Lilies of the Field

(Ralph Nelson, US 1963, 93 min., 35mm)

Sidney Poitier earned his lone Academy Award for his performance in this film. Poitier portrays Homer Smith, an unemployed construction worker heading West when his car overheats. The closest source of water is a convent run by German nuns who were gifted the land after the war. Believing Homer to be sent by God, Mother Maria (Lilia Skala) convinces Homer to fix their leaking roof before asking him to build them a chapel. Cultural, social, and religious barriers are bridged as Homer and the nuns get to know each other and achieve something none would have been able to on their own.