Film Studies Librarian
Lucinda M. Hall
Contact:
Evans Map Room, Baker-Berry Library
Dartmouth College
25 N Main ST
Hanover, NH 03755
Dartmouth College
25 N Main ST
Hanover, NH 03755
(603) 646-0962
Website Skype Contact: d1128r8@kiewit.dartmouth.edu
Other library resource(s)
Religion and film from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286In 1911 one of the earliest documents examining the nature and function of cinema came from the Reverend Herbert A. Jump of Connecticut, a pamphlet entitled The Religious Possibilities of the Motion Picture. His thoughtful reflections on the novel medium envisioned a fertile marriage between the moving pictures and the church, leading to revival and reform.
Internet resource(s)
- 10 great films about Christianity from BFI
As a severely asthmatic child, there were two places where a young Martin Scorsese was able to find a true sense of peace and respite: the church and the cinema. At first, the connection between these two places might seem somewhat tendentious but, as Scorsese has said, both are spaces where people come together to share a common experience: for cinema, too, is a ritualised act of faith in which one surrenders oneself to the impossible. ... - 100 religious films of all time from IMDbThe list is captured from the Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo; then you may make use of good IMDB tools for your desired watch list. ...
- Religion News ServiceThe Religion News Service aims to be the largest single source of news about religion, spirituality and ideas. They strive to inform, illuminate and inspire public discourse on matters relating to belief and convictions.
Keeping up with Film Studies journal literature
Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Film Studies? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's, you can download and read the articles you want from the journals for which we have subscriptions.
You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's also available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.
A quick definition for religion and film
The organized belief in and worship of a god or gods. Work on religion and film has formed part of the discussion of canonical films such as Det sjunde inseglet/The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1957) and La passion de Jeanne d’Arc/The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, France, 1928) (see canon) and the work of filmmakers such as Robert Bresson, Roberto Rossellini, and Andrei Tarkovsky, whose work is said to display a strong spiritual dimension. However, unlike film studies work on gender, social class, race, and sexuality, this scholarship has not cohered into a discrete approach. Instead, a broad range of work has been produced on the relation between religion and film, often by scholars or theologians in religious studies with affiliations to particular religions and in cultural studies.
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). Religion. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. : Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 Dec. 2020
Finding library resources for religious films
- buddhism in motion picturesThe call number range is PN 1995.9 .B795 on Baker Level 4.
Introductory reading(s)
Celluloid saints: images of sanctity in film by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .R4 S345 2002ISBN: 9780865547759Celluloid Saints looks at fundamental issues in the lives of saints and explores them in ways that are complex and nuanced, yet accessible. Topics such as martyrdom, miracles, evangelism, asceticism, saints in the Holocaust, and saintly mental illness have found diverse treatments in film. This book examines that diversity and explains some of the reasons for it. ...
Cinema and sentiment: film's challenge to theology by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .R4 M37 2004ISBN: 9781842272749An examination of the contemporary theological significance of film-watching. What do films do to people? What do people do with films? All film-watching happens within a cultural context. Cinema and Sentiment critically examines the practice of film-watching in Western culture. Exploring cinema-going as leisure activity and by comparing film-watching with worship, Clive Marsh demonstrates aspects of the religious function of film-watching. ...
Explorations in theology and film: movies and meaning by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.5 .E96 1998ISBN: 9780631203551Explorations in Theology and Film brings together theologians, biblical scholars, film and media specialists, and experts in language and literature to consider the potential of films contribution to contemporary Christian theological discussion. The main focus of the book is on the creative conversation between film and theology in the contemporary West, and it raises crucial questions about the interaction between theology and culture. ...
Film as cultural artifact: religious criticism of world cinema by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781506421698Film is popularly described as a mirror of culture. It plays a pivotal role in facilitating intercultural dialogue in our global village. World cinema helps us understand and appreciate each others cultural identity, and promotes harmony across different cultures in our pluralistic society. It introduces us to the life of the other in an entertaining yet engaging fashion, creating cultural bridges that foster a sense of unity in the midst of our diversity. This book argues that cultural anthropology and theology offer two distinct, yet intrinsically connected theoretical frameworks to formulate a more holistic reading of religion from world cinema. ...
Luminous: the spiritual life on film by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN1995.9.R4 K56 2014ISBN: 9780786476428This book is a comprehensive survey of religion and spirituality on film. It explores different aspects of the spiritual life as projected in more than 400 movies. Film settings embrace all of the major faiths, smaller religious groupings, the New Age, and even contexts that are in the first instance secular, atheist or anti-religious. A dozen themes have been identified in which to group them. ...
Religion and film: an introduction by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .R4 W75 2007ISBN: 9781850438861From silent films to contemporary blockbusters, religion has always proved a popular theme for the cinema. However, all too often religion and film are discussed from narrowly confessional perspectives, with the result that the field has long been dominated by the question of a film's fidelity to a religious text or worldview, or its value as a tool in ministry and mission. Religion and Film: An Introduction seeks to redress this balance, and argues for a new, holistic approach to the subject that draws on work from cultural studies, religious studies and film studies alike. ...
The Routledge companion to religion and film by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.5 .R68 2009ISBN: 9780415601870The Routledge Companion to Religion and Film brings together a lively and experienced team of contributors to introduce students to the key topics in religion and film and to investigate the ways in which the exciting subject of religion and film is developing for more experienced scholars.
Selected book title(s)
The challenge of the silver screen: an analysis of the cinematic portraits of Jesus, Rama, Buddha and Muhammad by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .R4 B35 2009ISBN: 9789004168619In 1897 only two years after the invention of film the first feature film about Jesus appeared. This and other films about Jesus became examples for and an inspiration for films on other important religious figures like Rama, Buddha and Muhammad.
Christotainment: selling Jesus through popular culture by Call Number: Baker-Berry BR 526 .C468 2009ISBN: 9780813344058For more than two thousand years Christian expansion and proselytizing was couched in terms of 'defending the faith'. Until recently in the United States, much of that defense came in the form of reactions against the 'liberal' influences channeled through big-corporate media such as popular music, Hollywood movies, and network and cable television. But the election of Ronald Reagan as a Hollywood President introduced Christian America to the tools of advertising and multimedia appeals to children and youth to win new believers to God's armies. Christotainment examines how Christian fundamentalism has realigned its armies to combat threats against it by employing the forces it once considered its chief enemies: the entertainment media, including movies, television, music, cartoons, theme parks, video games, and books. ...- Devotional cinema byCall Number: Please check catalogISBN: 9781931157124Devotional Cinema offers an exploration into the language of film, reprised from a lecture on religion and cinema delivered at Princeton University. The new edition includes additions and changes related to the author's understanding of Carl Theodor Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc as well as other smaller clarifications. ...
Divine film comedies: biblical narratives, film sub-genres, and the comic spirit by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .R4 L555 2016ISBN: 9781138956131Divine Film Comedies creates a meaningful dialogue between stories in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament and comedies spanning the history of film. The text lies at the intersection of three disciplines: humor/comedy studies, film studies, and theology. Drawing on films from the silent era to the 21st century, the book highlights parallels between comedic sub-genres and sacred narratives, parables, and proverbs, illuminating a path to seeing and understanding both Scripture and film through a comic lens. ...
Religion and film: cinema and the re-creation of the world by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.5 .P53 2017ISBN: 9780231176743Religion and cinema share a capacity for world making, ritualizing, mythologizing, and creating sacred time and space. Through cinematography, mise-en-scène, editing, and other production activities, film takes the world "out there" and refashions it. Religion achieves similar ends by setting apart particular objects and periods of time, telling stories, and gathering people together for communal actions and concentrated focus. The result of both cinema and religious practice is a re-created world: a world of fantasy, a world of ideology, a world we long to live in, or a world we wish to avoid at all costs. Religion and Film introduces readers to both religious studies and film studies by focusing on the formal similarities between cinema and religious practices and on the ways they each re-create the world. ...
Wicked cinema: sex and religion on screen by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780292754720From struggles over identity politics in the 1990s to current concerns about a clash of civilizations between Islam and Christianity, culture wars play a prominent role in the twenty-first century. Movies help to define and drive these conflicts by both reflecting and shaping cultural norms, as well as showing what violates those norms. In this path finding book, Daniel S. Cutrara employs queer theory, cultural studies, theological studies, and film studies to investigate how cinema represents and often denigrates religion and religious believers--an issue that has received little attention in film studies, despite the fact that faith in its varied manifestations is at the heart of so many cultural conflicts today. ...
Finding journal articles & titles
Articles and other writings about religious films can be found in many publications. We have an open access journal looks exclusively at religion and film. However, you can use Film & Television Literature Index or ATLA Religion Database to find other, relevant articles.
The journal of religion and film: JR & FCall Number: Electronic journalThe Journal of Religion & Film is a peer reviewed journal which is committed to the study of connections between the medium of film and the phenomena of religion, however those are defined. We encourage multiple approaches to the study of religion and film, including (but not limited to) the analysis of how religious traditions are portrayed in films; exploration of the religious concepts that may be found or utilized in the interpretation of films; ...
Film & television literature index by Call Number: Electronic resourceUse this index to find articles about this genre.- ATLA Religion DatabaseCall Number: Electronic resourceThis is a searchable database of citations to journal articles, essays in multi-author works, and book reviews in the fields of religious and theological studies. Journals representing all the major religious faiths, major denominations, and numerous language groups are included.
Selected film titles
Find more religious films in the library's collections.
Father of lights by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #17893In this explosive documentary, filmmaker Darren Wilson attempts to do the impossible: film God and understand His character. Along the way, Darren and his team encounter powerful witch doctors, violent gang leaders, Hindu holy men, and everyday people with extraordinary experiences to tell. Father of Lights attempts to tear away much of the bad press the Almighty has received over the years and reveals a God who is far better than anyone could have possibly imagined.
The nun's story by Call Number: Jones DVD #4273ISBN: 9781419818622Audrey Hepburn portrays a nun whose life journey takes her from the staff of a mental asylum to a surgical nurse in the Belgian Congo. She returns to Belgium as WWII breaks out and is torn between the needs of the Resistance and the church's neutrality.
The passion of the Christ by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #Concerns the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In the Garden of Gethsemane near the Mount of Olives, Jesus is betrayed by Judas Iscariot. Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy and brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, for sentencing. The roaring crowd demands his death, so Pilate orders his crucifixion. Jesus is severely beaten and made to carry his cross up to Golgotha, the hill outside Jerusalem, where he is nailed to the cross. With his mother looking on, he dies.
The silent holy stones by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #16941Made on location in a village in the Amdo region, the film follows a young lama assigned for Tibetan New Year to attend to the seven year old Living Buddha (tulku) of a mountain monastery. The young lamas try to balance their strict training with explorations of the outside world through the novelty of television, and make some surprising choices.
Simón del desierto = Simon of the desert by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8148ISBN: 9781604651188In order to prove he is devoted to God, a 4th century saint stays on the top of a pillar for over six years while he is tempted by the devil in the form of a beautiful woman.
Ḥufshat ḳayits = My father my lord by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #9520A woman is caught in the middle of the struggle between her husband, a respected rabbi, and her son, who is questioning his religion. A holiday meant to help the family reconnect is brought to a dramatic and tragic climax.
