Produced, Written and Directed
by Gerard Thomas Straub
Introduction to the Film
This 32-minute film takes viewers to the depressing world of the poor and 45,000 persons with leprosy in the Amazon region of Brazil where we discover a compassion that is extraordinary. Through the eyes and words of filmmaker Gerry Straub and his host, former Michigan lawyer, Jim Flickinger, who created a multidimensional project called Amazon Relief, we encounter the poor who are Jesus in a distressing disguise. The port city of Manaus is plagued by a poverty so lethal it is choking people to death. Hidden in the dreadful slums are countless malnourished children, who constantly face profound hunger. |
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Gerry’s own statements of his deeply held and courageously lived out religious convictions; equally compelling statements on compassion and action from Jim Flickinger, Dorothy Day and Sr. Joan Chittister; and Gerry’s poignant visuals disturb and challenge viewers at many levels. He makes us see what we would rather not see. His film engages us emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and behaviorally. He invites us to feel and empathize more deeply, to think more critically, to pray more faithfully, and to act more courageously. His personal witness is as inspiring as it is troubling. As an expression of the Gospel, Gerry’s life and films are indeed “good news for the poor.” But they await the viewers’ response to become even “better news for the poor.”
A Note from the Filmmaker, Gerry Straub
“In April of 2002, I traveled to Manaus with an extraordinary man, a Secular Franciscan who is making a world of difference in a city half a world away from his home in Michigan. Jim Flickinger gave up a successful law practice after deciding he was going to do something about the poverty he saw in the Amazon during a trip in 1995. When it comes to relieving the suffering of the poor, Jim’s philosophy is simple. He says: ‘I can’t do everything, but I will do everything I can.’ And doing everything he could meant starting a charitable organization called Amazon Relief.”
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