In 1985, the village of Ballinspittle in Ireland was the site of a mass visionary experience. Worshippers at the local grotto saw the statue of the Virgin Mary come to life. Soon, thousands made the pilgrimage and—for a summer—the phenomenon gripped the country.
Almost forty years later, a handful of local devotees remain, including the statue’s dutiful caretaker Patrick Joseph Simms. Through Simms and a chorus of locals, the film documents both the mystical landscape of rural Irish Catholicism and a terrible darkness beneath its surface.
Director: Frank Eli Martin
Editor: Harry Foster
Composer: Jean-Marc Eck
Sound Designers: Etienne Kompis and Simon Panayi
Colourist: Esther Woodbridge