What happens when a gift from God turns out to be a loan?

An intelligent, feel-good movie about rediscovering hope at any age, MANNA FROM HEAVEN is a delightful and refreshing comedy from Gabrielle C. Burton and Maria Burton. The film follows the Annunciata clan - an Irish- and Italian-American working-class family who gets a “gift from God” (a financial windfall), but many years later finds out it was a just a loan — and it’s due immediately. Once upon a time, many years ago, a neighbourhood in Buffalo, NY is mysteriously showered with 20-dollar bills. Theresa Annunciata, a young girl who everyone thinks is a saint, doesn’t have much trouble convincing her loose-knit “family” of relatives, friends, and two permanent house-guests that the money is a gift from heaven to split up. Years later, Theresa , who has become a nun, has an extraordinary vision which convinces her that it is time to pay the money back. She embarks on a mission to call the eccentric group back together and repay the “loan.” The problem is, nobody has the money, nobody wants to give back the money, they don’t know to whom it belongs, and most of them can’t stand each other. Bunny (Shirley Jones, THE MUSIC MAN, ELMER GANTRY) and Ed (Frank Gorshin, BATMAN, 12 MONKEYS) are con artists who think they’ll take the money and run; Inez (Wendie Malick, THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE), a hard-nosed casino card dealer, vows to have no part in it until she starts falling for a secret service agent; sister-in-law’s mother, Helen (Cloris Leachman, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN), is too crabby and cynical to care. Theresa has some tall talking to do to get this oddball group on board, but her gift was always to see the best in everyone, and she eventually makes some headway with unexpected results. A star-studded ensemble cast delivers terrific performances as the shaggy crew looking for love, laughter and happiness - everything that money can’t buy. A morality tale of fable-like proportions, MANNA FROM HEAVEN is a light-hearted, crowd-pleasing treat.

• CRITIC’S PICK, The Washington Post
• WINNER Special Audience Award, Sarasota Film Festival
• WINNER People’s Choice Award, Ft. Myers Beach Film Festival
• WINNER Audience Award, Big Bear Film Festival
• WINNER NY State Filmmakers Award, Empire State Film Festival

“CRITICS PICK! Two feel-good hours of old-time family entertainment... A much-needed reprieve from the angst, irony and mean-spiritedness that is endemic to modern cinema.” – Natalie Hopkinson, Washington Post