New eucharistic movie hits U.S. theaters for one day only

Boston, Mass., Apr 7, 2022 / 15:58 pm

A new documentary highlighting the transformative power of the Holy Eucharist will be debuting for one day only in more than 700 theaters across the United States on Monday, April 25. 

Directed and produced by Spanish filmmakers, the Bosco Films and Hakuna Films documentary “ALIVE: Who is there?” features the testimonies of five men and women who share how the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist has transformed their lives.

“This is not just a movie, but an opportunity for a movement toward greater eucharistic devotion and something that can help create a spark of revival in the United States,” founder of Bosco Films, Lucía González-Barandiarán, said in a press release.

Tickets for the 90-minute-long, Spanish-language documentary, which is subtitled in English, can be bought through the movie’s content distributor in the United State’s, Fathom Events, the same company that brought the Christian video series “The Chosen” to theaters for its Christmas special. You can search for the nearest theaters showing the film by going to Fathom’s home page for the film.

For its U.S. debut, new bonus content will be featured, including exclusive commentary from Diocese of Crookston Bishop Andrew Cozzens, who is the U.S. bishops’ conference chair on evangelization and catechesis and is leading a three-year national eucharistic revival that will begin in June of 2022. You can watch the trailer for the film in the video below.

The movie’s director, Spaniard Jorge Pareja, experienced a eucharistic revival of his own during a “holy hour” in eucharistic adoration, according to the movie’s website. 

“It all started when I attended the first Holy Hour and witnessed something I did not expect,” he shared. “I remembered the masses of my childhood as something empty, artificial and automatic. But what was there was something totally different.”

“ALIVE” debuted in Spain on April 9, and has been shown in 14 different countries in Latin America, Variety reported. After its release in Spain, Variety reported, it was ranked in the Top 10 at the local box office and garnered over almost $270,000 by the end of 2021. 

“ALIVE” debuted in Mexico in November, while earning another Top 10 ranking at the local box office, Variety reported. The entertainment news outlet also reported that the film sold almost 100,000 tickets in Colombia. 

According to Variety, the documentary has been sold to independent film distributors across Europe for showings in Poland, France, Belgium, and Switzerland. Efforts are underway to show the film in theaters in Brazil, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, and Korea, Variety reported.

“ALIVE has been and continues to be a complete surprise, a simple documentary without pretense that reached the top 10 box office in Spain and Mexico,” González-Barandiarán said. “We truly believe that the world is in need of hope and that’s what this movie brings.”

She said that “ALIVE” has transformed many and now their desire is “to tug on the heartstrings of American audiences.”

Hakuna Films is associated with the Hakuna movement, which is dedicated to inspiring devotion to the Eucharist. Its founder, Father Jose Pedro Manglano, said in the press release that “one of the charisms of Hakuna is reaching the distant ones and one of the ways of reaching distant people is through movies.”

“That is why we decided to make ALIVE,” he said.