» The Blinking Madonna and Other Miracles

The Blinking Madonna and Other Miracles

2021 Online New England Film Festival Retrospective | NewEnglandFilm Discovery | Comedy | Massachusetts | Watch Online Now

Making ethnographic documentaries about her North End neighbors had allowed filmmaker Beth Harrington to keep her own background and beliefs at bay. But when she inadvertently videotapes a “miracle” with her camera, she has to wrestle with her past and what it means to believe and belong.

Film Details

Director: Beth Harrington

Writer: Beth Harrington

Year of Release: 1996

Running Time: 1 hour

New England Connection: Born in Jamaica Plain, grew up on the South Shore of Boston in Braintree, MA After returning from college (Syracuse University), I lived in the North End for almost 20 years. Played in several local rock bands including The Modern Lovers. Am a graduate of UMass Boston's American Studies Masters' program. Taught media at several institutions (Bunker Hill Community College, New England School of Photography, Boston Film/Video Foundation), worked for WGBH on shows for NOVA and Frontline. Am a past president and board member of New England Women in Film. Blinking Madonna screened at the 1996 New England Film festival and won the award for Conceptual Originality.

Director(s) Bio:: Beth Harrington is an Emmy-winning, Grammy-nominated independent producer, director and writer, born in Boston and transplanted to the Pacific Northwest. She most often focuses on work that explores American history, music and culture. Harrington’s independent production Welcome to the Club – The Women of Rockabilly, a music documentary about the pioneering women of rock and roll, was honored with a 2003 Grammy nomination. This and other work reflects a long-standing love of music. She’s been a singer and sometimes guitarist, most noted for her years as a member of Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers on Sire Records. In 2014 her film The Winding Stream – The Carters, the Cashes and the Course of Country Music premiered at SXSW, later appearing in over 30 film festivals in the U.S. and abroad.

Her latest projects-in-progress include the documentary Beyond the Duplex Planet about artist David Greenberger, a music-based dramatic feature,The Musicianer, a series of profiles of women in rock ‘n’ roll titled Foremothers, and Our Mr. Matsura, a historical non-fiction film about a Japanese photographer’s unconventional work documenting the people of Washington State in the early 1900s.

Harrington has also worked with public television stations WGBH in Boston and OPB in Portland producing, researching, and developing shows for both national and local air on series such as Nova, Frontline, History Detectives, Oregon Art Beat and Oregon Experience. Her film Fort Vancouver received a NW Emmy for Best Historical/Cultural Program in 2019 and her piece Once Upon a Time in the Northwest – The Music of Federale, a NW Emmy for Best Arts/Entertainment - Long Form Content in 2021.

Number of shooting days: 7

Camera Used: Aaton

Editing software: Avid

Budget: $150,000

Financed by: Grants/Scholarships

For more information: bethharrington.com