Glenn’s Pick – Glenn Webb, Director of Programs – When a narrative film takes on a difficult subject based in real life, the filmmaker has to walk a fine line between underplaying and overplaying the drama. In BY THE GRACE OF GOD, François Ozon does a masterful job of taking the time to show the process which the real-life victims of abuse have undertaken to challenge a powerful institution, and how frustrating it is, and how important it is for them. They come together from very different backgrounds, and with equally disparate coping mechanisms, in order to hold authority to account, and hopefully to change the way these issues are addressed, rather than adopting a code of silence. I understand how you may experience resistance to coming to see a movie that confronts such things, but I encourage you to observe this example of how well it can be done and to be part of a society that faces such things head-on and commits to doing better, especially in the realm of religion, which should provide refuge for the most vulnerable members of our communities, or at the very least not do harm to children.
