Documenting Catholic Pain, Cambodia’s Gain

By Loren King
Boston Globe
September 28, 2014

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2014/09/27/revisiting-catholic-church-abuse-scandal/iYnaXqVHXujyowdspxJCHN/story.html

”A Matter of Conscience’’ revisits the clergy abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.

With director Tom McCarthy already in town to begin shooting “Spotlight,” about the Boston Globe’s 2002 investigation into the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal involving clergy, it’s worth noting that two local documentarians have completed their latest film on the subject. John J. Michalczyk, who heads Boston College’s film studies program and whose other documentaries also focus on issues of social justice, and his wife, producer and writer Susan Michalczyk, will premiere “A Matter of Conscience: Confronting Clergy Abuse” on Oct. 4 at 2 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts. The new documentary, about the “Catholic whistleblowers” who reported clergy abuse to authorities and suffered retaliation from Church leaders, is a sequel to the Michalczyks’ 2013 film, “Who Takes Away the Sins .?.?. Witnesses to Clergy Abuse,” which also ran at the MFA. The screening of “A Matter of Conscience” will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.

For more information go to www.mfa.org

Lost and found

One of Boston’s most unique film series is Channel Zero, which takes place every few months at the Somerville Theater, screening oddball, obscure, and overlooked films. Launched in 1995 by co-curators Jon Haber and John L. Galligan as a coffeehouse video series around Central Square in Cambridge, Channel Zero then tried out venues including the Coolidge Corner Theatre and the now defunct Zeitgeist Gallery in Inman Square before finding a home at the Somerville Theater’s micro cinema. “I guess at this point Channel Zero is a sort of ‘court of last resort’ for films that never screened in Boston. We like to think we are giving certain overlooked titles their day in court even if the courtroom only seats 31 people,” says Galligan via e-mail. Channel Zero will present the silent film “The Mysterious Island” (1929) on Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. Freely adapted from the classic novel by Jules Verne, it stars Lionel Barrymore as Captain Nemo, whose submarine the Nautilus has been stolen by an evil dictator and taken to the submerged city of Atlantis.

Finders keepers

Odd and obscure videos are also the raison d’etre of the Found Footage Festival, the touring showcase of videos found at garage sales, thrift stores, and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout North America. The festival celebrates its 10th anniversary with a new show of “strange, outrageous, and profoundly stupid videos” on Oct. 15 at 9 p.m. at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. Hosts and curators Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett will present a lineup of found video clips and live comedy in this one-night-only appearance.