Although he is not himself a Catholic, the director Michael Whyte is a veteran of closely observed documentaries about Catholic religious life.

Priest
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Although he is not himself a Catholic, the director Michael Whyte is a veteran of closely observed documentaries about Catholic religious life. He has already made films about a Carmelite community in London (No Greater Love, 2009) and the British tour of the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux (Relics and Roses, 2011). In Priest, Whyte and his crew spent Lent and Holy Week with Mgr Paul Grogan (inset), parish priest of Mary, Mother of God, in Bradford. They were given complete access to the daily life of Fr Grogan and his parish team – and although the documentary method is fly-on-the-wall, there is nothing voyeuristic about it.

Despite its moments of suffering, Priest is a tender portrait of spiritual life in ordinary struggles. Its opening image is of a darkened church, the glow of a flame held in a cupped hand and a man alone in prayer – and despite dwindling congregations and a shamed and beleaguered Church in the background, the flickering spirit and the stillness of faith somehow shine steadfast to the end.

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