«Πίστη και Κινηματογράφος»

Η τρέχουσα κρίση της πανδημίας του κορωνοϊού έχει επηρεάσει τις διάφορες πλευρές δράσης της ζωής όλων των ανθρώπων και των οργανισμών. Ένας τέτοιος σημαντικός εκπαιδευτικός οργανισμός είναι το Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, που έχει έδρα το ονομαστό Κέϊμπριτζ. Η Διοίκηση του Ινστιτούτου ανακοίνωσε τα ακόλουθα:

We are pleased to announce that this year’s series of Conversation Days (our series of public lectures, now in their third year) has been rescheduled and will now take place online, via the Zoom platform. As announced previously, the theme of this year’s series is ‘Faith and Film’.

We have decided to explore this topic because, in our fast-moving consumerist culture, film continues to hold a special place as a potent and far-reaching medium. As an art form, cinema captures the deeply human fascination with meaningful narrative, hence its enormous potential to influence how ideas are shaped and transmitted in the socio-cultural milieu. This is particularly the case when cinema creates space for theological exploration. As means of discreet dissemination of theological or religious narrative, certain films can be seen as the modern-day equivalent of parables.

This will become obvious, we hope, in the selection of films and genres we will explore during our three Conversation Days:

5 June 2020: ‘Intersections between science-fiction & theology’. The two featured speakers and their explored themes for the day are: Prof Rowland Wymer (Anglia Ruskin University) – ‘Science Fiction and Religion’ and Dr Razvan Porumb (Vice-Principal IOCS) – ‘Being human: theological insights in Blade Runner‘.

19 June 2020: Our special guest will be Sister Vassa Larin (from the popular series of podcasts Coffee with Sister Vassa) who will be speaking on Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino. (The second speaker for the day will be confirmed shortly).

3 July 2020: ‘Beauty, Love and Sacrifice. The Cinematic Mediation of Transcendence in Tarkovsky's Films’. The two speakers are: Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy (Author, Screenwriter) – ‘Faith and Folly in Tarkovsky’s Stalker’ and Dr Christoph Schneider (Academic Director IOCS) – ‘Sacramental Science and Conjugal Love in Tarkovsky’s Solaris’.

As seen above, the format of a Conversation Day is centred on two speakers for each occasion – preferably from different but related Christian traditions or research backgrounds – who each deliver a presentation. The schedule of each Conversation Days will be:

6.30 pm – 7.30 pm:  First presentation, response and Q&A

7.45 pm – 8.45 pm: Second presentation, response and Q&A

Please contact us if you wish to be sent a Zoom link prior to these events: info@iocs.cam.ac.uk