Mimesis at the Movies: Cabrini

Mimesis at the Movies is a live open-to-all video-teleconferenced conversation that meets under the auspices of Theology and Peace. On the first Thursday of each month, we discuss a film suggested by a participant. We are on the look out for stories that depict interpersonal growth nurtured through shared desires. 

This January, we will discuss Cabrini, a biographical drama film directed by Alejandro Gómez Monteverde and written by Rod Barr, based on a story by both. Sister Cabrini is sent on a mission to serve poor Italian immigrants in New and produced by Angel Studios.

The movie portrays the impact of a disrupter, an individual who refuses to abide the prevailing narrative that aligns and maintains peace for the powerful elites in a powerful city.  Sister Francis Xavier Cabrini, and her small group of nuns arrived in New York City from Italy in or about 1889, to care for the poverty-stricken Italian immigrant population. Cabrini's efforts are opposed and, at times, thwarted by the elite NYC establishment -- the alignment of the Mayor, the Roman Catholic Cardinal, and other powerful elites.  Their message -- these Italians are "filthy Dagos," who do not deserve assistance from the Church or the City. It is the story of one person's determination to refuses to let the powerful use a false narrative to justify their treatment of the Italian community.  Cabrini not only succeeds in breaking the powerful in New York City, she ultimately accomplishes her goal to build an empire of hope throughout the world.

Please, feel free to attend even if you haven't seen the film. A plot synopsis will be presented before the discussion.