CHARLOTTE — What started as a way for Brian Kennelly to share his thoughts on the Catholic classic "True Devotion to Mary" has turned into a script for a powerful, short film and aspirations of challenging millions of people to pray the rosary.
Kennelly, a parishioner of St. Ann Church in Charlotte and author of several Catholic novels ("Two Statues," "To the Heights"), has co-written a script and teamed up with Catholic filmmakers in Hollywood to make a short film titled "Eyes of Mercy."
It will take audiences inside the soul of a man struggling through a crisis of faith, and show what happens within his soul when someone prays the rosary for him, Kennelly said.
"Eyes of Mercy" will be put out by the non-profit Vox Dei Productions and will be released for free online so that millions around the world can have easy access to it.
Kennelly read the St. Louis de Montfort book about two years ago, and like many books about faith, he wanted to pass it along to his friends and family. But since it's a "big, heavy book" he wasn't sure that many would read it all the way through.
Instead, he said he created some notes to pass along to his friends. From that he wrote a parable, an allegorical novella entitled "The Parable of the Lady in Blue: A Tale of Marian Apology," then turned that into an audio drama. After meeting a Catholic movie director, Kennelly said, he sent him the audio drama.
"From there, it spiraled out of control in a good way," he said. "We hope that this film will be unlike anything anyone's ever seen in the faith-based market."
Kennelly has teamed up with fellow Catholic filmmakers Dennis Crow, Roberto Girault and Paul Hertel. The film will have a unique style, with little dialogue and a powerful musical score, to appeal to a global audience. The script has also changed a bit from his parable.
"It will be a very mystical film that shows us how God's grace comes to us through Mary – it will give a very powerful visual to something that is otherwise unseen by our eyes," Kennelly said.
The character is seen as a young child traveling through a dark, wintry forest. With only the light from his virtues to protect him, the child is hunted by ravenous wolves.
There is a spiritual battle at play within each of us, and through this film millions of people will see this battle in a whole new light and be reminded of how God sees us as one of His children, he said. They will discover the power of the rosary and the effect it has on the people who pray it, and those for whom they pray.
"The film brings the viewer into a 'mystical reality.' People will actually see what happens within a lost soul when someone prays the rosary for him," said Girault, the director. "With state-of-the-art CGI and an international cast, we are presenting a quality, faith-affirming film that will challenge and inspire the audience."
But in order to produce the movie, they need to raise about $300,000. So they have launched a Kickstarter campaign and are searching for small donations. After about a week, the project has raised more than $50,000 with donations from all over the world.
The project is dependent on a grassroots campaign and use of social media, for awareness as well as fundraising. A short promotional video on their Facebook page has already been viewed more than 240,000 times in just the first week.
"We want this to be an apostolic thing that people can use to evangelize," Kennelly said.
"We want millions of people around the world to have easy access to it. But in order to take this route, and not go through a studio and eventually have DVD sales, we need the people to help get it done. It's tough to get films like this made in Hollywood... we need the help of good Catholics," he said.
Kennelly said he hopes people in his home diocese can provide a starting point for helping generate the funds needed for production. The online fundraising campaign runs through Aug. 4.
If the fundraising campaign is successful, Kennelly said, they hope to start filming in October and release the movie on Jan. 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
— Kimberly Bender, online reporter
How you can help
To donate to the making of "Eyes of Mercy," click here.
You can also e-mail Brian Kennelly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Go to Facebook and search "Eyes of Mercy" to see a short video and learn more.