In Teilhard: Visionary Scientist, a new documentary to be broadcast on PBS, four key ideas emerge from the life and mind of Jesuit Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955): evolution, integration, fire and passion.
The fascinating visionary, paleontologist, theologian, geologist, philosopher, evolutionary theorist and mystic provides ample subject matter for a two-hour documentary. In an exclusive interview for NCR, producer Mary Frost told me the film had taken 13 years to accomplish — shot in four countries on three continents (France, China, England and the U.S.) in 25 locations.
Mary and her co-producer husband Frank Frost made seven research trips to prepare for the film, followed by seven shooting trips. They interviewed 30 experts and banked 200 hours of video material that took them two years to edit. Jesuit Fr. Eddie Siebert of Loyola Productions did the cinematography and Taiwan-based Jesuit Fr. Jerry Martinson (who consulted on Martin Scorsese’s 2016 film Silence) was their Mandarin interpreter on shoots in China. Sadly, Martinson passed away in 2017, before “Teilhard” was completed.
For the remainder of Sr. Rose’s review, please visit National Catholic Reporter here.
Teilhard: Visionary Scientist debuts on PBS Maryland on May 19th at 4 p.m. Beginning on May 20, you can watch the documentary streaming on the free PBS app.
