Shining a spotlight into darkness
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Helen Whitney took her audience Tuesday night through the first reel of a 30-plus-year career focused on outsiders and spirituality in American life. Best known for her films “The Mormons” and “Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero,” Whitney explored her earlier work that launched her “accidental pilgrimage” as a journalist. “Pilgrims set out because of the big story, hoping to be an eyewitness and hoping to be forgiven of their sins,” Whitney said. “My pilgrimage is of discovery.” Held at the Memorial Church, last night’s program was called “Strangers” and brought up the curtain on her three-day series of William Belden Noble lectures titled “Spiritual Landscapes: A Life in Film.” In 1983, Whitney made “The Monastery,” a look at Trappist monks of St. Joseph’s Abbey outside Boston. Whitney overcame the order’s doubts about having a woman in the monastery by convincing them that a documentary could show the relevance of their...