A new documentary about the lives of Cistercian cloistered nuns in Southern Arizona’s Santa Rita Abbey will have its state debut at the Fox Theatre on Sunday.

“Final Vows” was directed by Victoria Westover, who is a film programmer and producer, as well as the co-director of Cinema Tucson. It was produced by Susan Slonaker and Sande Zeig.

Westover and her team spent four and a half years filming at the Santa Rita Abbey, which is located in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains, near Sonoita south of Tucson.

“Final Vows” is her directorial debut. Previously, she produced a documentary titled “Apache 8,” which was released on 2011 and premiered at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian. “Final Vows”first premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in February 2024.

“I don’t even know why I chose nuns for the documentary,” Westover said. “But I was raised Catholic and I rejected it as a tween. But I got educated by nuns and I thought they were so mysterious.”

Considering Westover’s religious upbringing and her rejection of the faith, she said she didn’t understand “the Call” that led to women taking their vows and habit and beginning a life dedicated to God.

“That’s something that appears in the documentary,” Westover said. “They talk about ‘The Call’ and I don’t understand the ‘Call’. So, this documentary is really about the stories of these women.”

Cloistered nuns spend their time primarily in the convent, where they meditate, work and pray. Some of them choose how cloistered they wish to live. Meanwhile, active nuns have jobs outside of the convent and engage with the community differently from the cloistered nuns.

“I didn’t think the documentary would be possible,” Westover said. “They only agreed to being filmed as long as it was authentic. They were willing to give it a try.”

Westover went to the abbey with her cinematographer Jonathan Van Ballenberghe and sound recordist Eren Isabella McGinnis to film for four years and a half. The key was building trust with the Santa Rita nuns, as they had a poor experience with media prior to the documentary.

“We showed them what we were filming, which a lot of documentary makers would say ‘No, don’t ever show them your recordings’,” Westover said. “But the way I saw it, these women were giving me their faces and their stories. We showed them what we were filming and that helped build trust. And a genuine friendship was developed.”

The documentary shows moments of their daily lives such as their times of prayer and reflection, their joys and concerns. One of the concerns the nuns face are the diminishing numbers of young women joining the order.

“Three nuns have died since we finished filming,” Westover said. “But they appear in the documentary and you can see them there.”

They captured the challenges of living in community with other women, who become family at the time of their oaths.

“They have to support themselves. I assumed the Catholic church supported them but no, they have to financially support themselves,” Westover said. “It’s like a commune. But these women — they’re businesswomen.”

The nuns are able to do so by baking and selling altar bread, which they make within the abbey walls. Westover said the contemplative life of the cloistered sisters was busier than she anticipated.

“I was so sad when we finished filming and they told me, before we left, that I was their sister and that my camera man was their brother,” Westover said.

“Final Vows” will be screened at the Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St., on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 2 p.m., and it will be followed by a Q & A with two of the sisters featured in the documentary: Pamela Fletcher and Abbess Victoria Murray. General admission is $10.