Director: Francisco Ordoñez
Writer: Francisco Ordoñez
Producers: Joe Turner Lin, Milton Liu
Story: Francisco Ordoñez & Joe Turner Lin
Director of Photography: Carlos Veron
Cast: Rene Rosado, Tracy Perez, Sofia Yepes
Shooting Format: Super 16mm
Running Time: 19:00
Aspect Ratio: 1.85
Languages: English & Spanish w/ English subtitles
SYNOPSIS:
Paul Ramirez, a senior in college wears his atheism on his sleeve like an intellectual badge of courage. In fact, he preaches the word of doubt to all that will listen. He has had a particularly cogent influence on his girlfriend Samantha. When Samantha’s mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer she is, as one would expect, devastated. Paul desperately searches for something, anything that will make her feel even just a little bit better, but to his horror he quickly realizes that her conversion to atheism has stripped her of the ability to comfort herself through a belief in the afterlife. Soon after, Paul begins wrestling with the growing suspicion that maybe, just maybe, God is punishing him for his sins.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
Whether it is soul-searching priest or bereaving mother, much has been said about the true believer that experiences a “crisis of faith.” However, what is rarely explored is how some of us, having once upon a time basked in the light and comfort of our God, will forever endure the anguish of doubt and the utter sense of mourning that accompanies loss of faith. As A.N Wilson has noted, the children of the Enlightenment, people such as Darwin, Thomas Hardy and George Elliot experienced what was nothing short of a “collective nervous breakdown.” For the central character of my film, a young Latino-American, the first in his family to step into the illumination of the “intellectual life,” the journey ahead parallels that of all generations past, present and future who grieve at the altar of doubt.
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Link to stills: St. Paul Gallery
