''Procession'' is an 2021 American documentary film, directed and edited by Robert Greene. It follows six men, who suffered

abuse Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

by priests, looking for peace. It had its world premiere at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021. It was released in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on November 12, 2021, prior to streaming on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on November 19, 2021.

Synopsis

Six men who all suffered sexual abuse by Catholic priests when they were young look for peace by collaborating with the film crew to create fictionalized reenactments of their trauma.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021. Shortly after,

acquired distribution rights to the film. It also screened at the

Camden International Film Festival The Camden International Film Festival, stylized as CIFF, is an annual documentary film festival based in Camden, Rockport, and Rockland, Maine, in the United States that takes place on the last weekend in September. Created in 2005 by Benjamin ...

on September 17, 2021. and is scheduled to screen at

AFI Fest The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fun ...

on November 13, 2021. It was released in a

on November 12, 2021, prior to streaming on

on November 19, 2021. The film was nominated for at the

Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature The Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards. It is given to the director(s) of the film and since 2014 it is also given to the producers. It was first presented in 2000, with Marc Singer ...

at the

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

and shortlisted by

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

the for best documentary at the

94th Academy Awards The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles. The awards were scheduled after its u ...

. Robert Greene was awarded the prize for Outstanding Direction at the 2022

Cinema Eye Honors The Cinema Eye Honors are awards recognizing excellence in nonfiction or documentary filmmaking and include awards for the disciplines of directing, producing, cinematography and editing. The awards are presented each January in New York and have b ...

. Robert Kolodny and David Williamson, the film's Director of Photography and Gaffer respectively, were nominated for

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

at the 43rd News & Documentary Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Lighting Direction and Scenic Design.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''Procession'' holds an approval rating of 97% based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Harrowing yet essential viewing, ''Procession'' probes the lasting legacy of trauma with heart-wrenching grace." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average of 90 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Procession received a nomination for a 2021

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 14300912 2021 films 2021 documentary films American documentary films Media coverage of Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals Netflix original documentary films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films