Inquiring Nuns

Inquiring Nuns is a 1968 Kartemquin Films production directed by Gordon Quinn and Gerald Temaner. The documentary film features Sisters Marie Arné and Mary Campion, two young Catholic nuns who visit a variety of Chicago locales to ask people the question, "Are you happy?"Jones, J.R. "Are you happy? Inquiring nuns want to know," Reader (Chicago, IL), 21 July 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2025. They meet a variety of individuals ranging from hippie musicians to intellectuals, whose responses are everything from the mundane to the spiritual. The film was directly influenced by Jean Rouch's Chronique d'un été,Inquiring Nuns :: Kartemquin Films which Quinn and Temaner had watched at Doc Films while they were undergraduates at the University of Chicago. The film was shot on Kartemquin's "Camera #1," a custom-modified crystal sync Auricon with a used manual zoom lens Quinn purchased from Albert Maysles, and to which he added a World War II gunner handle bought from a pawn shop as an extra grip for steadiness.Borrelli, Christopher. "A loaded question for you: Are you happy?" Chicago Tribune, Friday, March 1, 2013.

Quinn and Temaner's fourth collaboration was produced for about $16,000 ($110,005 US in 2016) for Chicago's Catholic Adult Education Center which never suggested any changes or requested a single edit. Both Sisters Marie Arné (now Kathleen Reinmuth) and Mary Campion (now Catherine Rock)Steinberg, Neil. "Inquiring Nuns holds a mirror to 1967 Chicago, and to ourselves today," Chicago Sun-Times, Tuesday 27 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2025.Phillips, Michael. "Two nuns, one microphone and a question for Chicago: 'Are you happy?'" Chicago Tribune, Thursday, November 29, 2018. served at the St. Denis Parish in Chicago's Southwest Side at the time of the filming. They subsequently left the sisterhood within a few years after the film's release, the former eventually becoming a family counselor in the Chicago suburbs and the latter a school superintendent in Florida. One of the random people they encountered in the film was Stepin Fetchit who showed a few of his publicity shots and stated that he was happy.

An Official Selection of the 1968 Chicago International Film Festival, Inquiring Nuns features music by the then relatively unknown composer Philip Glass (Truman Show, The Fog of War) who was paid $100 ($688 US in 2016) for earning his first film credit.Kenny, Glenn. "Inquiring Nuns Review: A Simple Question Yields Many Profound Answers," The New York Times, Thursday 22 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2025.

Entertainment Weekly graded Inquiring Nuns an 'A' and applauded the film's "reaffirmation of the virtue of conventional wisdom."Video Review Catchpole, Terry. "Inquiring Nuns". Entertainment Weekly. 21 May 1993. Retrieved 26 Jan. 2011.

In 2018, Kartemquin received a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation for a new restoration of the original 16mm print, and collaborated with Argot Pictures on a 50th Anniversary release of the film in US theaters.

Inquiring Nuns

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