A private screening of the new documentary will take place at Hettinger Hall of St. Jude Parish in Peoria on Saturday, Sept. 22.

Not only is a screening of the new documentary “Sexual Revolution: 50 Years since Humanae Vitae” coming to Peoria, so are its director as well as a Catholic writer and musician whose life story is the centerpiece of the Springtime Productions film.

The screening is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 22, at Hettinger Hall of St. Jude Parish, 10811 N. Knoxville, in Peoria. Doors open at 5:45 p.m., with the 90-minute film beginning at 6:20 p.m., according to Marsha Kampfl, local screening coordinator.

Daniel diSilva

The cost of $10 per person also covers snacks and refreshments. Reservations are required and can be made by contacting Kampfl at marshak36@gmail.com or (309) 370-2122.

Present to discuss “Sexual Revolution” will be Daniel diSilva, director — who was last in Peoria in 2016 when his earlier documentary, “The Original Image of Divine Mercy,” was shown — and Alana Newman, the documentary’s narrator whose exploration of her life as a donor-conceived individual led to her conversion to the Catholic Church. Newman will also perform musical selections following the screening.

SEVEN YEARS IN THE MAKING

Alana Newman

The Peoria screening comes two months after the 50th anniversary of “Humanae Vitae” — the 1968 encyclical by Blessed Paul VI affirming the Catholic Church’s teaching against contraception (see related stories) — and just three weeks before Paul VI is canonized. The film will be screened in Rome for a week ahead of the Oct. 14 canonization.

According to the film’s website, sexualrevolutionmovie.com, the musical documentary explores “the outcome of the free-love experiment of the last century set against the backdrop of Paul VI’s groundbreaking encyclical about love, sex, and marriage.”

Seven years in the making, it also examines:

• the parallel developments of the Pill and modern natural family planning, profiling the physicians involved in both, and
• Alana Newman’s conversion story and how, through desperation to know her father, she discovered the teachings of “Humanae Vitae” and St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Newman is the founder of The Anonymous Us Project — an online collective for those affected by donor conception. She is also a certified teacher of natural family planning.

The film features commentary from many prominent Catholic leaders including Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Goergy Mason law professor Helen Alvare, and Boston College philosophy professor Peter Kreeft. Since a trailer for the documentary was released on June 2, diSilva has received more than 1,000 screening requests.

The trailer can be viewed on the film’s website.

Kampfl is bringing the documentary and guest speakers to Peoria in partnership with OSF HealthCare. Representatives from OSF Women’s Health and FertilityCare and OSF Center for Breast Health will also be available for questions and provide information on Baby Boot Camp, breastfeeding and childbirth education.

She encouraged early reservations, noting that seating in Hettinger Hall is limited to about 325.

“I hope it brings in many that the Holy Spirit leads there,” said Kampfl, who has brought several other films of Catholic interest to the region such as “Ignatius of Loyola,” “Outcasts,” and “Mary of Nazareth.” If the response to “Sexual Revolution” merits, it could also be shown at a local theater but those screenings would not have diSilva and Newman present, she added.

RELATED STORY: Diocese sets conference Aug. 18 to revisit “Humanae Vitae” on its 50th anniversary