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The titular Helen became a nun at the age of
56, after losing her husband and two sons to alcohol and drugs,
and now runs what you could easily call the real Bronx
Zoo. Helen lives with 21 recovering addicts in a decrepit,
rat-infested South Bronx building called the John Thomas Travis
Center, which she opened and named after her late husband.
Helen isn't like any of the nuns you've
likely encountered in your life. Sure, she's a squeaky-voiced,
formerly alcoholic Irishwoman (who would probably be played by
Fionnula Flanagan, should anyone make a feature of her life's
story). But Helen is more like Joe Pesci in a habit, spouting
un-nunlike phrases like "Shit or get off the pot" and
"Not all the balls are on men."
Helen is nice to her tenants, so long as
they keep their rent current, make curfew, and never have any
problems with their frequent drug tests (she pronounces the word
"urine" as yur-EEN). But heaven help the junkie who
tests positive for anything more powerful than Sanka.
Co-director Rob Fruchtman will be on hand at the screening to
answer your questions.
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