Saint of 9/11

Director: Glen Holsten
Narrator: Sir Ian McKellen

Saint of 9/11 is a documentary about Father Mychal Judge, a Catholic priest whose portrayal in this film leaves the audience agreeing with the epitaph before its running time is through.

The film opens with footage of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001, during which the Franciscan friar ran into the chaos to help those caught up in the disaster. His body emerged from the wreckage in the arms of members of the New York Fire Department (NYFD), for which he was a Chaplain.

From this scene, far more poignant in its ever-affecting depiction of the tragic event rather than the death of one specific man, Saint of 9/11 then takes the audience through an exhaustive account of the cleric's life. Ian McKellen's voice provides the narration and heartfelt recital of Judge's words.

Born of Irish descent in Brooklyn, Judge is portrayed as the kind of men of the cloth that are able to maintain a good name for the Church. He ministered to the man on the street in New York garnering the respect and gratitude of colleagues and friends (many of whose lives he had changed extensively).

Judge was not seen as a man of the church who resided in an ivory tower away from the real world. A gay man who also struggled with alcohol addiction, Judge was humanised by his circumstances. He went on to be a fighter for causes such as HIV/AIDS in its early days, a strong supporter of Alcoholics Anonymous, and campaigner for peace in Ireland.

By the time that - over an hour later - coverage again turns to 9/11, the filmmakers have encouraged the audience not to see the footage of the attacks as eclipsing the tragic death of the man.