4 October 2013

NUNS ON SCREEN – screening and panel

The “veil,” not unlike the “screen,” conceals as much as it reveals. While the veil typically defines the “nun” for all to see, it also hides her from view and can make her an object of mystery and inaccessibility—out of reach, out of touch, an anachronistic relic from out of the past. However, nuns are also hardworking modern women, who have made enormous sacrifices to heal the sick, teach, and offer spiritual as well as physical comfort to the afflicted. Screen depictions of religious women have included both extremes, but we seldom have the opportunity to contemplate these contradictions or look critically at the way in which nuns are depicted in the cinema (in commercial features as well as documentaries and experimental films). This panel addresses that by providing a forum for the consideration of two important new works on nuns—director Nancy Tong’s moving documentary film on the Maryknoll sisters, Trailblazers in Habits, and Maureen Sabine’s pioneering book on Hollywood’s fascination with nuns, Veiled Desires: Intimate Portrayals of Nuns in Postwar Anglo-American Film.
31 May 2013

JMSC’s Nancy Tong Screens her Documentary on Maryknoll Sisters

The Maryknoll Mission sisters, an order established in early 20th century America, have travelled to exotic locations and have often been at the centre of important geopolitical events. A documentary about the order, Trailblazers in […]
17 March 2013

Film by JMSC Professor Selected to be Screened at U.S. Film Festival

Trailblazers in Habits, a new documentary by JMSC Visiting Associate Professor Nancy Tong, has been accepted by the Sarasota Film Festival to be screened during its 2013 festival. “We’re absolutely thrilled about it”, said Tong, an […]