Description

New edition with Spanish and English subtitles and extras.

One year replacement warranty on damaged discs.

Filmmaker James Rutenbeck will be available to speak via videoconference or phone link for 20 minutes after the class room screening of the film. Please contact James Rutenbeck at jrutenbeck@gmail.com
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When a young, irreverent priest arrives at Saint Patrick Parish in Lawrence, Massachusetts, he discovers the unexpected—boiling ethnic tensions in a changing working-class community. Filmed over four years, Scenes from a Parish tells the wildly diverse personal stories of Father Paul O’Brien and his unruly flock, as they struggle to hold onto faith in the face of desperate circumstances.

"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 playing at the Museum of Fine Arts over the next few weeks. 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

"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—airing on the PBS series Independent Lens on December 29 (check local listings)—has a scope that’s positively Zola-esque."
Celia Wren, COMMONWEAL

The Cultural To-Do List: Seven events worth putting on your calendar this month
Filmmaker James Rutenbeck's portrait of St. Patrick's Parish in Lawrence goes national tonight, offering a gripping look at the turmoil of some Catholic churches. Rutenbeck draws sympathetic parallels between the struggles of the old Irish and new Hispanic immigrants. Pastors in Charlestown may want to watch with a notepad handy.

" You don't need to be religious to be moved by the spirit of Father Paul O'Brien, head pastor, a Harvard graduate who finds his calling amid the unemployed, in the poorest city by far in Massachusetts. Yes, there are problems at Saint Patrick's: drugs, alcoholism, homelessness, and some resentment of the Hispanic newcomers from the aging Irish. But there's hope, too, and parishioners turn their lives around, because Father Paul is an exemplary priest, and a movie hero as well."
Gerald Peary, BOSTON PHOENIX

"Scenes is an achievement for its true intimacy—for the compelling way we see St. Patrick’s parishioners trudge through their daily lives trying to succeed while the world whips up change all around them."
Jared Bowen, Greater Boston, WGBH Boston

"In these hard economic times it is heartening to see a documentary work that makes you feel good about average people who give above average of themselves."
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews

"...in its complete immersion into one community, it has something to say about people everywhere."
Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

"Filmmaker James Rutenbeck's newest film, Scenes from a Parish, is a deeply felt homage to the nuances of small town life and the role faith plays when meeting the challenges that life presents. In the rhythms and rituals of a Catholic church in a small New England town, we see how people face change while trying to maintain tradition. Rutenbeck's immersion in the subject lends his film dignity and insight, allowing his viewers a fresh understanding of the complex interplay between faith and family."
Cara Mertes, Director, Sundance Documentary Film Program

"If Flannery O’Connor had been alive, she would relish James Rutenbeck’s 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

"The documentary about Paul O'Brien, a Harvard graduate-turned-reverend at Saint Patrick's in Lawrence, will renew your faith in God and the cinema. The film, shot over four years, moved audiences at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston International Film Festival, and Boston College with its raw depiction of upended lives in Lowell's sister city. Through vivid scenes, nine parishioners struggle with poverty, disability and loneliness. Director James Rutenbeck captures the power of urban ministry in authentic detail in this heartfelt work."
Kathleen Pierce, lowellsun.com

"Filmed over four years in Lawrence, Massachusetts, this sensitive documentary explores the meaning of community and the religious, sociocultural, and economic ties that both bind and divide parishioners of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. Lawrence was once a flourishing industrial city, attracting Irish mill workers. Now most of the factories are closed, and high rates of poverty and unemployment deepen ethnic tensions between old and new parishioners, many of whom are recent arrivals to the U.S. The neighborhood church is headed by Paul O’Brien, a soft-spoken, Harvard-educated priest. The camera captures his tireless efforts to unite this deeply divided community through prayer, counseling, service projects, sports activities, and unwavering faith. Conversations with Father O’Brien and parishioners of various ethnicities as well as footage at the parish meal center and other locales demonstrate that many have been touched by their spiritual connection to Father O’Brien and the church. Includes some Spanish conversations with English subtitles. A surefire discussion starter for religious and community groups and college classrooms."
Carol Holzberg, Booklist

"Saint Patrick’s is an old Irish parish in Lawrence, MA, the poorest city in the state and one that has seen the number of Hispanic immigrants increase over the years. When a young, dynamic, Harvard-educated priest becomes pastor, he recognizes that he must now minister not only to the old Irish families but also to these newcomers, to the drug addicts, and to others who are down and out, including some of the Irish themselves, whose poverty is hidden. Interviews with parishioners, some highly personal, though the viewer never feels like a voyeur, are interspersed with scenes of parish life to present a rich portrait of a community facing challenge and change. Not all of the parishioners agree with the pastor’s approach, but many of them alter their attitudes over the course of the four years of filming. This technically and artistically outstanding film, as much a sociological study of a city in flux as of a particular Catholic parish, had its premiere at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Highly recommended for students of urban life and religion."
Augustine J. Curley, Library Journal

James Rutenbeck's fine documentary identifies the city of Lawrence, as Massachusetts's poorest, but the community's poverty is only one of the problems facing Father Paul O'Brien, a Harvard graduate from a privileged background who is now the young pastor of Saint Patrick's church. O'Brien is actively accommodating the parish's transition toward becoming predominantly Hispanic, a reality that upsets older Irish congregants like Edna McGregor, who expresses her displeasure by leaving after services start being presented in Spanish as well as English. Made over four years, Scenes from a Parish follows O'Brien's careful but determined efforts to reach out to all segments of the community while continuing to reassure long-time church members. The documentary also chronicles the parish's attempt to express faith through social action, including the establishment of a center for distributing meals to the needy. Several committed parishioners are also spotlighted, including food drive organizer Frank Martin; Peggy Oliveto who volunteers to assist unwed mothers; church musical director Pat Romeo, who encourages a young Hispanic woman to join her staff. Bobby McCord, a disabled man who embraces parish duties while also facing family difficulties; and Elvys Guzman, a Dominican trying to extricate himself from gang life. Scenes from a Parish is a compelling mosaic of a film that effectively captures a multifaceted flock undergoing traumatic change, offering insights that are not only applicable to the Roman Catholic Church in America, but other denominations, as well. Highly recommended.
(three and half out of four stars)
Frank Swietek, Video Librarian

Festivals

Boston International Film Festival
Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival
Doctoberfest