WITH THIS LIGHT

During her 70 years as a nun, Sister Maria Rosa Leggol helped over 87,000 Honduran children escape poverty and violence through an ecosystem of social, educational and entrepreneurial projects, inspiring an international network of supporters to expand her work. In the midst of civil wars, economic collapse and natural disasters, she continued her charge to help young people, such as Maria and Rosa, break familial cycles of poverty and violence to create lives of their own. With This Light poetically interweaves the compelling present-day stories of these teenagers with the epic life and noble actions of Sister Maria Rosa.

The film follows two young women in Sister’s programs as they try to navigate the uncertainty and dangers of modern Honduras.

Rosa (18) has spent almost her entire life under Sister Maria Rosa's protection, living inside the sheltered environment of Sister's urban orphanage. As Rosa prepares for her senior exam and the potential to go to college, she must confront both her fears of the future and the ghosts of her violent childhood to create a life of her own.

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Living in one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods, Maria (14) risks her life to get a high school education and break free from the cycle of poverty and violence that traps the women in her family. She finds protection with Alfredo (18) and his family, struggling to balance her role of "wife" with her studies.

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With This Light poetically interweaves their stories with the almost miraculous story of Sister herself, a woman whose Catholic faith has sustained her through dictatorships, military coups, narco-states and natural disasters, all the while dedicating herself to society’s most vulnerable.