Jennifer

Jennifer is an enclosed Carmelite nun. Within the monastery, the cloistered community live out an ideal of work and prayer as a creative life following the Discalced Carmelite Rule.

The film invites the audience into a world of enclosure which is rarely seen from the inside. It is a portrait of both the interiors of the building and of Jennifer. Seven years in the making, the film was realised through the collaboration between inside and outside the convent walls. Filmed inside the convent by Jennifer and Alejandro Roman a volunteer who for some years helps out the community and is the only person allowed inside.

This film centres on Jennifer and takes us through the chores and rituals of daily life. She has recreation time but most of her day is spent in prayer. In two interviews she talks about what brings her to this way of life.

The interior of the monastery itself becomes a presence; its rooms enfold the reverberations of this total world. But there are porous boundaries between the monastery and its surroundings through sound and light and the comings and goings of the world outside at the turnstile door.

The film gives us a rare access into enclosed life. Enclosure is a choice, but what does it mean to live this life? What are the difficulties of this “sublime endeavor” as St. Teresa calls it and what are its rewards?

Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgR_ksyHmLk