AKRON, Ohio—“Chosen (Custody of the Eyes)” will make its debut appearance April 9 at the Athens International Film and Video Festival in Athens, Ohio, as a competition feature. “Chosen” was selected from 2,000 submissions.

The film is one of the outcomes of a 12-year collaboration between the cloistered Poor Clare Colettines of Rockford and Abbie Reese, a northern Illinois researcher and writer.

“Chosen” was also selected as the best documentary feature film by Sydney World Film Festival. It is also among films scheduled for an April film festival in Estonia.

Reese says showings outside of film festivals will have to wait.

“I’m submitting to festivals as the first stage,” she said. “There are some strict regulations, so that screening cannot be set up that are open to the public until after a festival has screened in that area.

“I can offer private screenings in classrooms, just not anything open to the public at this stage,” she added.

Reese is working on additional projects with the Poor Clares, including collecting stories about people connected to the monastery through the Storytelling Trust (http://storytellingtrust.org/share-your-story.html).

Also ongoing are:

• An audio piece about “Heather” and her journey to become “Sister Amata” of the Poor Clares;

• An ethnographic film focused broadly on the life of monastic women, including the Poor Clares and others. It will be edited at an academic center in Paris, and

• A two-video projection for a gallery setting. It will include a video edited by Reese and one edited by the nuns. These videos will reveal perspectives on the monastic life from the insiders and an outsider.

“Chosen’s” Ohio screening will begin at 3:15 p.m. and will be open to the public. Tickets are $6.50 for adults and $5.50 senior citizens and children.

Info: The Athena Cinema, 740/592-5106.