Praise for Scenes From a Parish
Congratulations to Director of Photography Stephen McCarthy, Composer Seamus Egan and Director James Rutenbeck, all recipients of the 2009 Insight Award of Excellence from The National Association of Film and Digital Media Artists.
-
“Your eyes and ears tell you that Scenes from a Parish is a documentary. So does a source that might be more reliable: PBS. Had it not been so, you might swear that this study of an urban Catholic congregation was a novel: with its absorbing and wrenching multiple storylines knit into an eloquently disturbing civic vision, James Rutenbeck’s film has a scope that’s positively Zola-esque” —Celia Wren, COMMONWEAL
-
“[Scenes From a Parish] unfolds in a series of incredibly diverse personal stories as both O’Brien and his fractious flock struggle to hold fast to their faith in the face of dire circumstances.” —Chicago Tribune
-
“The Vatican is trying to rouse Catholics’ ire toward Ron Howard’s upcoming ‘Angels and Demons’ without giving the blockbuster drama exactly the publicity it craves. Here’s an idea then: Steer the faithful, and everyone else, to ‘Scenes from a Parish,’ a surpassingly lucid documentary…It raises more questions about the church’s place in a changing world—and touches more emotions doing so—than any big-budget studio folderol.” —Ty Burr, BOSTON GLOBE
-
“James Rutenbeck’s modest, old-fashioned, simply shot documentary is exactly the right way to tell a story of old-time verities and virtues, daily life in a Catholic parish in Lawrence where the several priests are good guys, and where many of the parishioners struggle to put Christian charity into practice.” —Gerald Peary, BOSTON PHOENIX
-
“…will renew your faith in God and the cinema.” —LOWELL SUN
-
“Highly recommended for students of urban life and religion.” —LIBRARY JOURNAL
-
“A surefire discussion starter for religious and community groups and college classrooms.” —BOOKLIST
-
“If Flannery O’Connor had been alive, she would relish ‘Scenes from a Parish.’ The documentary is both a subtly shocking peeling the lid off a hidden third world in an America that is only now allowing itself to wake up to how deep its depression runs, and a tribute to the wonderfully catholic collection of people, with their graces, foibles, hopes, prejudices, who make up as multi-faceted a parish as anyone could imagine, and who find themselves involved by their pastor, in some cases without really knowing why, in feeding the poor. Grace and inadequacy blend beautifully together in this tender and poignant portrait.” —James Alison, Catholic Theologian, Priest and author
News Coverage
- ArtSake: How Does Place Impact Your Art?
- 1 More Film Blog: Scenes From a Parish (Rutenbeck, 2009)
- Harvard Magazine: The Father Father: Paul O’Brien’s tough ministry in Lawrence, Massachusetts
- National Catholic Reporter: ‘Scenes from a Parish:’ Inner-city Massachusetts’ parish viewed
- Christianity Today: The Gritty Life of a Real Parish
- PRI's The World: Immigrants and the Catholic Church
- NPR: Tell Me More: A Parish In Transition
- Commonweal: Feeding the Multitudes
- Boston Globe: In one parish, the state of the church
- Boston Herald: Lawrence ‘Parish’ in upheaval
- Boston Phoenix: Review: Scenes From a Parish
- Boston Magazine: The Cultural To-Do List: Seven events worth putting on your radar this month
- America: Here's All the People
- Boston Pilot: Film gives glimpse into life of Lawrence parish
- Eagle Tribune: Documentary filmmaker brings Lawrence church to the big screen
