For the second time this season, a noteworthy pro-life film has made its way to the screen. In October, we reveled in the theatrical release of Bella, a fictional drama based on a true story, and now The Human Experience, a documentary-style study of the meaning and joy of human life.
Without ever mentioning Jesus' name, the film is a marvel of pro-life Catholicism. "Jesus' fingerprints are all over it," said producer Joseph Campo. I attended a screening on a chilly Saturday night in Washington, DC, with a packed house, including some whom had driven four or more hours to see it.
The film was made by and follows the real life self-discovery adventures of two young residents of the St. Francis Home.
Founded by Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., in 1967, the St. Francis Home in Brooklyn, New York is an active halfway house for fifteen Catholic young men who, in the words of Campo, "need a second chance in life."
"Everyone has a talent," says Campo, who is also the director of the St. Francis Home, "when these young men come here, its my job to find out what that talent is."
In response to the talents of several residents and his own substantial photographic abilities, Grassroots Films was formed in 2001.
In 2006, the fledgling film company was commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to create a priestly vocation movie. The result was the critically acclaimed "Fishers of Men." It was followed by "God in the Streets of New York," about a Eucharistic Procession through New York City.
Sitting together as a community for dinner at the St. Francis Home ("It's not an option, Campo says) provides the forum for new film ideas, and from discussions about faith, hope, charity and forgiveness, The Human Experience was born.
Jeff, the star of the film ("We all know a star is just a ball of gas," Campo reminded, "and they all burn out.), is a twenty-year-old with a difficult past who lives with his brother at St. Francis Home. The film follows them as they set out to discover what it is to be human by living life along side some of society's least accepted.
The young men spend cold winter nights on the streets of New York City, living in a community of homeless men, and learning their stories, philosophy and methods of survival.
In the second adventure, they travel to Peru to work and play with Surf for a Cause, an organization which helps non-profit organizations in developing nations graced with waves. They document their experiences in a home for sick children. In their off time, they surf.
Finally, we follow them to Africa where they spend time with AIDS victims and members of a leper colony. Everywhere they go, they interact with the suffering strata of society, and invariably meet with an attitude of hope, of certainty in God's purpose for life. Life is beautiful, this movie shouts, and even the weakest, most dependent of us knows the great gift they have been given in being alive.
