CE-COLGM 2060 - Faith on Film Pt 2

Leader: Will Costanzo, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of English and Film Many of our views and values were forged in the traditions of the world’s great faiths. We will continue to explore three major religions, Catholicism, Islam, and Hinduism, through the lens of cinema. Interactive discussions will be held via Zoom each week, after participants have viewed films on their own before the class. Program notes will be provided for each session. The Wonder (Ireland, 2022) Set in Ireland after the Great Famine, Sebastián Lelio’s adaptation of a novel by Emma Donoghue follows an English nurse hired to observe a pious young girl who seems to be living for months without food. Should the child be canonized as a saint or denounced as a fraud? 108 minutes. Available on Netflix. (If you do not subscribe to the service, there is a rental fee.) My Son the Fanatic (England, 1997) Based on a short story by Hanif, this film focuses on a hard-working Pakistani-born taxi driver (Om Puri) who has made a comfortable life for his family as a secular Muslim in England. That life, and much else, is upturned when his son converts to fundamentalist Islam. 87 minutes. Available on Amazon Prime; DVD available at Westchester Library System. Sita Sings the Blues (US, 2008) The Ramayana, one of India’s two foundational texts, is a timeless repository of Hindu values and ideals. Nina Paley’s animated film takes a slice of the 24,000-couplet epic poem about the god Rama and his wife Sita and presents it as a kind of musical romantic comedy, reimagining the characters as shadow puppets and reinterpreting the narrative from a modern woman’s point of view. 82 minutes. DVD available at WLS; or stream for free on the Kanopy application through WLS. You can sign up online for Kanopy with a WLS library card.

Location Valhalla