LOGLINE

Two communities on the edges of the Catholic Church—nuns and Catholic Workers—are inspired by their faith to become activists for climate justice and land justice.

SYNOPSIS

Two communities on the edges of the Catholic Church—Nuns and Catholic Workers—are inspired by their faith in becoming activists for climate justice and land justice. On Midwest farms climate-mitigating agriculture is being refined, while elderly Sisters are entering into relationships with indigenous groups to return ancestral lands.

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

For the past 15 years I’ve been deeply emmeshed in telling stories about faith communities. The Return (2014), followed four young women in Poland today who were raised Catholic, and filmed over four years as they explored their newfound Jewish identity. American Muslim (2019), followed five very different Muslim Americans as they dealt with their American identity in the beginning of the Trump years and the Muslim ban. While passionate about artfully crafting stories out of people’s lives, I have become equally committed to audience engagement. For each of those films, I built in an extensive outreach campaign, efforts which were built upon lessons I learned from the national campaign of my first film, Greensboro: Closer to the Truth (2007). The latter two films focused on interfaith connections, using DIY campaigns bringing diverse groups together and having the films serve as a take off point to explore identity and better understand the others within their community. With Spirit and The Land I am again entering into faith communities not my own, exploring how religious identity drives climate activism and the pursuit of land justice. Over time I have found a way to tease out stories, allowing an entry point for audiences to digest big ideas through the lives of characters. As a filmmaker I’m seeking to understand people whose lives—and livelihoods, and religions—are much different than mine. Aided by community advisors, I have found depicting people from different worlds helps me tell stories which resonate with broad audiences. I find being an “outsider” makes me a better ally—and more critically, makes me a better storyteller. In this film, I have been dealing with two groups on the very margins of the Catholic Church—nuns and Catholic Workers—exploring what drives them, and their own unique take on land and climate solutions. There are clearly many people working in the climate arena, but my film takes on some urgent undertold stories—developments in the “greening” in agriculture, as well as nuns, who have been passionately working on social justice issues for decades, and now find themselves at the forefront of the Land Back movement. Towards the end of their lives these Sisters are examining their relationship with indigenous communities and seeking ways to right wrongs. These stories will be of paramount interest to many viewers across the board. I love, and care deeply, about telling stories, using images and sounds to make new narratives out of verite moments, and bringing multiple characters to life in one flowing, cohesive story. While all three of my previous films have played at major film festivals, theaters, museums, television, etc., I have over time become more and more committed to community outreach, bringing these stories to people who might not normally see documentaries, but where the opportunity for impact is greatest. This is my hope and goal with Spirit and the Land, and it’s the reason I’m raising funds to bring it to fruition.

KEY CREW

Adam Zucker - Director, Producer, Editor, DP

ADAM ZUCKER is a documentary filmmaker and editor. He produced/directed American Muslim (2019), chronicling five diverse Muslim Americans in New York City after the election of Donald Trump; The Return (2014), about young Jews in Poland today rediscovering their Jewish identity over a four year period, and Greensboro: Closer to the Truth (about the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission held in the U.S), which received the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Rome International FF and Best Documentary at the Dead Center FF. Adam produced/directed episodes of the Emmy-award winning series Free to Dance (PBS), and has received grants from the Sundance Documentary Fund, Jerome Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, The Southern Humanities Media Fund and many others. His films have screened at dozens and dozens of film festivals, universities and museums worldwide, and have been the center piece of expansive outreach campaigns. Adam is simultaneously an award-winning editor, having cut dozens of documentaries including Jeff Dupre’s This is a Film About the Black Keys (SXSW), Dori Berinstein’s Carol Channing: Larger Than Life (Tribeca Film Festival, theatrical), Rory Kennedy’s American Hollow (Sundance Film Festival, HBO), Michael Kantor’s Broadway: The American Musical (PBS), Madison Davis Lacy’s Richard Wright: Black Boy (PBS), Ken Burns and Steve Ives’ The West (PBS), and Dori Berinstein’s Show Business and Gotta Dance (both Tribeca Film Festival and theatrical), along with many other feature docs. For many years he served as an Editor Mentor at the IFP Rough Cut Labs.