NCMA Cinema: Theirs Is the Kingdom

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the North Carolina Museum of Art require film and lecture program participants ages 13 and up to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 NAAT or PCR test result; test results must be within 72 hours of the event. Please plan to have one of these items in hand upon entry for Museum personnel.

Theirs Is the Kingdom (2021). Directed by Christopher Zaluski, 60 min., NR

This film follows the creation of a contemporary mural inside a church in Asheville and examines the intersection of poverty and portraiture. The Haywood Street Beatitudes fresco, painted by Christopher Holt, immortalizes those on the margins. This is a painting not of the rich and powerful but of people battling homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. By following the project from first sketch to final unveiling, the viewer witnesses the difficulties of this ancient art technique while also meeting an ensemble cast of complex characters. The NCMA’s 2020—21 exhibition Christopher Holt: Contemporary Frescoes/Faith and Community featured drawings and studies from this project.

A discussion and Q and A with the filmmaker follow the screening.

Image: Film still from Theirs Is the Kingdom, courtesy of the filmmaker