World Cinema, Theology, and the Human

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.

Antonio D. Sison, C.PP.S., Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. He is the author of Screening Schillebeeckx: Theology and Third Cinema in Dialogue (2006) and a contributor to Routledge Companion to Religion and Film (Routledge, 2009). He is also an independent digital filmmaker.

Introduction Part I: Creative Humanity 1. Dance Of the Humanum: Billy Elliot 2. To Taste and See Heaven's Love: Be with Me Part II: Reconciling Humanity 3. Measuring Forgiveness: The Son 4. A Way To Be Good Again: Kite Runner Part III: Liberating Humanity 5. Playing For Life: Lagaan, Slumdog Millionaire 6. Wheels Of Change: Motorcycle Diaries Part IV: Inclusive Humanity 7. She Who is Three in One: Yesterday 8. Christ-Figure on the Back of a Whale: Whale Rider Filmography Bibliography Index