posted by Milan on September 7th, 2012

ALEX GIBNEY IS COMING TO THE MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL!

Yes, this is absolutely all-caps worthy. Alex Gibney is one of the most important contemporary voices in documentary filmmaking. For more than 30 years, he’s made the kind of films that take an unflinching look at the American landscape, and the people who live within it.  You know these films, too: Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side (2007), Oscar-nominee (and one of the highest-grossing documentaries of all time) Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005), Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008), and Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010).

The centerpiece of our tribute to Mr. Gibney is the US Premiere of his latest film, the HBO Documentary, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, exposes the abuse of power in the Catholic Church and a cover-up that winds its way from our hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, through the bare, ruined choirs of Ireland’s churches, all the way to the highest offices of the Vatican. This vital documentary places a focal point on the secret crimes of a charismatic priest who abused over 200 deaf children at St. John’s School for the Deaf in St. Francis, WI, and all the protests and revelations that it inspired in the three decades since. Gibney’s film is based on information gathered from a number of sources, including retired Archbishop Rembert Weakland, The New York Times investigative journalist Laurie Goldstein, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel archives, and interviews with the actual victims from St. John’s.

“Many of the people in Milwaukee have been affected by the scandal at St. John’s School,” states director Alex Gibney. “It is an honor to be able to screen the film at the Milwaukee Film Festival and help give a voice to those who have been fighting for justice for years and are determined to continue the fight." 

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God will make its US premiere on Friday, October 5 at 7:00 PM at the Oriental Theatre. Director Alex Gibney will be in attendance for the premiere, as well as the Q & A afterwards. Some of the subjects of the film will also be in attendance. The film will air on HBO in 2013.

For more information on our tribute to director Alex Gibney, including screening times for Gibney’s own Taxi to the Dark Side and Luis Buñuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (which Gibney hand-picked for the festival), click here.