Where Are You, Adam?
March 12, 2023
Where are you, Adam? is set at the ancient Dochiariou Monastery on the western shore of Mount Athos, the Aegean peninsula dedicated solely to Eastern Christian monasticism. Images of nature alternate with the monks' almost ceaseless round of work and prayer, creating a rhythmic bond between man and the natural world that hints at a paradise we all dimly yearn for.
Tickets: $14
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
An abbot on Mount Athos, nearing the end of a long life, reflects on the physical and spiritual work, and even on the pain of feeling disregarded, that is necessary to live peaceful lives in an earthly, and some day in a heavenly, paradise. He and his community, the monks of Dochiariou on Eastern Orthodox Christianity’s Holy Mountain accept the hardship, toil, and suffering involved in a life lived for Christ and for the monastic ideal. Their life, as their music, is a touching, authentic cry to God on behalf of man and nature that cannot help but draw the viewer in. Within the rain, the sea, the earth and trees, this community discerns a calling to profound stillness, and they distill that stillness into joy through the worship of God. Just as they build of stone and draw their food from the raw elements of nature, these fathers also form their spiritual lives from the building blocks of exhausting physical labor, obedience, and all-night prayer services.
- Director: Oleksandr Zaporoshchenko
- Country: Ukraine
- Year: 2019
- Running Time: 80 min.
- Language: Greek, with English subtitles
- Has Subtitles: Yes