Digital Commons Network^™

A Thousand And One, Christopher R. Deacy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of A Thousand and One (2023), directed by A.V. Rockwell.

You Hurt My Feelings, Christopher R. Deacy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of You Hurt My Feelings (2023), directed by Nicole Holofcener.

Bad Behaviour, Christopher R. Deacy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Bad Behaviour (2023), directed by Alice Englert.

Cat Person, Christopher R. Deacy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Cat Person (2023), directed by Susanna Fogel.

Hierophany, Brady Desanti

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Hierophany (2023), directed by Maria Nitek.

Hot Dog!, Brady Desanti

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Hot Dog! (2023), directed by Frank Volk.

Sorcery, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Sorcery (2023), directed by Christopher Murray.

The Persian Version, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of The Persian Version (2023), directed by Maryam Keshavarz.

Joonam, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Joonam (2023), directed by Sierra Urich.

Other People's Children, Christopher R. Deacy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Other People's Children (2022), directed by Rebecca Zlotowski.

Fair Play, Christopher R. Deacy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Fair Play (2023), directed by Chloe Domont.

Fremont, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Fremont (2023), directed by Babak Jalali.

To Live And Die And Live, Christopher R. Deacy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of To Live and Die and Live (2023), directed by Qasim Basir.

Birth/Rebirth, Christopher R. Deacy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of birth/rebirth (2023), directed by Laura Moss.

Animalia, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Animalia (2023), directed by Sofia Alaoui.

Biblical Boogeymen, Holy Ghosts, And The New Demonology: A Review Of Three Recent Books On Religion And Horror, Brian Collins

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review essay on three books: Brandon R. Grafius, Reading the Bible with Horror (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019); Brandon R. Grafius and John Morehead, eds., Theology and Horror: Explorations of the Dark Religious Imagination (Fortress Academic/Lexington, 2021); and Steve A. Wiggins, Nightmares with the Bible: The Good Book and Cinematic Demons (Fortress Academic/Lexington, 2020).

Refocus: The Films Of Andrei Tarkovsky, Rebecca Ver Straten-Mcsparran

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Sergei Toymentsev, ed., ReFocus: The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky (Edinburgh University Press, 2021).

Religion And Film: The Basics, Sofia Sjö

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Religion and Film: The Basics (Routledge, 2021).

Teaching Asian Religions Through Film: Response And Reflections, Robin Rinehart

Journal of Religion & Film

This article presents reflections on Chien’s, Richey’s, and Mixon’s articles on the benefits of using film as a component of courses about Asian religions. I first explore how incorporating film can help meet the goals that instructors set as part of their course planning, and then shift to analysis of the various pedagogical strategies Chien, Richey, and Mixon employ, highlighting how the techniques that they use for East Asian religions and Islam can be valuable in teaching about other Asian religions as well.

This paper was part of a panel on “Teaching Asian Religions Through Film” presented at the Association …

The Riz Test: Teaching Against Islamophobia Through Film, Candace Mixon

Journal of Religion & Film

This paper offers a concrete tool for teaching against Islamophobia using a film assignment and “the Riz Test.” In four parts, it briefly reviews terminology and literature connected to Islamophobia and Muslimophobia, histories of looking and the power of visual culture, pedagogy and critical viewing habits, the Riz Test, and examples of student engagement and course learning goals met through this assignment. Then, readers can use the concrete tool in their courses and practice critical viewing habits.

This paper was part of a panel on “Teaching Asian Religions Through Film” presented at the Association for Asian Studies conference in Honolulu, …

Using Film To Teach About Compressed Modernity In East Asian Religions, Jeff Richey

Journal of Religion & Film

Teaching about East Asian religions all too often presents them as artifacts of the premodern past. This can encourage students to assume that modernization has rendered the East Asian past, especially religious traditions, obsolete. Teaching with contemporary East Asian films is a way to remedy that oversight, challenge that assumption, and bring students into contact with East Asian religious cultures as living traditions in modern societies. Since contemporary East Asian societies have been shaped by what Chang Kyung-sup calls “compressed modernity” – a process by which “economic, political, social and/or cultural changes occur in an extremely condensed manner in respect …

Employing A Chinese Ghost Story To Teach The Syncretism Of Chinese Religions, Gloria I-Ling Chien

Journal of Religion & Film

Upon its release in 1987, the Hong Kong blockbuster A Chinese Ghost Story resulted in sequels, adaptations, and two remakes in 2011 and 2020. Despite its popularity, only a few critics have noticed its eclectic representations of Chinese religions, nor has there been any evaluation of its pedagogical potential. This article details how the author employs this 1987 work to teach the syncretism of Chinese religions in an undergraduate course “Asian Religions in Film.” By decoding the embedded concepts, the meanings and history behind “the Jade Garland talisman,” the inclusion of the Diamond Sutra for exorcistic efficacy, and the portrayal …

Life In The Multiverse: Bringing Chaos Out Of Order?, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This paper was given as the opening keynote address at the International Conference on Religion and Film at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on June 8, 2022, and is here presented in that form.

My thanks go to those who organized the conference for Vrije Universiteit, notably Professor Johan Roeland and Miranda van Holland.

Turning Red, Micah Dunwoody

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Turning Red (2022) directed by Domee Shi.

New Approaches To Islam In Film, Sophia Rose Arjana

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Kristian Petersen, ed., New Approaches to Islam in Film (New York: Routledge, 2021).

Bollywood Horrors: Religion, Violence And Cinematic Fears In India, Sen Meheli

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Ellen Goldberg, Aditi Sen, and Brian Collins, eds., Bollywood Horrors: Religion, Violence and Cinematic Fears in India (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021).

Refocus: The Films Of Paul Schrader, Elijah Siegler

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Michelle E. Moore and Brian Brems, editors, ReFocus: The Films of Paul Schrader (Edinburgh University Press: 2020).

Religion And Film: Representation, Experience, Meaning, Sérgio Dias Branco

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Stefanie Knauss, Religion and Film: Representation, Experience, Meaning (Brill, 2020).

Maika, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Maika (2022), directed by Ham Tran.

After Yang, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of After Yang (2021), directed by Kogonada.