Molokai: the Story of Father Damien

Hawaï, 1872. The Flemish missionary Father Damien is laying the foundations of a church on Oahu Island when a native girl turns to him for help. She is fleeing the bounty hunters who track down lepers. Everyone exhibiting even a trace of the disease is put on a boat and exiled to Molokai Island. The lepers live in miserable circumstances on an isolated part of the island, sent there never to leave again. When Father Damien is sent to Molokai in an effort to bring law, order and Christianity, he takes his job far more seriously than his superiors had expected to do. His repeated appeals for nuns, medicine and supplies don’t only come to the attention of the press, but also stir up trouble with the government and with church officials. But for Father Damien there is no turning back; at whatever cost he has clearly cast his lot with the lepers.