New documentary “CHAPLAINS” to screen at La Sierra University

  Archaeology+Religion   Arts+Culture  

A documentary that explores the dynamic world of chaplains in various fields will screen at La Sierra University next month as part of an introductory rollout of the film.

Filming on a military base in Afghanistan for the documentary “CHAPLAINS,” with (left to right) cameraman Nathan DeWild, Chaplain Paul Hurley, filmmaker Martin Doblmeier, and soundman Jeremy Zunk. (Photo courtesy of Journey Films)
Filming on a military base in Afghanistan for the documentary “CHAPLAINS,” with (left to right) cameraman Nathan DeWild, Chaplain Paul Hurley, filmmaker Martin Doblmeier, and soundman Jeremy Zunk. (Photo courtesy of Journey Films)

“CHAPLAINS,” a project of Journey Films and award-winning filmmaker Martin Doblmeier, will take place Tues., Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in La Sierra’s Cossentine Hall 100, in the World Museum of Natural History. The film will premiere on PBS stations in November.

The documentary is structured as a series of profiles on a group of men and women in a multitude of arenas – a Catholic priest who serves soldiers on the battlefields in Afghanistan; a former actor-turned-rabbi who now works at a Hollywood retirement home; a Buddhist woman who works at a men’s maximum security prison in Oregon, and others who serve government bodies, hospitals, even the NASCAR stock car racing organization.

One segment features U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and a Seventh-day Adventist. In 2004, Black received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from La Sierra University in recognition of his achievements and contributions.

With a tradition dating back centuries, chaplains today are on the front lines, often in the midst of life and death situations where the questions are the deepest and the need for spiritual and pastoral care the greatest. From the war zone to the workplace, chaplains serve as pastor, social worker, counselor and bridge builder, and “lean into the painful places,” says prison chaplain Karuna Thompson.

“I wanted to make “CHAPLAINS” because I see them performing a critical but often unheralded role in our world today,” says Doblmeier who has directed more than 30 films on religion, faith and spirituality including “BONHOEFFER,” “The Power of Forgiveness,” “The ADVENTISTS,” and “The BLUEPRINT: the Story of Adventist Education.”

Admission to the “CHAPLAINS” screening at La Sierra University is free. Doblmeier will lead a question-and-answer session following the film. For further information contact Larry Becker, executive director of university relations at 951-785-2460. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, Calif., 92515. A campus map is available at lasierra.edu/campus-map/.

“Chaplains” is a presentation of Maryland Public Television. It will be available on DVD at www.journeyfilms.com. Major funding was provided by the Lilly Endowment, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Fetzer Institute and the E. Rhodes and Leona B Carpenter Foundation.

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