Filmmaking as spiritual practice and ministry

Cross Currents, Spring, 2004 by Macky Alston

The Drums of Winter (Uksuum Cauyai) (1988)

Directors: Sarah Elder and Leonard Kamerling

90 minutes

This quietly beautiful film explores the traditional movement, music, and religion of the Yupik Eskimo people of Emmonak, a remote village at the mouth of the Yukon River on the Bering Sea coast. A rare dance language lies at the heart of Yupik Eskimo spiritual and social life; The Drums of Winter gives an intimate look at this art, of which most have never caught a glimpse. This film offers an exquisite representation of the resilience of an indigenous people and their religious practice in the face of over a hundred years of colonialism and westernization.

Essene (1972)

Director: Frederick Wiseman

86 minutes

Essene starkly and exactingly documents daily life in a Benedictine monastery as its members attempt to resolve the inevitable conflicts between personal needs and the institutional and organizational priorities of the community. Essene is a masterful documentary made by one of the great filmmakers of our time. It offers a beautiful and rare window into a cloistered religious community in which its members have vowed to share their resources and commit their lives to service and faith.

Hiding and Seeking: Faith and Tolerance (2004)

Director: Oren Rudasvky and Menachem Daum

85 minutes

Hiding and Seeking tells the story of a father who tries to awaken his adult Orthodox Jewish sons to the dangers posed by religious leaders who preach intolerance of the "other" and encourage the creation of impenetrable barriers between "us" and "them." To broaden their insular views, the father takes his sons on a highly charged journey to Poland to meet the Catholic farmers who risked their lives to hide the sons' grandfather during the Holocaust. Hiding and Seeking is noteworthy for its daring exploration of the complex dynamics of survival and resistance, hatred, forgiveness and healing.

Investigation of a Flame: A Documentary Portrait of the Catonsville Nine (2001)

Director: Lynne Sachs

45 minutes

Investigation of a Flame is an intimate look at a ragtag band of religious activists--the Catonsville Nine, which included the renowned brothers, Fathers Phillip and Daniel Berrigan--who, in a poetic act of civil disobedience against the Vietnam War, incinerated service records. The film explores this protest in the context of today's times in which foes of Middle East peace agreements, abortion and technology resort to violence to access the public imagination. Investigation of a Flame artfully examines how religious conviction can lead even the most unlikely citizens to radical action.

King of the Jews (2000)

Director: Jay Rosenblatt

18 minutes

Utilizing Hollywood movies, 1950's educational films, personal home movies and religious films spanning the history of cinema, Jay Rosenblatt, a Jew growing up in a largely Christian community and culture, depicts with humor and pathos his childhood fear of Jesus Christ. King of the Jews is exceptional for its powerful depiction of childhood religious and identity formation, its intriguing look at Christian anti-Semitism in the US, and its creative expression of the universal need for forgiveness and healing.