A documentary series by filmmaker-pilgrim Michael M. Conti exploring the life, music, theology, and landscape of Saint Hildegard von Bingen.
The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard (2014)
Michael M. Conti’s 65-minute documentary probes why abbess, artist, composer, healer, and visionary Saint Hildegard von Bingen — a 12th-century German Benedictine nun — continues to inspire contemporary theologians, musicians, physicians, and artists. The film explores her enduring impact on theology, medicine, art, and music, and examines why she is considered the patron saint of creativity. Now available free on YouTube.
Hildegard Speaks (2023)
Based on the writings of Saint Hildegard, theologian Dr. Annette Esser wrote nine texts in which Hildegard speaks in her own voice. Filmed by Michael M. Conti along the Hildegardweg in 2019, Hildegard Speaks is a documentary pilgrimage through the landscape she called home — the Rhineland of Germany. The film has been screened at venues across Germany, Switzerland, and the United States alongside Dr. Esser and the filmmaker.
The Unruly Mystic: John Muir (2018)
The second film in the Unruly Mystic series explores the life of John Muir — naturalist, writer, and founder of the Sierra Club — through the same lens of mystical experience and connection with the natural world. Available on Amazon Prime.
About the Filmmaker
Michael M. Conti is a Boulder, Colorado filmmaker and the auteur behind the Unruly Mystic documentary series. He first traveled to the Land of Hildegard in 2014 while making The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard and has returned many times since as a pilgrim-filmmaker. His diary entries from his journeys with Hildegard are available on the blog. He is the founder of Crazy Wisdom Films and leads the annual Saint Hildegard Way pilgrimage each September.
She is seen as a powerful muse, encouraging us to create magic in our own lives by allowing the ordinary to intersect with the divine.
Michael M. Conti on Saint Hildegard