CV NEWS FEED // “Free,” a Spanish documentary that takes viewers inside cloistered convents and monasteries, will be showing for one night only on November 2 in movie theaters across the country.
“This unique documentary invites audiences to step away from the ordinary cacophony of modern life and into the hushed, sacred spaces of monasteries,” said Fr. Joseph Hudson of Oklahoma’s Clear Creek Abbey.
Filmed in 12 of Spain’s most beautiful and historic monasteries, the documentary captures a portrait of the lives of Catholic religious who have left the world behind.
The documentary contains interviews with Carmelites, Trappists, Benedictines, and Cistercians who share what prompted them to seek God in the context of contemplative life.
>>> WATCH THE TRAILER HERE <<<
In an interview with the Catholic News Agency, Hudson described “Free” as “a cinematic meditation, a journey into the quiet corners of the human soul and an invitation to explore profound questions about existence and purpose.”
“The viewer is transported not only within the walls of the monasteries that are rarely, if ever, open to outsiders but also into the even more secret sanctum of the hearts of the monks living inside her walls,” Hudson said.
Though many of these men and women do not leave their cloisters once they have entered, freedom is paradoxically a main theme of the film.
Director Santos Blanco said “freedom” is
undoubtedly the word that appears the most throughout the documentary and, when you see it, you realize why, without wanting to make spoilers, because everyone has to find their own answer when watching the documentary, I think that’s the key.
As Hudson said in his analysis:
The film reveals what happens when ordinary men and women set off “into the deep” as the subtitle of the film, [Duc in Altum], suggests, in order to find the deepest meaning of life.
In the end they reveal that their journey is not so different from our own; they are merely seeking life’s most important answers with more intensity. They are mirrors of our own search for meaning, and perhaps, just perhaps, they may reveal to us some of Christianity’s most profound answers.
“Free” has enjoyed major success in Spain as one of the country’s most-watched documentaries in 25 years.
The film will be shown in about 700 locations across the U.S. Readers can purchase tickets HERE.