Congress Film Showcase
Friday, February 24, 2023
Anaheim Convention Center
7:45 p.m.
Welcome
The Congress Film Showcase is an evening forum at the annual Los Angeles Religious Education Congress for the exhibition and discussion of cinematic work rooted in Catholic social teaching, intellectual, spiritual and narrative traditions. Recognizing the significant role of film, television, and related media in the greater conversation of faith and culture, the LMU Center for Religion and Spirituality is pleased to sponsor and curate this important event in partnership with the Archdiocesan Office for Religious Education.
The Center is especially grateful to its partners in mission who cosponsored tonight’s Showcase: Family Theater Productions, the CSJ Center for Reconciliation and Justice, the filmmakers of Jesus Revolution.
With This Light
2023 CIMA Social Justice Award Recipient
Catholics in Media Associates (CIMA), the Catholic-peer association for the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, recognizes achievements in film and television that promote human dignity and uplift the human spirit. For documenting and raising global awareness of Sister María Rosa Leggol's life saving work, which has directly contributed to the process of her beatification, CIMA is proud to present its 2023 Social Justice Award to the documentary film With This Light.
During her 70 years as a Franciscan nun, Sister María Rosa Leggol helped more than 80,000 Honduran children escape abject poverty. Even into her 90s, as economic pressures intensified and gang violence threatened the very fabric of Honduran life, Sister never slowed down. Armed with a razor sharp wit and an unshakeable faith in God, she inspired and enlisted supporters in her fight to end childhood poverty through wide-ranging projects including homes, vocational schools and medical programs.
The film follows two young women in Sister’s programs as they try to navigate the uncertainty and dangers of modern Honduras.
Rosa (18) has spent almost her entire life under Sister Maria Rosa's protection, living inside the sheltered environment of Sister's urban orphanage. As Rosa prepares for her senior exam and the potential to go to college, she must confront both her fears of the future and the ghosts of her violent childhood to create a life of her own.
Living in one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods, Maria (14) risks her life to get a high school education and break free from the cycle of poverty and violence that traps the women in her family. She finds protection with Alfredo (18) and his family, struggling to balance her role of "wife" with her studies.
With This Light poetically interweaves their stories with the almost miraculous story of Sister herself, a woman whose Catholic faith has sustained her through dictatorships, military coups, narco-states and natural disasters, all the while dedicating herself to society’s most vulnerable.
With This Light is produced by Jessica Sarowitz and Nicole Bernardi-Reis, and directed by Nicole Bernardi-Reis and Laura Bermúdez. See full crew here.
Panel
Nicole Bernardi-Reis
Co-director and Producer
With This Light
Jessica Sarowitz
Executive Producer
With This Light
Robert Hurteau, Ph.D.
Director
LMU Center for Religion and Spirituality
Michael McNaught
Faculty, Media Arts for Ministry
LMU Center for Religion and Spirituality