Finding Nektarios

finding-nektariosEvery now and then, something exciting happens in the Christian world. Nektarios Productions (NP) is one of those.

But first, a little background.

Several years ago, a devout, Greek-American woman named Allison Mitchell changed film history as we know it. Never heard of her? Neither had I but I had heard of The Passion of the Christ. We all know the story, how the Hollywood studio system tried to block its worldwide release, the reason being that it was an independent film and as such should have only limited exposure –the Art House circuit, so to speak. Well, this wasn’t good enough for Allison so she rolled up her sleeves and went to work with two other women (who happened to be Roman Catholic) and put together a marketing plan that went around the studio system and guaranteed its massive, worldwide release. Part of their strategy was to go Christian groups and pre-sell tickets. Other tactics included going on the cable news networks (CNN, FOX, MSNBC). And then there was the internet. The rest, as they say, was history. The Passion became the highest-grossing independent film of all time. The receipts from it’s first five-days were edged out only by The Return of the King, a film which had had massive pre-publicity, had studio significant support, and was widely anticipated. The contrast between The Passion and The Return could not have been more stark.

Now, Allison has turned her attention to another project near and dear to her heart. The Making of Saint is a documentary about the life of St Nektarios of Aegina who died in 1920. It is the first of a series of documentaries which will explore the interface between faith and science, proposing a new synthesis as we go forward in the 21st century. A partner project will be a feature film titled Finding Nektarios, an action-adventure film which takes place in the present. Both are under the aegis of Nektarios Productions.

Why Nektarios Productions? Allison, like many people (myself included), has been devoted to St Nektarios of Aegina for a great part of her life. Like many others, she experienced first-hand the miraculous grace of this modern saint. His story, like that of Ss Seraphim of Sarov, John Maximovich, and Nikolai Velimirovich is one of martyric suffering and has timeless implications. In the first of the documentaries, first-hand stories of people whose lives were affected through the intercessions of this saint will be told. Today, as we see the collapse of secular materialism, the posthumous ministry of St Nektarios is even more timely and NP is on the cutting edge of crafting a narrative which will get the word out using multi-dimensional methods, including cinematic productions, e-books, and interactive media.

For more information, go to www.themakingofasaint.com.

And to all of you who may bear the name Nektarios, “Many years!”

Comments

  1. you know what would be great? if someone put together a list of inspirational movies (not the end times junk), available on Netflix.

  2. Sean Richardson says

    This sounds very promising. I can’t wait to see the reality …
    Thank you!

  3. Pere LaChaise says

    Exciting to hear of a sober and intelligent film with a spiritual orientation, especially an overtly Orthodox one.
    To find substance in art, we often have to look beyond what they call ‘sectarian’ themes. Most good art is subtle in its message. I watched “Charlotte’s Web” with my daughter and was very moved by its incarnational message of the importance of a single life and the humanizing, edifying effect on community that attention to personhood sets up.

    Films by Andrei Tarkovskii, especially “Solaris” are intensely Orthodox. That film even uses liturgical symbolism that ONLY an Orthodox would be able to read, its its exposition of incarnation/personhood/transfiguration/transcendence.

    Phillip K. Dick’s stories are often intensely philosophical and theological, especially his latter work.Hollywood is notorious for making industry hash of many of his great narratives, but “A Scanner Darkly” was brought to screen faithfully and brilliantly by the well-known American filmmaker Richard Linklater (Slacker, Clerks) using an animated rotoscope technique to convey the strange dystopia of Dick’s vision. This story conveys an image of kenosis and the life-giving sacrifice of Christ in a very subtle way.
    I could imagine some readers baulking at a suggestion to view films which seem to be about dope addicts and astronauts but we’re all adults here and I trust we can detect a message behind the form of popular culture.
    Anyone have a list of ‘Orthodox theme’ films to proffer?

  4. Meanwhile,while we wait for the flick says

    While some of our friends and neighbors amuse themselves with shows about competing drag queens, consider the price of freedom of media:

    North Korea publicly executed around 80 people earlier this month, many for watching smuggled South Korean TV shows, a South Korean newspaper reported Monday.

    read rest at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/11/north-korea-public-execution_n_4252610.html

  5. Interesting to note that when you publish an article that offers a challenge to our faith, or takes us deeper, the comments are few and far between. Church politics on the other hand brings forth a veritable gushing.

    • While we wait for the flick says

      Jeff,

      Nothing deep got discussed here in this thread. We are told about a film with too short a promo to gauge, referring to individual contemporary relationships to Saint Nektarios. The flick MIGHT be great. Who knows, yet? Meanwhile, the voluminous works of Saint Nektarios remain untranslated into English. I would consider one of those to be translated works as deeper than the mere mention of an upcoming movie. Likewise, the article about Orthodox environmentalism did not link to a normal download, so no one could discuss it. It led to an Amazon site where entering personal information permanently would give one, after a tedious process, the ability to download the pamphlet. A lot of people didn’t. Thus the lack of discussion. There MIGHT have been something to discuss, but it wasn’t easily accessed. There was a kind of gag reflex by the folks who see a neocon topic and run in the other direction.

      As for the good question about mentioning Orthodox films we like, or films with Orthodox content, I think that periodically belongs on another Orthodox forum, maybe the Orthodox List (former Indiana) or Orthodox Forum where we can discuss each film at length, provide Urls to YouTube films with subtitles or to Amazon and other places where we can buy them cheaply, etc.

  6. There is also ‘Ignatius Productions’-I think that’s the name-motion pictures of saints lives. They are mostly Catholic, but one was on St. Barbara which I showed the kids. It was good. Surprisingly.

  7. cynthia curran says

    “you know what would be great? if someone put together a list of inspirational movies (not the end times junk), available on Netflix.”
    The 1950’s was the heyday for that. You had Quo Vadis written by a Catholic in the 19th century. Ben Hur written by Lew Wallace and the Robe written by Lloyd C Douglas. Not a saint focus but novels that dealt with New Testement times. Quo Vadis dealt with Nero’s persecution.. Also, in the Roman Catholic Chuch St Pomponia Greacia known by another name in the Catholic Church is a major character in Quo Vadis. A later freedman of the family Pomponus was mention in one of the 2nd century catacombs. Pompeian Christianity is debated because of a strange passage in Tacitus;s Annals about Pomponia converting to Eastern Superstition.

    • Poppea’s villa has been uncovered in Oplontis near Naples .It was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius that also destroyed Pompeii in 79AD. No menorahs, Josephus bragged that he had converted her to Judaism or Christian decorations were found but Poppea was dead long before then and perhaps those items were removed. The villa itself was a beautiful building with superb painting.
      http://oplontisproject.org/

  8. cynthia curran says

    Not a big Philip Dick fan, I think he didn’t pay much attention what was happening around him since he once lived in Santa Ana California in the 1970’a when Mexican immigrants were coming to make money and send it home. He didn’t predict the immigration issue with Mexico but thought it would be more of an Asian issue.

  9. cynthia curran says

    “Pomponia Graecina (d. AD 83) was a noble Roman woman of the 1st century who was related to the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the wife of Aulus Plautius, the general who led the Roman conquest of Britain in 43, and was renowned as one of the few people who dared to publicly mourn the death of a kinswoman killed by the Imperial family. It has been speculated that she was an early Christian, and is identified by some as Lucina or Lucy, a saint honoured by the Roman Catholic Church.”
    This is who I referring too not one of Nero’s wives,Poppea’s