Rated 7+ IMDb · 70%+ RT Little-known finds Curated by humans
Rated 7+ IMDb · 70%+ RT Little-known finds Curated by humans
2021 Movie
Dir. Robert Greene · United States of America · English
A one-of-a-kind documentary that affirms the healing power of community and art
Difficult but essential viewing, Procession tracks the progress of six men undergoing art therapy—specifically, by creating short filmed scenes to process their trauma from being sexually abused by Catholic priests. The resulting films we get to see are wildly varied in the emotions they express, forming a rich and powerful tapestry of the effects abuse can leave on individuals. And to see these men confront the worst events of their lives through filmmaking begins to feel like validation for filmmaking itself, that it can truly be an art form that changes and saves lives. But even more striking, somehow, is the unbreakable bond that forms among these survivors throughout this entire process, captured with reverence and overflowing compassion by director Robert Greene.
Six men who were sexually abused by Catholic clergy as boys become a makeshift family and find empowerment by creating films inspired by their trauma.
"Greene's incisive direction does more than depict the events; with melodramatic flourishes, he evokes and redresses silences in the history of cinema at large."
— Richard Brody
"Greene has assembled one hell of a cast here, and each of the six primary subjects in "Procession" is heard and understood with a measure of the clarity they've been denied for so long."
— David Ehrlich
Emil Hofileña is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. He also writes as a theater critic, with work published in Rogue and Out of Print, among others. He’s probably crying over a movie or an episode as we speak.
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