Film Festival
Religion, Society, and Social Conflict

Fall 1996
Tuesdays, 7-9pm
Larsen Hall 230

Sponsored by the Sociology and Anthropology Department and

Jim Spickard's
Sociology of Religion Class

This festival presents a variety of films exploring the role of religion in the modern world. Cross-cultural and critical, it presents religion in its many guises. We see how religion ties people together--and how it breaks them apart. We see how it can be an escape from the world, and how it can be a means of greater social engagement. Above all, the films lead us beyond our accustomed habits into the lives of others, as they struggle to craft meaning out of chaos.

Each evening showing lasts between 1 and 2 hours. Each film will be followed by audience discussion.

• Sept 17==Religion and Human Meaning
  SEPARATE REALITIES--A peek into the lives of two modern-day religious Americans. One has found meaning and challenge in her life through contemplative prayer in a liberal denomination. Her faith centers on her own inward development and the growth of a sense of self. The second has found his meaning through evangelism and Bible study in a conservative denomination. His faith provides external structure and certainty. The film explores their choices without judgment.
• Sept 24===Religious Ritual
  ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY--Explores the rich symbolism and ritual of the Rumanian Orthodox Church before the fall of the Communist regime. It focuses on the pervasiveness of religion in people's lives, and the role of religion in one Communist country.
• Oct 1===American Evangelicals I
  MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY, Parts 1 & 2--The first two parts of a three-part exploration of American Evangelicalism, both liberal and conservative. Takes us into many different churches, to see a broad range of evangelical religious expression.
• Oct 15===American Evangelicals II
  MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY, Part 3--The third part of last week's series.
  KEEPING THE FAITH--Depicts African-American churches in one midwestern city, with particular focus on one middle-class congregation. Shows the church's role in the community, especially as a source of vitality, activism, and identity.
• Oct 22===Religions of the Marginalized
  BORN AGAIN: LIFE IN A FUNDAMENTALIST CHURCH--A sensitive documentary portraying the worldview and daily life of a fundamentalist church in Massachusetts. Shows the appeal of this kind of religion to certain types of people. Includes footage of several intra-church struggles.
  ZULU ZION--Focuses on the new religions of South Africa under apartheid, emphasizing the importance of dreams, ancestors, and place.
• Oct 29===Religion in Latin America
  ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS--Portrays inroads made into traditionally Catholic Latin American communities by evangelical Protestant preaching through the mass media.
  THANK GOD AND THE REVOLUTION--Shows the role of religion in social change in Nicaragua during the Sandinista era. Includes material on Liberation Theology, base Christian communities, and interviews with people from rural villagers to cabinet officials.
• Nov 5===Religion and Social Conflict
  BATTLE FOR THE BIBLE--Explores the conflicts between moderates and conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention, especially those centered around the question of enforced denominational orthodoxy.
  SHRINE UNDER SIEGE--A history of the increasingly violent clashes over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Holy to both Jews and Moslems, it has also attracted the attention of American fundamentalists who believe that they can hasten Christ's second coming by giving money to rebuilt the Temple on a site now occupied by one of Islam's holiest shrines.
• Nov 12===Religion and Public Policy
  SANCTUARY--Examines the 1980s Sanctuary Movement, which engaged in civil disobedience to Immigration Service regulations by giving assistance to refugees from political oppression in Central America.
  HOLY TERROR--Portrays the religious legitimation of the New Right, especially anti-abortion activists.
• Nov 19===Religion and Social Activism
  ROMERO--A feature film portraying the life and martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. Stars Raul Julia.

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