Their scenes recreate their experiences in excruciating detail, including filming at the churches where the events took place. After repressing their stories for years, these men lay bare the worst moments in their lives.
Greene uses the documentary genre to portray the survivors’ stories with a powerful sense of transparency. Each man’s process is shown before their final cuts are presented as part of the film, resulting in sections that provide powerful insights into working through trauma and the storytelling process. Stemming from theories of drama therapy, Greene offered six men the resources to write and direct scenes connected to their trauma. After hearing a group of survivors express their frustration at being denied justice, Greene sought the men out for a documentary project.
“Procession” was conceived at a press conference in Kansas City, Missouri, where Greene witnessed a series of case dismissals pertaining to sexual assault by priests. With his latest documentary, Robert Greene innovates on their formula, this time looking beyond just a single filmmaker, and the results are deeply moving. Sophy Romvari) both focused on filmmakers processing their own grief, using the documentary genre as a means of commenting on the filmmaking process. Kirsten Johnson) and “Still Processing” (dir.
Meta and hybrid documentary filmmaking has grown in popularity in recent years.
Content warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault.