“The last time I was this entertained by an art documentary was Exit Through the Giftshop featuring none other than Banksy.” — Josiah Teal, FilmThreat.

In this visceral three-year race against time, a talented yet unknown L.A. artist bluffs his way into winning a commission to create the largest stained-glass window of its kind. The problem is he doesn’t know how to make it.

The documentary “Holy Frit,” directed by Justin S. Monroe, takes place in the chaos at Judson Studios, among the artisans who have devoted their lives to stained glass. This includes principal designer Tim Carey, who began as an oil painter. After netting a bid in 2014 to build a stained-glass window as big as a basketball court, Carey invites legendary glass maestro Narcissus Quagliata to the studio for two weeks for a crash course in techniques. One radical method is sprinkling “frit” (finely ground colored glass) across the completed panels. The “frit” fuses with the existing panels, creating painterly impressionistic effects. Everyone is outside their comfort zone.