True Identity

A New York artist witnesses a crime and resolves to redeem his earlier inaction. A silent film in pantomime, this early work by director Charles Lane brings a unique deftness and grace to its social realist narrative.

A street artist (Charles Lane) rescues a baby girl (Nicole Alysia) after her father is murdered. The artist then sets off to find the mother, but has to first learn how to care for the child. Ultimately he ends up in a horse drawn chase of the murderers.

Christmas at the Messiah Church in Washington D.C. A young preacher and, later in the day, a mysterious pregnant girl arrive at the church doors looking to begin new lives. The preacher, the Reverend Oliver Crawford, is not the judgmental church committee's first choice to be the Messiah's new pastor; an unwed father of a teenage son, he is given only two days to prove his worth to his new parishioners. Meanwhile, Katherine, a sixteen-year-old girl who is about to give birth, has come to the area to escape an abusive home and to search for a grandfather she doesn't know. With the help of local homeless advocate "Big" Willie Thorton, Crawford attempts to revive the spirit of the church and provide solace to the displaced girl.