All 800 seats were occupied and a festival atmosphere prevailed at the Arcada Theater in St. Charles (below) for the first regional showing of “Full of Grace.”

The film from St. Charles-based Outside da Box is about  Mary and the early days of the Church. Writer and director Andrew Hyatt spoke after the film about the process of writing it.

He and executive producer Eric Groth and producer T.J. Berden answered audience questions, talking about set locations, the actress who played Mary, a young woman assisting Mary, and the research and advisors that influenced the film.

Groth recalled how on May 27, 1977, he was an 8-year-old kid waiting in line outside the same theater to see “Star Wars.”

He said he was “so humbled”  to be back in the theater to share a film. He added that it was an “incredible honor”  to be part of a film he described as “a prayer and a meditation.”