Hand of God film screening June 10, 2006

I wanted to alert you all to the June screenings of my documentary, Hand of God, at the upcoming Boston International Film Festival and at Cinema Salem in Salem Massachusetts. The film centers on my brother's abuse by a Catholic priest (Joseph Birmingham) in 1964, back in our hometown of Salem. The film goes on to tell the story of various interactions between my family and the Boston Archdiocese - culminating in the closing of my parent’s church. It is not a depressing treatment of this issue – my brother’s humor and intellect cuts through it all and ultimately it is a film about personal triumph over a corporation.
One of the many things that make this film different than other media treatments of this issue is that it is told brother to brother, from the inside. The film details our Catholic upbringing; his abuse; what it was like for him to spend 30 years in silence; how he eventually came to action and how his own investigation unraveled various obstructions and lies by the Boston hierarchy (years before this material hit the headlines). It is also constructed in a rather non-traditional documentary style.
Hand of God has screened at film festivals throughout the USA – from Montana to Florida. We won the best documentary award at our last two stops (Ashland and Tupelo) and were runner-up for awards at the two before that (Florida FF and Cinequest). The screenings in Salem and Boston will be our first in the Northeast. At our previous stops Catholics and non-Catholics have connected with the film on many levels. Victims of abuse (not just clergy abuse) have been moved and affected. Ultimately it is a film about family, community and the triumph of individual spirits.
I hope you can attend one of our Massachusetts screenings and help me spread the word. Below is a link to the film's website, as well as screening dates/times for Salem and Boston. My brother and I will attend the screenings to be part of Q&A’s after the film. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.

Joe Cultrera
(917)599-8843
Hand of God website: http://www.handofgodfilm.com/
Upcoming Massachusetts Screenings:
Cinema Salem
Thursday June 8, 7:00pm
Cinema Salem, One East India Square, Salem, MA
http://www.cinemasalem.com/index.html
Boston International Film Festival
Saturday June 10, 6pm
AMC/Lowe’s Theatre at Boston Common, 175 Tremont Street, Boston
Website & Tickets: http://www.bifilmfestival.com/biffschedule.html

Official Website: http://www.handofgodfilm.com