Of Gods and Men Earning Critical Praise During U.S. premiere

"The film's portrait of daily monastic life; of the goodness of local Muslim villagers, of the monks' struggle with fear and courage as violence closes in -- all these things combine expertly to make 'Of Gods and Men' one of the most powerful films dealing with matters of faith in recent memory," says Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. "Whether one is a believer or not, it simply should not be missed."

LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) - Reviewers are praising OF GODS AND MEN for its reverence, cinematic quality and spiritual bounty. This extraordinary story of Catholic Faith and martyrdom makes its U.S. debut Feb. 25 in New York and Los Angeles - with wider release to follow.

"France's submission for the Best Foreign Film award at the Oscars is one of the finest works of world cinema these last twelve months have brought us," writes reviewer Daniel Sarath on the "Napier's News" website. " . OF GODS AND MEN is an engrossing and moving tale of spirituality."

"I rarely watch movies twice," says Sr. Helena Burns, in her "Hell Burns" blog. "But this one needs to be seen over and over. It's a meditation. Few films have ever gotten this close to the heart of Christianity."

"The film's portrait of daily monastic life; of the goodness of local Muslim villagers, of the monks' struggle with fear and courage as violence closes in -- all these things combine expertly to make 'Of Gods and Men' one of the most powerful films dealing with matters of faith in recent memory," says Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. "Whether one is a believer or not, it simply should not be missed."

OF GODS AND MEN stars Lambert Wilson and Michael Londsdale. It topped the French box-office charts last fall and already has earned a number of major cinematic awards, including:
- Grand Prix: 2010 Cannes Film Festival
- Ecumenical Jury Prize: 2010 Cannes Film Festival
- Best Foreign Language Film, National Board of Review 2010

Written and directed by one of France's top filmmakers, Xavier Beauvois, OF GODS AND MEN is loosely based on the 1996 kidnapping and subsequent murder of seven members of the Trappist Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O), all of them French, living in a monastery in Tibhirine, Algeria. Although an Islamic fundamentalist group reportedly claimed responsibility for abducting the monks in late March 1996 and killing them almost two months later, the true identities of the murderous criminals remains a mystery. Fear swept the region during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s when an Islamic fundamentalist group massacred a crew of foreign workers. The Cistercians refused military protection, choosing instead to stay and continue their work despite the growing threat of violence.

The film faithfully chronicles the reality of the Cistercians' willingness to suffer martyrdom to sustain their peaceful message and call to service by staying in the volatile region.

"What makes OF GODS AND MEN so special is that Beauvois and his cast treat faith as something from which acts - not simply thoughts and feelings - are fashioned, and so becomes as meaningful for the people who possess it as life itself,"   writes James van Maanen in the "TrustMovies" blog.

"For society as a whole, it represents a cinematic return to positively portraying the values of reverence and idealism," writes John W. Kennedy on Beliefnet.com "There isn't a cynical note in this movie -- yet it rings more true than almost anything coming off Hollywood's edgy assembly line.

OF GODS AND MEN is a production of Armada Films and Why Not Productions and is released by Sony Pictures Classics.

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