The Cathedral

  • 88'
  • United States
  • 2021

The rise and fall of a middle-class family at a historical moment marked by diminished expectations. An extended Catholic family navigates the personal and financial upheavals of life in the 1980s and 1990s. Seen through the eyes of an only child, a sensitive young boy, the family’s trajectory is further signposted by the era’s defining political events, as revealed through real archival footage.

The sophomore feature from American filmmaker Ricky D’Ambrose embodies the shifting, evolving notions of personal and political history, through the mournful yet unsentimental gaze of a young boy. Though much of the highest stakes action takes place offscreen, an epic, ultimately devastating family melodrama unfolds. Maybe it’s the detailed rendering of the period hairstyles and fashions, but the film hints to a 1990s daytime television aesthetic, albeit as filtered through the textured  lens of its author, replete with stunning compositions in a collage of images and sound.

  • 88'
  • United States
  • 2021
Director
Ricky D’Ambrose
Country of production
United States
Year
2021
Festival Edition
IFFR 2022
Length
88'
Medium
DCP
Language
English
Producer
Graham Swon
Production Company
Ravenser Odd
Sales
Visit Films
Screenplay
Ricky d'Ambrose
Cinematography
Barton Cortright
Editor
Ricky d'Ambrose
Production Design
Grace Sloan
Sound Design
Maxwell di Paolo
Cast
Brian d'Arcy James, Monica Barbaro, Geraldine Singer, Mark Zeisler, William Bednar-Carter, Hudson McGuire, Henry Glendon Walter V
Director
Ricky D’Ambrose
Country of production
United States
Year
2021
Festival Edition
IFFR 2022
Length
88'
Medium
DCP
Language
English
Producer
Graham Swon
Production Company
Ravenser Odd
Sales
Visit Films
Screenplay
Ricky d'Ambrose
Cinematography
Barton Cortright
Editor
Ricky d'Ambrose
Production Design
Grace Sloan
Sound Design
Maxwell di Paolo
Cast
Brian d'Arcy James, Monica Barbaro, Geraldine Singer, Mark Zeisler, William Bednar-Carter, Hudson McGuire, Henry Glendon Walter V