"The first part of the book is an overview of the history of films which offer substantial images of Mary. They include the films specifically about Mary and her presence in the life of Jesus films [...] In the second part of the book, which has been designed especially as an aid to teachers, eight
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particular focuses on Mary in the Gospels are used as reference points for the Mary Films. For each of these eight focuses, scenes from particular films are described briefly but in some detail so that teachers can pick and choose what they might like to screen and know what features are to the fore in each sequence. At the end of each section, there is a brief overview followed by a listing of the key themes for this focus on Mary’s life. In the third part, there is more detail on the apparition films and in the fourth part more detail on the Marian figures and metaphors." (Introduction)
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"In this chapter, we have looked at how Buddhism and orality have been translated into film in Bhutan. We have argued, that cinema operates as a secondary oral medium, through the various rituals of production, distribution and consumption and, most significantly, at the level of story construction.
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Although Bhutan has a remarkably strong oral legacy, cinema and electronic media have undeniably changed its traditional narrative structure, re-mediating it and, in the process, creating new storytelling forms." (Conclusion, page 170)
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"While acknowledging the contribution of the dominant Hindi Sanskritic narrative tradition to the shaping of popular Hindi cinema, this chapter aims to explore the alternative narrative streams that have governed storytelling in Hindi films, particularly the Perso-Arabic legacy of the qissa and dast
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an that has been erased or marginalised in the construction of national cinema. Through tracing the disruption of the dominant Hindu epic narratives by the Perso-Arabic qissa or dastan, it will show that it is the imbrication of the Perso-Arabic heritage with the Hindu Sanskritic that constructs the syncretic cinematic universe of the Hindi film." (Pages 183-184)
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"It has not been uncommon in the history of Jesus in film for commercial movies of Jesus' life to be conscripted for Christian evangelism around the world. Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927), John Krish and Peter Sykes' Jesus (1979), better known today as The Jesus Film, and Mel Gibson's Th
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e Passion of the Christ (2004) are but three notable examples. Each of those movies, however, was first produced in America for American audiences. In the case of Karunamayudu (1978), a Telugu commercial movie of Jesus' life, the target audience was South Indian viewers raised on a steady diet of mythological and social films and immersed in a pluralistic religious environment unlike any Western society at the time. In this essay I explain how and why this film, with its unique production history, was co-opted by evangelicals for Christian witness in India." (Abstract)
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"The article deals with two recent Iranian films, al-Masih (Teh Messiah) by Nader Talebzadeh and Maryam al-Muqaddasah (Holy Mary) by Shahriar Bahrani. Both movies are about religious characters shared by Islam and Christianity: Zechariah, Mary and Jesus. The article explores the way the filmmakers h
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ave made use of both Islamic and non-Islamic sources to tell their story, and it analyses the stylistic and narrative means they have employed. Are these films contributing to the mutual religious understanding of Christians and Muslims? If so, how? And if not, why not?" (Abstract)
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"One of the ways by which religious rituals communicate in African society is by maintaining cohesion in the culture. They connect participants to richer meanings and larger forces of their community. Even in representational models, rituals create solidarity in the form of subjective experiences of
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sharing the same meaningful world which is attained by participants through the condensed nature of symbols used therein. Traditional religion is one ritual that despite the influence of westernization and scientific developments in Africa, still holds meaningful implications in people’s everyday life. Thus, from day break to evening, people have religious rituals with which they communicate with their God or gods, deities and ancestors. Also from weeks to seasons, months to years, there are festivals and rituals both in private and in public situations which the African still celebrate in connection with the ‘living dead’ or those in the ‘spirit world’. This paper by means of nuanced textual analysis of some Nigerian home based films: Things Fall Apart (1986), Igodo: The Land of the Living Dead (1999), Sango, (1998), Festival of Fire, (1999), Bless Me, (2005) traces religion to the root paradigm of African cultures as a channel to the construction of African identity." (Abstract)
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"Organized alphabetically, this encyclopedia provides more than 90 entries on the larger religious traditions, the major film-producing regions of the globe, the films that have stirred controversy, the most significant religious symbols, and the more important filmmakers. The included topics provid
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e substantially more information on the intersection of religion and film than any of the similar volumes currently available. While the emphasis is on the English-speaking world and the films produced therein, there is also substantial representation of non-English, non-Western film and filmmakers, providing significant intercultural coverage to the topic." (Publisher description)
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"This innovative, interdisciplinary collection of essays by scholars based in Europe and the United States offers stimulating approaches to the role played by religion in present-day South Asia." (Publisher description)
"Die Filmindustrie »ist nur religiös, wenn sie einen Markt dafür sieht. Die produziert nur die Kekse, die auch gegessen werden« (Regisseur Paul Verhoeven). Auch Gott und Religion sind solche »Kekse«! Offenkundig handelt es sich bei Unterhaltungsfilmen mit religiösen Motiven um Produkte, die d
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as große Publikum interessieren. Sie haben den unschätzbaren Vorteil, dass Gott und die Fragen nach dem »greater mystery out there« (Star Wars-Regisseur George Lucas) auf unterhaltsame und verständliche Weise präsentiert werden. Dies macht sich der vorliegende Band zu nutze, indem er die Filme zum Ausgangspunkt nimmt, um zentrale theologische Inhalte aufzubereiten. In der erweiterten und aktualisierten Auflage werden auch neue Filme wie etwa »Illuminati« und »Avatar« theologisch aufgearbeitet." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Rather than being marginal to American popular culture, Catholic people, places, and rituals are all central to the world of the movie. Catholics in the Movies begins with an introductory essay that orients readers to the ways that films appear in culture and describes the broad trends that can be
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seen in the movies' hundred-year history of representing Catholics. Each chapter is written by a noted scholar of American religion who concentrates on one movie engaging important historical, artistic, and religious issues. Each then places the film within American cultural and social history, discusses the film as an expression of Catholic concerns of the period, and relates the film to others of its genre." (Publisher description)
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"Die 300 wichtigsten Spielfilme, Dokumentationen und TV-Movies mit spirituellem Hintergrund, ausführlich vorgestellt und besprochen mit Photos, Filmographie und Bezugsquellen-Hinweisen. Dazu Porträts der wichtigsten deutschen und internationalen Regisseure, Hintergründe der Filmentstehung und Reg
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ister der spirituellen Themen in den besprochenen Filmen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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