International Documentary on Mother Teresa to Premiere in Kolkata

Kolkata, September 5, 2026: An international investigative documentary exploring the life and legacy of St Teresa of Calcutta will premiere in Kolkata on 5 September, the feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta.

Documentary to premiere on her feast day

Titled Mother Teresa – Prophet of Compassion, the 66-minute documentary will be screened at 6 PM at the Auditorium of St. Xavier’s College, Park Street. Archbishop Elias Frank of Calcutta will preside over the premiere, hosted by the Archdiocese of Calcutta.

The film examines Mother Teresa’s lifelong commitment to compassion and the mission she established through the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation she founded in 1950.

Journalist brings decades of research

The documentary has been produced by senior journalist and author Anto Akkara in collaboration with Atmadarshan TV, Indore.

Akkara has followed the history and work of the Missionaries of Charity for decades. His association with Mother Teresa includes an extensive interview with her in 1995.

He also covered several significant events connected with her life and legacy for international media, including her funeral in 1997 and her canonisation in 2016. His continued reporting has given him a long-term perspective on the congregation and its mission.

A witness to compassion and human dignity

Through investigative reporting, archival material and personal accounts, the documentary seeks to bring attention to lesser-known initiatives and episodes from Mother Teresa’s life.

The film particularly highlights her service to poor and marginalised people and those living on the peripheries of society. It presents her work as a prophetic witness rooted in compassion, human dignity and service.

The documentary also considers how that witness continues through the Missionaries of Charity, whose work remains closely associated with caring for people facing poverty, abandonment and exclusion.

Revisiting an enduring legacy

The Kolkata premiere offers the Church and wider public an opportunity to revisit the life of one of the most recognised Catholic figures of the modern era.

Held on her feast day in the city where Mother Teresa spent much of her life and established the Missionaries of Charity, the screening is expected to renew attention to the message at the heart of her mission: that compassion and service to the most vulnerable can become a powerful expression of human dignity and faith.

Courtesy CBCI News