Woven together from home movies, video, documents, contemporary interviews and vérité footage, Memories of a Penitent Heart recounts the amazing story of Miguel Dieppa, a Puerto Rican actor who succumbed to AIDS in the early stages of the epidemic, his lover of 12 years (now a Franciscan monk), and Dieppa’s family, all told by his niece, director Cecilia Aldarondo. The filmmaker-turned-detective herself is changed by the discoveries of familial secrets, and her movie turns into a funny yet heart-wrenching exploration of love, repentance, religion and forgiveness.