breakup, but more exciting is the spiritual investigation with real testimonials and expert insights into this devotion and the lives it has changed.
8. Divine Mercy
Polish documentary with historical origin of devotion to Divine Mercy, the visions of Saint Faustina Kowalska and testimonies of lives transformed by this devotion, the recitation of her crown and the use of her icon (it is explained how some nuns went to rescue it from its confiscation in a Soviet storage room). It combines the real testimonies with recreated scenes from its beginning in Poland. He gains strength and emotion with the testimonies. It was released in 60 Spanish cinemas in September.
9. Reborn
It is the second film about Padre Pio directed by Jose Maria Zavala who also made The Mystery of Padre Pio. Although it premiered in Spain in 2019, it hit screens in Latin America in early 2020, before the pandemic forced theaters to close. It is an impressive barrage of live and recent testimonies, of people transformed by visiting San Giovanni Rotondo, or healed when they prayed to Padre Pio, or of wounded families who heal their relationship through the intercession of the saint of Pietrelcina.
10. We will rise at dawn
Another story about Padre Pio, but from the perspective of some children who investigate the saint in the midst of their family and health difficulties. this italian movie It premiered online in Spain this December.