Synopsis:
God’s Critters is a short observational documentary that explores pet-owner relationships in a religious context and looks at one way a small, urban congregation comes together to celebrate their connections to one another and to the animal kingdom.
Atonement Lutheran Church is a unique, diverse community in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. On a normal day, the worship service is a come-as-you-are affair, but on Blessing of the Animals day, the church bursts with excitement from the pets brought in for a blessing in the tradition of St. Francis of Assisi, known in Roman Catholicism as the patron saint of animals.
God’s Critters begins at the house of Fishtown residents Debbie and Joe Kinkead and follows them through the neighborhood with their two dogs, Ian and Shamus, where they experience the challenges of a dog-owner in the city, from “curbing” to the threatening bark of larger dogs. When they reach the church, they are greeted with the rousing chorus, “All God’s Critters.” Pastor Maggie Ainslie preaches the virtues of trusting God, using a pet’s trust of their owner as a metaphor. Then, amid the howls of dogs and meows of cats, she gets down to the business of the service: blessing animals.
Biography:
Bruce James grew up in a small tourist town on a lake in south central Missouri. He graduated from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a B.A. in Communications and Film Studies, then lived in Philadelphia, Boston, and back in Philadelphia, working for several years as a grip and electrician for a variety of film and video productions. He started out in film with a short fictional narrative, but has since made experimental, installation and documentary work. Bruce is currently interested in telling engaging stories that highlight human connections to the rest of the natural world.
Bruce’s current documentary project, They’re in the River, incorporates his personal history with dams and rivers in an investigation of the American Shad and its historical significance, cult-like following in the sport fishing community, and mysterious decline in recent years.