Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Life Itself, Daniel Ross Goodman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of the movie "Life Itself" (2014), Steve James' documentary about the life of film critic Roger Ebert.

Victor And Vanquished: American And German Cinematic Depictions Of Wwii, Rashad Butler

Whittier Scholars Program

This project examines historical films as outlets to teach and inform as well as depict the horrors of war to a mass audience. This study compared American films which tend to focus on individuals to German films which focus on a more collective narrative, both in regards to WWII. This project includes contextual information of World War II as well as strategies used by filmmakers and directors with content portrayal. This project concludes analysis of films such as Monuments Men and Saving Private Ryan to demonstrate use of context, perspective and screenplay.

The Movie Mogul, Moses And Muslims: Islamic Elements In Cecil B. Demille’S The Ten Commandments (1956), Michael D. Calabria Ofm

Journal of Religion & Film

Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 film, The Ten Commandments, has come to define the genre of the biblical epic. It has earned a permanent place in American culture due to its annual airing on television during the Easter and Passover holidays. Most viewers are unaware, however, that DeMille had sought to make a film that would appeal to Jews, Christians and Muslims at a time when their common Abrahamic ancestry had yet to be articulated, and interreligious dialogue was all but unheard of. To this end, Henry Noerdlinger, DeMille’s researcher for the film, consulted the Qur’an, and screenwriters incorporated Islamic …

Documentary As Exorcism: Resisting The Bewitchment Of Colonial Christianity, Michael Broyles

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Documentary as Exorcism: Resisting the Bewitchment of Colonial Christianity by Robert Beckford.

Der Skandinavische Horrorfilm. Kultur- Und Ästhetikgeschichtliche Perspektiven (The Scandinavian Horror Film. Cultural Historical And Aesthetical Historical Perspectives), Christiane Königstedt

Journal of Religion & Film

In this book review I discuss a recently published anthology on "The Scandinavian Horror film". The authors are well aware that the existence of this genre is not to be taken for granted, and instead ponder films by directors ranging from Carl T. Dreyer, Ingmar Bergman to Lars von Trier and beyond, who in their work dealt with horrorful sensations in the past 120 years. Focussing especially on the sources and means of the horror sensation, the anthology investigates the characteristics and common features of the films in discussion, as well as their US-American adaptations.

An Evil Threat To Marriage, Children And The Future: Queer Theory, "The Passion Of The Christ," And Evangelical Political Rhetoric, Richard Wolff

Journal of Religion & Film

This article employs queer theory to analyze Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ (2004) for its portrayal of queer characters (Satan and Herod) in contrast with non-queer (Pilate and Claudia, Seraphia, Simon the Cyrene, and Mary, Christ’s mother), and how it depicts the former as evil and the latter as good. In particular, these contrasts involve self-indulgent or predatory sexual expression versus a healthy marital relationship, and evil versus loving influences over children, who represent hope for the future. Finally, the article looks at the film’s heavy marketing to American evangelicals and how the symbolic representations in the …

Personal Identity And Angelic Touch In Wim Wenders' Wings Of Desire, Chris Venner

Journal of Religion & Film

Wenders' Wings of Desire offers a rich tapestry for theorists of personal identity and its relationship to the Other. Set in a Berlin where angels walk among humans, it depicts those angels reorienting humans' lives with but a touch. Martin Heidegger and Gilles Deleuze also theorize the Other's touch as central to any change in the self. Bringing Wenders' film into dialogue with their theories offers new insights into the film's central question, “Why am I me and not you?”

The Binding Of Abraham: Inverting The Akedah In Fail-Safe And Wargames, Hunter B. Dukes

Journal of Religion & Film

This article draws upon Søren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling and Jacques Derrida's The Gift of Death to trace how two exemplars of atomic bomb cinema reinterpret the Binding of Isaac (Akedah). Released during the twin peaks of Cold War tension, Fail-Safe (1964) and WarGames (1983) invert the Akedah of Genesis 22. In both films, an act of sacrificial patricide accompanies or replaces the sacrifice of an Isaac-like son. When viewed in the context of Cold War cultural politics—events such as Norman Morrison’s Abrahamic self-immolation and Kent State’s rejection of George Segal’s sacrificial memorial— the inverted Akedah emerges as …

Undoing The Claim Of Objectivity: Contradictions At The Heart Of Bergtji Van Der Haak, Saudi Solutions (2005), Anisa Saeed Mohammed Nasser

Journal of Religion & Film

This paper is a study of Bergtji van der Haak, Saudi Solutions (2005). It attempts to question Bergtji van der Haak’s claim of “objective” depiction of Saudi women’s “reality,” as well as the claim of portraying Saudi women through their perspectives as stated in the opening scene. The premise is that the editing strives to undercut the very views of the women that the film is claiming to present, and in the process it duplicates some of the very mechanisms of oppression that the film is denouncing. The documentary’s attempt at ‘subalternizing’ and diminishing Saudi women discloses the subjectivity of …

Iranian Women, Iranian Cinema: Negotiating With Ideology And Tradition, Najmeh Moradiyan Rizi

Journal of Religion & Film

Throughout the ruptures of Iran’s history, Iranian women have been at the core of any social and political changes and challenges. In this historical context, Iranian women’s body, sexuality, and individuality have been confined within the constitution of religion and tradition. In recent years, however, the new generation of Iranian women is negotiating the notions of femininity, sexuality, and modernity in Iran’s society. Along with this negotiation, Iranian cinema, as the visual showcase of Iranian culture and society, has recently represented an unprecedented portrayal of Iranian women on the screen. This portrayal stems from the gender consciousness of Iranian women …

Student Film Festival Media Release, Susan Werner

Playbill and Promotion

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Student Film Festival media release

April 2015

Smith Center Box Office - Spring Semester 2015: January 15 To April 25, Box Office

Promotional Materials

Providence College Department of Theatre, Dance & Film

Smith Center Box Office - Spring Semester 2015: January 15 to April 25

Buddhism (The Conversion Of Captain American: Buddhism And Postwar Us Popular Culture), James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

Course Syllabus (Sp15) Coli 214 Literature & Society: "Societies Of Discipline And Control", Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Course description:

Optics is central to the arts of producing human subjects and governing our spatiotemporal deployment of vital forces. Yet, in the transition of societies from industrial to post-industrial modes of production, there seems to have occurred a parallel shift in governmental focus from merely producing and disciplining subjects at the material level to controlling them at the ideological. In this discussion-driven course, we will turn to works of theory and fiction in order to examine the basic tenets of discipline and control and consider the extent to which these social practices diverge and converge in our present era.

Taming The Teesta: Exploring The Holistic Effects Of Hydroelectric Dam Development On The Teesta River Through Documentary Film, Taylor Graham

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since time immemorial, the Lepcha people have called the Himalayan region that makes up the modern state of Sikkim their home and have held sacred the rivers, mountains, and forests that make up the biologically diverse region. Over the past two decades, India’s rapid development has generated a powerful thirst for electricity, and the country has increasingly looked to the cold, powerful rivers thundering from the Himalayas to supply that desired power. Hydroelectric projects have been proposed and implemented throughout the Himalayan region. Nowhere, however, are the dams as numerous or their effects as acutely felt as in India’s northwestern …

Festival De Lasa2015: La Emergencia De Un "Cine Del Otro"--El "Cine Del Otro" En Emergencia, Claudia Ferman

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

Esta edición del Festival evidencia una vez más la vitalidad de la producción audiovisual latinoamericana, así como su estrecha vinculación con las luchas populares en el continente. Sin duda, el potencial de este cine se ha visto multiplicado gracias a la revolución digital, que ha acercado a la gente una tecnología de comunicación de gran flexibilidad y eficacia. El cine comunitario y el cine regional son testimonio de esta estrecha vinculación entre las tecnologías audiovisuales digitales y la producción de un “Cine del Otro”: el cine indígena, el cine de las periferias suburbanas, el cine comunitario son todos ellos expresiones …

"Very Different From Most Other People": Identity Exploration And Development In Queer And Ally Youths In Out Of School Programs And On Social Media, Joan Huang , '15

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This thesis explores what elements of programming at the Attic Youth Center, a LG BTQ youth drop in center in Philadelphia, encourage identity development for both LGTBQ and ally youths. Through interviews and field notes, it argues that the Attic is a unique context for identity development because it not only provides space for youths to explore all elements of their personal and social identities -- not just their gender and sexuality, but more importantly because it equips youths with the skills needed to shape their own space, at the Attic and on social media.

Iran: Beyond The Headlines, Musselman Library

Other Exhibits & Events

Poster with Spring 2015 events for Iran: Beyond the Headlines series.

Iran: Beyond the Headlines is a learning series that includes book discussions, film screenings, and lecture designed to help us move past today's headlines and explore the history, art, culture, and everyday life of Iranians. Series events are scheduled for September 2014 - April 2015. All events are free and open to the public.

"Era(C)Ing The South: Modern Popular Culture Depictions Of Southern History", Bryan Jack

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

There has been significant research on various interpretations of the American South, and the relationship between Southern and American identity. However, there has been little investigation into how modern popular culture depicts and constructs the Southern past and how this shapes Southern identity. This article interrogates the relationship between modern films, race, and Southern history to ask, has the challenge to codified Jim Crow segregation changed filmic portrayals of Southern history? How do these portrayals affect both Southern and American identity? Using race as a lens, the article argues that the end of the Civil Rights Movement has created a …

Place Reimagined, Michelle Unger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This book shows the creative process and final product of my Independent Study Project, conducted in Prague as part of a semester study abroad program. The project started with interviewing four Czech graphic designers who described places in Prague that are especially meaningful to them. After collecting and transcribing their stories related to their places of inspiration, I visited the locations myself and photographed the locations with sensitivity to the details the artists had emphasized as unique to their experience of the place. While at each site, I also photographed elements of the locations that I personally found interesting and …