International Documentary on Mother Teresa premiered on her feast day in Kolkata
George Kommattam - September 2026
The Archdiocese of Calcutta hosted, on Sep 5, the feast day of St Teresa of Calcutta, the premiere of an international documentary ‘Mother Teresa - Prophet of Compassion’, with Archbishop Elias Frank of Calcutta presiding over the premiere of the documentary, produced by senior journalist Anto Akkara, at the Auditorium of St Xaviers’ College, Park Street, Kolkata, on September 5, 2026.
In his introductory address to the premiere with over two hundred people, including dozens of MC nuns and novices, Archbishop Frank lauded the “passion” of the journalist-author “to make Mother known to the world through his documentary. So, we are here, dear friends, not just to see what he has done but to be inspired by the mother's work.”
“There are things that we may not even know yet …. Certain pieces that I saw he has tried to highlight certain events through the journalistic eyes,” pointed out Archbishop Frank, hailing the tenacity of the producer Akkara for completing the task despite his computer hard disk crashing, wiping out vital work at a critical time.
“Mother blessed me with a comprehensive interview in 1995 when I was just 33. Since then, I pursued the Missionaries of Charity on crucial occasions, frequenting Kolkata often from the funeral of the Mother in 1997,” said the journalist-author who has visited Kolkata more than two dozen times for international reporting.
“When the MC congregation was turning 75, I proposed making this documentary, and the congregation officials agreed with my personal initiative. I am thankful to Atmadarshan TV Indore for the whole-hearted support to realize this dream,” added Akkara, introducing the 66-minute incisive documentary, focusing on the Prophetic Path of Compassion Mother Teresa plodded and laid out before the world with the MC congregation she founded in 1950.
The journalist-author also exposes the canards of conversion flung at the Mother, honored with more than 700 awards, to tarnish the image of dedicated service to the destitute, handicapped & mentally challenged children & others, leprosy-affected, and orphans.
Akkara has overhauled the earlier Indian version rushed for the 75th MC Foundation Day on Oct 7, 2025, with gripping accounts from tracing the footprints of the Mother in Patna in 1948, Jharkhand in 1959 and New Delhi in 1961. The over a dozen fresh incidents woven into it include international accounts of killings of MC nuns in Yemen in 1998 & 2016, Nicaragua expulsion, and MCs staying on in Gaza & Ukraine amid bombardment, along with moving testimony of legendary photographer Raghu Rai, and inspiring appreciation of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru while inaugurating the new Sishu Bhavan building in New Delhi.
Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, born in present-day North Macedonia in 1910, came to India as a Loreto Sister, Teresa, in 1929. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. Seventy-five years later, the congregation serves in 138 countries, with 5,076 sisters running 754 homes for people living in poverty and on the margins of society.
The documentary traces this journey of compassion and service, showing how Mother Teresa's prophetic vision continues to inspire generations of women religious and people around the world.
