 "In
Good Conscience"
In Barbara Rick's acclaimed
documentary, IN GOOD CONSCIENCE, a most unlikely and
very funny rebel — an American nun — finds herself at
the center of a human rights storm with leaders of one
of the world’s most revered institutions, the Roman
Catholic Church.
The film chronicles the true
story of Sister Jeannine Gramick, who is defying a
Vatican edict that she shut down her compassionate
ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics, and silence
herself permanently on the subject of homosexuality. Her
battle takes her all the way to Rome where she attempts
an audience with her key adversary over the years — none
other than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — the Inquisitor
who would become
Pope Benedict XVI.
Sister Jeannine has worked
within the church for more than thirty years on behalf
of the LGBT community and its fight for acceptance,
recognition, and equality. When issued this ultimatum
from Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II — denounce
homosexuality or lose everything — quietly and with
respect, she refused.
"I choose not to collaborate in
my own oppression by restricting a basic human right,"
she says. "To me this is a matter of conscience."
Legendary filmmaker Albert
Maysles was so moved by Sister Jeannine’s story he
offered to shoot it. Executive produced by Humanitas
Prize winner Tom Fontana, the film has won support from
patrons Ellen DeGeneres, Susan Sarandon, Trudie Styler,
Agnes Gund, Deborah Santana, among many others.
Called ‘a masterpiece’ by
Oscar-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple, ‘a wonderful
film about a sensational human being’ by playwright
Terrence McNally, and ‘excellent… enormous charm’ by
Variety, audiences are embracing IN GOOD CONSCIENCE with
standing ovations at sold-out festival screenings around
the world. TimeOut NY magazine calls Sister Jeannine
Gramick ‘a freedom fighter on the frontlines of the
cultural wars,” adding, “This gripping documentary by
Barbara Rick is a must-see.”
The film debuted at IFP/Lincoln
Center’s Independents Night series in New York City in
2004. It won the Audience Favorite Award for Best
Feature Documentary at the Philadelphia Int’l Gay &
Lesbian Film Festival, Best Documentary at the ReelPride
Michigan Festival and Honorable Mention at NewFest for
its ‘inspirational and stirring portrait of a woman who
has defied censorship to speak out against homophobia
and discrimination.’ It was selected as the Closing
Night Film at the Queer Screen Documentary Festival in
Sydney, Australia and FilmOut San Diego and is featured
in the Real to Reel segment of the PBS program In The
Life in the fall of 2005. IN GOOD CONSCIENCE is profiled
in the Winter 2006 issue of the Yale Divinity School
journal, Reflections.
As global debate continues to
explode over gay civil rights, this laugh-out-loud film
follows Sister Jeannine throughout the U.S. all the way
to Rome where she faces grave consequences to her
life-defining decision to defy the Vatican.
Barbara Rick is president and
founder of the independent documentary company Out of
The Blue Films, Inc., dedicated to the production of
films that explore, articulate, and celebrate humanity.
A Peabody and Emmy award-winning filmmaker/journalist
for more than twenty years, Rick has helmed a number of
acclaimed films, including the Emmy Award winning PBS
documentary, SHE SAYS/Women In News. Ms. Rick is a
former
freelance writer and producer at ABC News — part of the
weekend World News Tonight team nominated for a 2005
Emmy award for coverage of Indonesia’s tsunami disaster.
PLEASE NOTE: Barbara RIck will
host a Q and A after the screening of "In Good
Conscience"
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