The Good Struggle

Filmmaker Celia Peterson’s stunningly photographed study complicates the timelessness that can shroud monasteries when seen solely from the outside. How does one commit to a lifetime on a majestic mountain? And how do those who have made this commitment reflect on their life-altering choice decades later? As the monks of a Greek Orthodox monastery in Lebanon go about their routines - silently crafting candles, engraving wood with Christian icons, and lowering crates of produce down the monastery’s mountain by crane - their voice-overs disclose their personal struggles. The monks recount how they first felt joining the monastery, recollect the family and friends who still yearn for them, and describe how, ultimately, they’ve developed spiritually from their difficulties. Solemn and tense with the dedication of the devout, The Good Struggle offers perspectives on both the monks’ stone-carved surroundings and their individual sacrifices. (Full Frame Documentary Film Festival)