Would you like to discover a new world of movies that expands your mind, warms your heart, and stirs you soul? If so, this book is sure to become a valuable resource for you.

Spiritual themes are common in movies: The unconventional savior. The hero’s journey. The redemption tale. The balance of creation. Journalist John A. Zukowski reflects on twelve major spiritual themes in the world of cinema, discussing films from Dead Man Walking to Bruce Almighty, from Groundhog Day to Chariots of Fire, and many more. See them all—read them all—before you die!

For decades, centuries even, when people thought of spirituality, they thought only of religion. I aim to stretch the tent of spirituality in this e-book to include secular experience. My particular approach to secular spirituality is through the medium of film. Characters in the 43 films I discuss come to spirituality without religion. In some of these films, religion nibbles at the edges of events, as when, in the Brazilian film Central Station, Dora, the cynical letter writer, leaves hard-bitten Rio with a boy she hopes to return to his father and finds herself surrounded by evangelicals, shrines, and churches. She does not have any kind of religious conversion, but there is no denying that the piety of the countryside softened her and escorted her into spirituality. Now and then I quote assorted Buddhists, Muslims, Christians and Jews, but usually only when their remarks throw light on secular matters. I have avoided relying on muddled mystics who write about the Great Turning Cosmic Oneness of Everything. I dont know what they are talking about.

For decades, centuries even, when people thought of spirituality, they thought only of religion. I aim to stretch the tent of spirituality in this e-book to include secular experience. My particular approach to secular spirituality is through the medium of film. Characters in the 43 films I discuss come to spirituality without religion. In some of these films, religion nibbles at the edges of events, as when, in the Brazilian film Central Station, Dora, the cynical letter writer leaves hard-bitten Rio with a boy she hopes to return to his father and finds herself surrounded by evangelicals, shrines, and churches. She does not have any kind of religious conversion, but there is no denying that the piety of the countryside softened her and escorted her into spirituality. Now and then I quote assorted Buddhists, Muslims, Christians and Jews, but usually only when their remarks throw light on secular matters. I have avoided relying on muddled mystics who write about the Great Turning Cosmic Oneness of Everything. I dont know what they are talking about.

Watching a movie is more than an opportunity to be entertained. Watching a movie is an opportunity to meet with God. In a few brief chapters, How to Talk to a Movie will forever change the way you watch movies by opening your eyes and ears to what movies are saying, how they are saying it, and how God might be speaking to you through them.

This book examines transformations in the production and domestic and international reception of Iranian cinema between 2000 and 2013 through the intersection of the political markers – the presidential terms of Reformist president Mohammad Khatami and his successor, the conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – and filmic markers, particularly Jafar Panahi’s The Circle (2000) and Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly (2009). Through extensive field and media research, the book considers the interaction of a range of factors including government policy, Iranian national cinema genres and categories, intended audience, funding source, and domestic and international reception, to demonstrate the interplay between filmmakers and the government over these two successive presidencies. While the impact of politics on Iranian filmmaking has been widely examined, this work argues for a more nuanced understanding of politics in and of the Iranian cinema than has generally been previously acknowledged. Drawing on both personal experience as a juror at the Fajr International Film festival and interviews with significant filmmakers, producers, actors and other industry insiders, including senior bureaucrats and politicians, the volume is a key resource for anyone interested in politics and Iranian cinema.

Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema, Volume II continues the work presented in the first volume of this title, published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in 2008. It provides informed yet accessible articles that will give readers an introduction to masters of world cinema whose works explore the themes of human spirituality and religious faith. Volume II contains essays dealing with canonical directors notably absent from the first entry of the series (such as Godard and Kurosawa) while also including examinations of contemporary auteurs who are still actively working (for example, Andersson, and von Trier). While retaining a truly international emphasis—it includes essays about directors from the United States, Canada, Iran, Sweden, India, Denmark, Italy, Mexico, Australia, and Japan—Volume II also acts as an important contribution to canon formation, illustrating the complexity and variety in the films of those who are truly the masters of world cinema. Built solidly around close, formal readings of selective films, the essays in Volume II also demonstrate familiarity with film history and bring insight from such varied disciplines as New Testament Studies, Clinical Psychology, Art History, and Medieval History. It also seeks to broaden the understanding of ‘faith’ and ‘spirituality,’ examining how the meaning of such terms changes as the cultures that produce the art that defines them continues to evolve.