Co-producers Vic Compher and Rodney Whittenberg have been inspired to make Angels and Saints—Eros and Awe by their respective personal and spiritual journeys. And they have found with the success of their last film, CAREgivers, that the arts in many forms often have the ability to entertain, educate and contribute to the healing of trauma and pain in the world.

While Angels and Saints—Eros and Awe may seem to be a film about gender identity and sexuality — and it is — it is more essentially about psychological, emotional, and spiritual wholeness, namely, the sacred and sensual connection of our bodies and the natural world that western religion has historically demonized and maligned. It is a film about people whom we call our “Angels and Saints,” or our “modern messengers.” who have found a path to being their whole selves in body, mind, and spirit.

Angels and Saints: Eros and Awe addresses the psychic pain and damage that institutional religions and American culture in general have inflicted by teaching that “the Spirit is good” but “the body is evil”. Whether identifying as heterosexual, nonbinary, gay, lesbian or “OtherWise”, our modern messengers share with us their creative, grounded lives, their wisdom and their many ways of healing this brokenness, as well as how they have moved beyond the constraining, stereotypic “boxes” in which society has placed most people. A recurring theme in this process of integration and wholeness is the role of the arts, including dance, music, poetry, and a love of nature – all of which find a richly expressive place in the film.

A discussion of the film and sacred sexuality will follow.