Forgive my ignorance of Latin but I understand "Mirabile Dictu" to mean something like "Beautiful to say." It fits as this film won the 2016 Capax Dei Foundation Award at the 7th annual International Catholic Film Festival Mirabile Dictus.

This film was generated by seemingly a sparse crew, James Kelly wearing both the Producer and Director hat while Garry Flugge sports both the hat Associate Producer as well as cinematography. And yet the film does have a full picture feel. There are many different scenes, mostly which were lit by available light. There is even a beautiful effect that wasn't a special effect at the beginning of the film. I don't want to give too much away but keep your eyes peeled for the arrival of the new missionary to Kateri's village. Their apparition-like entrance was the result of a blessed opportunity and not a special effect.

Catherine Tekakwitha, I have come to understand, was the actual name whose life this film portrays. But the Mohawk people with whom she lived modified it to Kateri. To me, that morphing of something familiar and recognizable into something seemingly very different, is a good metaphor for the story of Kateri's life. First, it fits how Kateri saw the familiar pattern of Native American cosmology and yet felt the call of service in a life of devotion to this outside religion, Christianity. It shows up in the concerns of her uncle and aunts in that they envision a future for her of marrying and being a wife and mother. And yet she instead confounded them by refusing that life, insisting she wanted to live of devotion to God.

The aboriginal practices and rituals of the Native American she lived with probably seems bizarre and even a bit shocking to the average viewer. And yet, we are taken off that path by Kateri's single-hearted devotion as a servant of the Lord. If we watch those rituals carefully, we might get a sense of how bizarre Kateri's choices were to her family. As weird as we might find those, Christian thought and ritual was as strange and bizarre to the average member of the Mohawk village. This is the core of the story in "Kateri."

Sometimes on a small film, the actors are somewhat inexperienced or not of the highest talent so there are dreary scenes of unconvincing dialogue or dubious non-verbal communication. Not true in Kateri. The acting is first rate.

To me the only challenge was understanding some of the dialogue. Because what is said is so important, I didn't want to miss a single word. But sometimes it was a little hard for me to understand. Small films often don't quite have the ability to record the audio of the live action well and looping of it is out of budget (and can be difficult to look seamless). For example, in a scene in which villagers including Kateri speak in the Native American language, there were usually subtitles to help the viewer. But there weren't the same subtitles if the dialogue was English. Disclaimer: I often have great difficulty understanding dialogue in a lot of movies and films so this could mostly be an issue for me.

Overall, though, it is a superlative film. An important, well-written story, beautifully shot and excellently acted.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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The history genre features recounting and analyzing past events, societies, cultures, and historical figures. This genre aims to provide insights into the development of civilizations, the causes and consequences of historical events, and the impact of individuals and ideas on the course of history.

During the French colonial wars in North America, a Mohawk woman converts to Christianity against the wishes of her clan.

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