"Footage of various California missions [...] from the late 1930s." Archive.org
"Everybody has religion of some kind, of some creed. But to try to portray it in motion pictures takes courage in any language your faith. In The Nativity, Sal Pizzo has picture the story of the birth of Christ with unerring good taste, complete reverence and warm beauty. In it he follows old Biblical paintings as a pattern, but he animates these tableaux in a natural manner. One might wish, in fact, that he had followed them even further and used lighting to suggest halos around Mother and Babe. The long-shot model of the town of Bethlehem is believable. The bearded faces of the innkeepers are believable and, a great achievement, the costumes of the opulent kings are believable. The acting is handled with admirable restraint, the story being carried by the words of familiar Christian carols of background music. Especially well-staged are the scenes of the shepherds around their fires and of the Magi as they present their gifts to the Child in the humble manger. Mr. Pizzo and his associates have planned and executed a picture on a subject that few if any would dare to attempt. They are to be congratulated on their tender and moving triumph" PSA Journal, Jan. 1955, 50.
"About a 9-year-old African girl, found by Protestant missionaries in the French Cameroons and reared in a mission school, who later marries a native teacher and returns to help her village." National Archives.
"Black and white film documenting the life experiences of Lorena E. Washburn in Manti, Utah. Film highlights Lorena's years of service to her community, Church, and family." Church History Library.
"Persecution is a 40 minutes 8mm film produced by three teen agers of 12, 13, and 14, and depicts the story of a priest during a persecution, his life and death, and the subsequent destruction of the persecutors. Though lacking in expert camera work, the film was nevertheless serious in its approach and amazing in its construction for such a lengthy endeavor. It is for these reasons, and also to encourage more serious film work by young amateurs, that the judges awarded this film a special citation that reads, "For Outstanding Film Production by a Youth Group" PSA Journal, Sept. 1965, 51.
El filme muestra una procesión católica en la que hombres cargan esculturas de la Virgen y Cristo cargando una cruz. Cientos de personas caminan con ellos, incluyendo unos cuantos hombres vestidos de blanco, con máscaras y la espalda descubierta, que caminan de espaldas mientras se auto-flagelan. Se muestran diversas imágenes de estos hombres golpeándose a sí mismos, gente caminando junto a las estatuas y un hombre con una máscara blanca y una túnica café que muestra una cruz en la espalda; este hombre en particular camina sin zapatos y con cadenas alrededor de sus pies. Casi al final del filme, los hombres vestidos de blanco van ante un sacerdote que pica sus espaldas con un pequeño instrumento hasta que sangran, para después continuar auto-flagelándose. La película termina con imágenes de la procesión aún avanzando.
The film shows a Catholic procession in which men carry sculptures of the Virgin and of Christ carrying a cross. Hundreds of people walk along with them, including a few men all dressed in white, with white masks and their backs uncovered, that walk backwards while they are self-flagellating. The film contains several images of this men beating themselves, people walking along with the statues and one man with a white mask and a brown gown with a cross on the back; this particular man walks without shoes and has chains around his feet. Almost at the end of the film, the men dressed in white go before a priest that punctures their backs with a small instrument until they bleed, afterwards, the continue to self-flagellate. The movie finishes with images of the procession still advancing.
"It is a platitude that there is more in Mexico than meets the eye. In Quaint Old Mexico, however, Guy Nelli proves that there is far more in Mexico than usually meets the camera. Mr. Nelli presents the gradual awakening of Mexico, as the farmers drive their produce to market, with a startling sense of early morning atmosphere; market scenes are developed lucidly and effectively. The high peak of the film is reached with a most remarkable sequence of religious festival shots, as virtually an entire village re-enacts the Stations of the Cross. The intense religious emotion evident in these scenes has rarely been caught for the screen. Mr. Nelli's film is outstanding for its fresh approach and, above all, for the natural and casual quality of its shots." Movie Makers, Dec. 1946, 488.
"Alan Probert has confined his study of Mexico to the primitive Otomi Indians. With startling clarity and a fine cinematic eye for detail, he presents the tribal group in a series of sketches that reveal the age old customs of their forefathers still in daily use — sowing and reaping, spinning and weaving, trading and worshipping. Remnants Of The Past is an expertly filmed factual account of the subject, which would have gained considerably from greater unity and a stronger ending." Movie Makers, Dec. 1948, 494.
"This amateur film attempts to portray conflict within a religious sect where blind adherence to a selfish demanding leader is compared to the freedom offered by progressive contemporary society" Library and Archives Canada.
Documental sobre la Semana Santa en una ciudad de Castilla, donde la paz contrasta con la violencia de otras partes del mundo.
Documentary about the Holy Week in a city of Castilla, where peace contrasts with the violence lived in other parts of the world.
Total Pages: 7
Amateur Cinema