Buffalo-made 'Cabrini' makes its big-screen debut nationwide

"Cabrini,” the Buffalo-made movie about the life of Mother Francesca Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen to be canonized a saint in the Catholic Church, has finally arrived on the big screen.

The biographical drama, is now showing in area theaters, and will expand locally and nationally on March 8, International Women’s Day.

Currently showing or scheduled to show “Cabrini” are the AMC Market Arcade 8 and Maple Ridge 8, Aurora Theatre in East Aurora, Dipson Theatre locations (Amherst Theatre, Flix, McKinley 6 and Capitol Theatre in Niagara Falls), North Park Theatre, and Regal Elmwood, Quaker Crossing, Transit and Walden Galleria. Tickets are on sale now via theater websites and Fandango.

“Cabrini” stars Italian actress Cristiana Dell’Anna as Francesca Cabrini, a poor Italian immigrant and nun who made it her life’s mission to help other immigrants. She was canonized in 1946. The international cast also includes John Lithgow, Montserrat Espadalé, David Morse and Giancarlo Giannini. Director Alejandro Monteverde’s previous film was the independent hit “Sound of Freedom,” which he also made with Angel Studios.

“Cabrini” started principal photography in Buffalo on July 16, 2021, and from the opening moments of the film we see recognizable locations along Main Street in downtown Buffalo. Locations included the Ellicott Square Building (exterior and interior), Lafayette Square, St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, the City of Buffalo Common Council Chambers, Clement House, Colonel Ward Pumping Station, Blessed Trinity Church, Shea’s Buffalo Theatre, Delaware Park and InnBuffalo.

A large backlot built off Elk Street in South Buffalo re-created New York City’s Five Points neighborhood that Mother Cabrini transformed from the slums to an area with schools, hospitals and orphanages after she arrived in the U.S. in 1889. It took about 16 weeks to build the sets that featured two major locations: a city street with a bakery, butcher shop, Italian grocer and apartments; and a dilapidated shanty town with shacks built on a small embankment over an old railroad bed. Both are impressive on screen. Filming took place on the backlot for about three weeks.

Approximately 600 local extras and 300 local crew members were used for the filming. After Buffalo, the movie filmed for about five days in Rome in the fall of 2021.

An inspirational life

In the weeks leading up to the film’s release, Angel Studios has held multiple livestreaming events that included a conversation between company president Jordan Harmon and director Alejandro Monteverde, plus videos and talks with cast including John Lithgow. What was mentioned often was how little even they knew about Mother Cabrini before making the film.

“It was very surprising in every conceivable way. I really did not know much about Mother Cabrini except that she had done a lot for Italian American immigrants,” said Lithgow who plays the fictional – and villainous – Mayor Gould in the film. “It’s wonderful to see a single person, a single character from history who is a fighter and who will not give up and has right on her side, or his side, and will make changes.”

In speaking of Mother Cabrini in that way, Lithgow draws comparisons to other historical figures with similar characteristics like Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass. “We were just not that aware of Mother Cabrini.”

Those thoughts were echoed by director Monteverde. “I was shocked that I didn’t know anything about her and that resonates with what John (Lithgow) said. She was a character that came to this country with nothing and built an empire as big as the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts but it was an empire of hope,” he said, adding that she used all of her resources “to give hope to those living on the streets, giving hope to those with no voice, to fill people with dignity.”

“I wanted to shine a light on her life and use the power power of cinema to tell her powerful story.”

This movie, Monteverde said, continues her legacy. “She was a fighter. She was someone who never gave up. That was the spirit of Cabrini. The power of one.”

A statue of St. Frances Cabrini can be seen at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Lewiston. The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation – the largest foundation exclusively focused on health outcomes in New York – awards annual year-end grants to nonprofit organizations across the state. In January, $15.3 million in grants were awarded in 53 grants across Erie, Niagara, Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties; a fraction of the $172 million awarded across the state.

“Cabrini” is rated PG-13 for thematic material, language, some violence and smoking. It is 2 hours and 25 minutes long.