ABSTRACT

Forging an open-minded but reasoned dialogue between nine acclaimed titles of world cinema, and a range of theological perspectives that touch on the theme of human experience, World Cinema, Theology, and the Human offers fresh portals of insight for the interdisciplinary area of Theology and Film. In Sison’s approach, it is the cinematic representation of vivid humanity, not necessarily propositional statements about God and religion, that lays down a bridge to a conversation with theology. Thus, the book’s project is to look for the divine presence, written not on tablets of stone, but on "tablets of human hearts" depicted on screen by way of audiovisual language. Seeking to redress the interdiscipline’s narrow predilection for Hollywood blockbusters, the book casts its net wider to include a culturally diverse selection of case studies– from festival gems such as Singapore’s Be With Me and South Africa’s Yesterday, to widely-acclaimed sleeper hits such as Britain’s Slumdog Millionaire and New Zealand’s Whale Rider. The book will appeal to scholars of theology and religious/cultural studies interested in the Theology/Religion-Film interface, and, because of its commitment to an examination of film qua film, a crossover readership from film studies.

chapter |11 pages

Introduction

part |24 pages

Creative Humanity

chapter |12 pages

Dance of the Humanum

Billy Elliot

chapter |10 pages

To Taste and See Heaven's Love

Be with Me

part |28 pages

Reconciling Humanity

chapter |15 pages

A Way to Be Good Again

Kite Runner

part |41 pages

Liberating Humanity

chapter |21 pages

Playing For Life

Lagaan, Slumdog Millionaire

chapter |18 pages

Wheels of Change

Motorcycle Diaries

part |32 pages

Inclusive Humanity

chapter |12 pages

She Who Is Three in One

Yesterday

chapter |18 pages

Christ-Figure on the Back of a Whale

Whale Rider