Local filmmaker Keith Famie's fourth faith-based documentary will tell stories of how local women religious have made an impact
DETROIT — Like many Metro Detroiters, local producer and director Keith Famie is the product of Catholic schools and the nuns who ran them in the 1960s. In his upcoming film, “The Calling,” which will be released during the 2025 holiday season, Famie hopes to shine a light on these religious women and who they are today.
Famie, along with his team at Visionalist Entertainment Productions, has spent the last several decades focusing his lens on Detroit, creating multiple Emmy-winning primetime programs. However, since 2022, Famie has taken a particular interest in stories of faith, a tribute to his Catholic roots.
In 2022, he produced and released “Detroit: The City of Churches,” and his credits have also included the documentaries “Detroit: The City of Faith” and "Blessed Solanus Casey's Journey To Sainthood."
“In working on (those) films, I asked myself, ‘Where are all the sisters and nuns? I don’t see any,’” Famie explained. “They really are kind of the unsung heroes in our society, especially during those years of the 1930s to the 1960s, as the backbone to education and even health care. So I asked myself, ‘Where are they today?’”
Famie’s research led him to discover that the sisters aren’t gone — they’ve simply evolved with the times.
“I was inspired to find how these ladies have found a place within society as environmentalists, as social workers, hospice workers, social rights (advocates) for the oppressed, immigration, caring for the poor, and still education to this day,” Famie told Detroit Catholic.
“The Calling” focuses on the story of sisters and nuns currently serving in Michigan, including the Felician Sisters of North America, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. It will also feature local author and journalist Patricia Montemurri discussing the history of religious sisters in Michigan. The production is sponsored and supported by the Hilton Foundation and the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation.
The sisters are excited to share their stories, Famie said, joking that he now gets texts and phone calls from religious sisters at all hours of the night.
“They are getting an opportunity to share who they are today, why they became involved in sisterhood in the beginning, what ministries they are proud of, and I think they have been enjoying themselves,” Famie said. “I am learning very quickly the strong leadership these women bring to our society, how highly educated and worldly they are. They are spirited, obviously, when it comes to the Catholic faith and Jesus, but also so much more than that.”
Famie thinks anyone who watches the film, regardless of denomination or religious affiliation, will admire and revere the sisters' stories. Famie said he traces his own roots back to the influence of religious sisters from birth. Famie was adopted at six weeks old and briefly lived with a religious order — the Felicians, he thinks.
As a child, Famie attended Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School in Farmington, where sisters were his teachers.
“My relationship with sisters and nuns was just like any other school kid,” Famie said. “They were strict, but they were compassionate … I remember the experiences fondly as I look back on them now.”
Famie said he experiences “so much joy” working with the sisters and fostering friendships with them. He believes he and his team are better for the time they’ve spent with the religious sisters and other religious leaders as they make their documentaries.
“There is a part of me that is a little bit selfish, working with the sisters: I get so much joy and comfort at 65 years old … In many ways, when I am around these sisters, I feel like a little boy,” Famie said. “There is a certain amount of comfort and ease about what they bring to a moment when you spend time with them, and I guess it's a sense of spirituality in a way. I gain a great deal from spending time with the sisters.”
The sisters' story is layered, and Famie thinks viewers will find them inspiring, authentic, and wise as they tackle broad topics such as the tumultuous 1960s, studies showing fewer instances of dementia and Alzheimer's in women’s religious communities, and their ever-shifting roles in health care, social work and education.
“They have found their space within the ministries or are in the process of finding their space,” Famie said. “There has never been a more important time in our society or American history than today for sisters to impact people's lives in various ways. (The sisters) all seem to be doing their part; they all seem to be having an impact in the smallest ways — ones that we might think are not a big deal.”
Famie hopes that by giving the sisters a platform, audiences will walk away asking themselves how they might imitate the sisters' example and grow in empathy and compassion.
“I would love for people to realize that these are highly educated women who have very strong opinions and focus on how they can help those in need,” Famie said. “I’d like to think that will inspire others to think, ‘Maybe I could do more.’ I hope it inspires people to reach out to religious orders and ask, ‘How can we help you do what you are doing better?’ At the end of the day, I want the sisters to be revered, I want them to be understood, I want them to be respected, and I want them to be supported.”
