From preacher to movie producer
Had he not chosen to marry and have kids, John Michalczyk says, he probably would be helping the poor in Latin America.
The former Jesuit priest instead channeled his social activism into filmmaking.
''I was very, very happy as a priest, and I continue a lot of my work in a priestly manner," said Michalczyk, who was ordained in 1974 and left the order eight years later to marry. ''Film became a medium -- a vehicle of my communications."
His latest documentary, ''Killing Silence: Taking on the Mafia in Sicily," premiered Nov. 18 at the Museum of Fine Arts and will be shown again Saturday. The film is a 50-minute look at the stand against the Mafia taken by Palermo citizens and leaders in the aftermath of the 1992 slayings of two Italian prosecutors.
The film was produced for $120,000 with funding from the Thomas Tracy Family Foundation and Guido Barilla of the Barilla pasta family, and support from Boston College. Michalczyk has taught for 30 years at the college, where he is chairman of the Fine Arts Department and codirector of the film studies program.
''I often say that if you scratch the surface of my own reality, you'll find deep down inside the utter desire to be the best teacher in a universal sense -- through writing, through filmmaking, through teaching in a classroom," said Michalczyk, who is also an author and former film critic. ''I want to use my skills to communicate and teach without being didactic and judgmental."
Michalczyk, 63, of Wayland, directed and coproduced ''Killing Silence," which was made for Etoile Documentary Group.
''I am the Elmer's Glue holding it all together," he said. ''I see film production as an ecosystem -- all of us have our own part to play in the natural evolution of the production."
Michalczyk, who received a doctorate in French literature and film from Harvard in 1972, started filmmaking 20 years ago.
His upcoming projects include ''Rick's Eyes on the Prize," a film about Rick and Dick Hoyt that's part of an ''I'm in Here" series on disabilities. The Hoyts compete in marathons and other road races, with Rick pushing his son, a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, in a wheelchair.
He describes his filmmaking style as the exact opposite of Michael Moore's.Moore's ''Fahrenheit 9/11" and ''Bowling for Columbine" show a flare for ''in-your-face, guerrilla-type" documentaries, Michalczyk said.
''Someone said I'm too laid back as an interviewer, because what I'm trying to get is someone telling their own story," he said. ''The idea is not to sit in judgment upon them and force them to tell me something."
''Killing Silence: Taking on the Mafia in Sicily" will be shown at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Museum of Fine Arts as part of the New England Film Artists Present series. Tickets are $9, and $8 for museum members, senior citizens, and students. Online purchases can be made at www.mfa.org. 