Reconstruction in documentary filmmaking is an eternally divisive technique: What some deem vivid and immediate, others find distancing and artificial, cloaking and blurring reality in the language of fiction cinema. Yet what if the reconstructions don’t just feature the documentary’s real-life subjects, but are expressly conceived and realized by them — not recreating reality so much as their lingering, haunted memories thereof? That’s a different proposition entirely, as is “Procession,” a risky, wrenching film in which celebrated docmaker Robert Greene frequently surrenders the directorial reins to his subjects and collaborators: six middle-aged, middle-American men living with the trauma of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic Church priests and clergymen.
With each of these survivors given the means and support to make an interpretive short film rooted in their decades-old experience, “Procession” is intricately woven from the amateur filmmakers’ original work, alongside Greene’s patient, empathetic observation of their creative process.
With each of these survivors given the means and support to make an interpretive short film rooted in their decades-old experience, “Procession” is intricately woven from the amateur filmmakers’ original work, alongside Greene’s patient, empathetic observation of their creative process.
- 2/8/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Multiple award-winning documentaries have been made about the child sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, including Amy Berg’s Deliver Us From Evil, Alex Gibney’s Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, and Kirby Dick’s Twist of Faith.
But there’s never been a documentary like Robert Greene’s Procession.
The film, newly-arrived on Netflix, revolves around six men who as boys were sexually assaulted by priests connected with the Kansas City Diocese. But in working with the survivors, Greene doesn’t adopt a typical, “Sit down and tell me what happened to you” approach.
“I’ve heard hours and hours and hours and hours of the most horrible things that these abusers put my friends—these men who are now my friends—through. Almost none of it is actually in the film,” Greene tells Deadline. “It wasn’t about recounting those stories. It was...
But there’s never been a documentary like Robert Greene’s Procession.
The film, newly-arrived on Netflix, revolves around six men who as boys were sexually assaulted by priests connected with the Kansas City Diocese. But in working with the survivors, Greene doesn’t adopt a typical, “Sit down and tell me what happened to you” approach.
“I’ve heard hours and hours and hours and hours of the most horrible things that these abusers put my friends—these men who are now my friends—through. Almost none of it is actually in the film,” Greene tells Deadline. “It wasn’t about recounting those stories. It was...
- 11/24/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Procession director Robert Greene said he would have stopped filming at any point if it was harming his subjects. He followed six survivors of sexual abuse by Kansas City priests as they re-created scenes of their experiences in the church. Greene spoke at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary about the Netflix movie.
“Basically, the first day of filming, which you see in the film, that could’ve been the last day of filming,” Greene said. “We started the meeting saying: ‘Today isn’t about what we’re going to do. Today is about whether we should do it.’ ”
A drama therapist, Monica Phinney, was involved in helping the men re-create the scenes in a healthy way. Procession technically wasn’t drama therapy, but Greene felt a responsibility to consult professionals throughout the process.
“We thought that doing these staged scenes that come from the guys, that come from the guys...
“Basically, the first day of filming, which you see in the film, that could’ve been the last day of filming,” Greene said. “We started the meeting saying: ‘Today isn’t about what we’re going to do. Today is about whether we should do it.’ ”
A drama therapist, Monica Phinney, was involved in helping the men re-create the scenes in a healthy way. Procession technically wasn’t drama therapy, but Greene felt a responsibility to consult professionals throughout the process.
“We thought that doing these staged scenes that come from the guys, that come from the guys...
- 11/21/2021
- by Fred Topel
- Deadline Film + TV
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