The River Film Forum

What is The River Film Forum? from Mikel J. Wisler on Vimeo.

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A Preface in Quotes:

I meet people occasionally who think motion pictures, the product Hollywood makes, is merely entertainment, has nothing to do with education. That’s one of the darndest fool fallacies that is current … Anything that brings you to tears by way of drama does something to the deepest roots of our personality. All movies, good or bad, are educational and Hollywood is the foremost educational institution on earth. What, Hollywood more important than Harvard? The answer is not as clean as Harvard, but nevertheless farther reaching.

 

 - Carl Sandburg[i]

[T]he fact that movies play an increasingly significant role in defining both ourselves and our society seems beyond dispute. Movies broaden our exposure to life and provide alternate readings of life’s meaning and significance. … Even in church, theological discussion is often more likely to happen following a movie than a sermon. Movies cannot be dismissed as mere entertainment and diversion. Rather, they are life stories that both interpret us and are being interpreted by us.

 

- Robert K. Johnston[ii]

                                                           

The first demand any work of any art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way. (There is no good asking first whether the work before you deserves such a surrender, for until you have surrendered you cannot possibly find out.)

 

- C. S. Lewis[iii]

                                                

M. Night Shyamalan offers Signs, in which everything fits together for a reason. Minority Report raises troubling issues about free will and human choice. Bruce Almighty finds God giving Jim Carrey an overwhelming dose of divine responsibility. Mel Gibson cashes in his star power to do a study on Jesus’ last hours in The Passion. Filmgoers are being offered an unprecedented array of ambitious, transcendent cinema. … Both the sparse and the abundant transcendental styles may expect viewers to look closer than they want to on an average Friday night. It is more likely that the next generation of filmgoers will be forced to educate the previous generation of filmgoers on how to watch film.

 

- Craig Detweiler[iv]

                                                
 

The River Film Forum

presents:

Encountering Cinema: An Exploration of Culture, Humanity, Art, and Faith Through Film and Dialogue.

Objective:

We wish to enter into dialogue with the medium of film, seeking to experience film as art, as a conversation between the filmmakers and viewers, and as a means to express that which is at the core of the human condition: the need for redemption. Our purpose is two-fold, to educate followers of Jesus to examine film and its themes, and to invite new perspective and dialogue from those outside the this community, that they may come and watch films with us and enter into dialogue, that together we may experience stories and use this to relate to each other.

Method:

In an attempt to engage films in an intelligent and spiritually sensitive manner, we plan to utilize three different interpretive lenses that will serve as a guide to viewing, discussing, and understanding cinema. It is important to stress that virtually any film can be viewed through these three interpretive lenses, and just because we chose to discuss a film through the perspective one lens gives, it is not wrong to see it simultaneously through the others as well. Often it is helpful.

Interpretive Lenses:

Cinema and Culture:

Film serves as a means to glimpse a culture, or understand what philosophies and cultural influences are affecting our world and local communities through the examination of similar themes and in films. With this lens we will explore topics that inform us about our history, world history, Hollywood culture, and how the Christian subculture in America has succeeded or failed in interacting with culture shaping forces such as Hollywood. Also relevant to this lens are films that clearly address current issues in our society and planet, be they works of fiction, the retelling of a true story, or documentaries. We will screen relevant films, and engage in discussion about the issues raised within or surrounding a film and a specific time, topic, or event.

Example: To discuss McCarthyism we may screen the film Good Night and Good Luck.

Cinematic Worldview:

With this lens we would explore the worldviews being presented through films, and discuss how they differ, reinforce, agree, question, or express the Christian Worldview as well as what other worldviews are being shown or influence filmmakers in America and abroad. All films are made by a person or a group of people, and every person has a perspective on our reality—a worldview. Some films present a worldview or cultural perspective blatantly, others more subtlety. Even the most mass-market driven entertainment movies posses some cultural or worldview perspective. Viewing films is an opportunity to glimpse a different worldview or culture and be able to better relate to people who share such experiences, even if the viewer does not particularly agree with the worldview or cultural dynamic being presented in a particular film.

Example: To discuss current views in our society on the Christian faith we will screen and discuss The Da Vinci Code.

Cinema as Literature:

Cinema is an art form, particularly an experiential art form. Engagement with movies is unlike reading a book or looking at a painting. Films require a sensory immersion into the experience crafted by the filmmaker. Sharing the experience with others provides a common means to appreciate such art as well as being able to discuss the art, the stories, the characters, and themes presented in film, and be exposed to different interpretations and subjective experiences derived from viewing a particular film. With this lens we will approach film as a powerful storytelling medium, and explore the impact and importance of stories on our lives and our culture and how they mirror or differ from the on-going story of our world, both in physical and spiritual reality.

The human condition in art is often a means of addressing the fundamental issues that make us who we are: we are mortal, fallible, mistaken, in need of love, in need of meaning, in need of rescue, in need of overcoming obstacles, in need of redemption. In the opinion of filmmaker and RFF co-founder, Mikel J. Wisler, all story telling can centrally be reduced to the need and opportunity  (wether accepted or denied) for redemption. Viewing films and discussing them is a means to further understand such themes in cinema and to better be able to relate to other’s experiences and their needs for redemption is both the small ways as well as the ultimate redemption found in Christ.

Example: We could screen the film The Village and discuss the literary interpretation of seeing the movie as an allegorical application to the Christian subculture’s tendency to separate itself from society to the point of irrelevance in its effort to flee evil, and how even though one may try to hide from tragedy, the human condition still dictates that sorrow will find us on this earth.

Why Should We Do This?

For a hundred years, cinema has had a significant impact on American and global society, and continuously comments and reflects on the world we live in. Cinema is not going away any time soon. Around the world, film has actively engaged the imaginations of several generations to date. More and more, scholars and laypeople alike see  cinema as the collective wisdom literature of our day.[v]

God has chosen to reveal himself through his Holy Scripture (divine revelation), telling us of His infinite love for us, and guiding us in how to serve and follow Him. But beyond that, God has also revealed himself through nature, humanity, and culture (general revelation). In viewing and discussing films, we are engaging in the dialogue between divine and general revelation, and learning more about who we are and how God chooses to move through the currents of our societies, arts, and academics.

It is important to keep in mind that sharing in leisure activities with other people is a good thing in-and-of-itself. It provides us with pause and opportunity to laugh, thrill, cry, and reflect. Sharing this with others opens means of communication about much more than just a particular film, but about why we connect with certain characters, with certain struggles, and why we laugh or cry so much at certain things. In this spirit, it is a central objective of ours to enjoy ourselves when screening films!

Encompassed in the above Interpretive Lenses is the idea of reaching out to people still searching for faith and relating to them in a way that is familiar and comfortable to them. We hope that The River Film Forum will serve as a great opportunity to meet new people in our community and be able to share in their lives as they share is ours. We should also never underestimate the power of shattering stereotypes about following Jesus. When people in our community are invited to come watch a film with us for free, we are making a resounding statement that we are indeed part of the same world they live in, that we too enjoy a good movie, and we wish to be inclusive of other people and their experiences.

What Will We Watch?

No doubt the issue of rating is one of concern for many in Christian circles. Often, too much is made out of the rating system. To quote fellow Christian and filmmaker, Craig Detweiler, on the matter of discussing film as art: “I ask people of faith to consider what rating the Bible might generate if filmed verse by verse. Since the Bible would be lucky to earn anything less than an NC-17, I will move past issues of content to the central question of movies and their greater meanings.”[vi]

Now, with that in mind, it behooves us to make a few points about the rating system in America set forth by the MPAA and what may be an appropriate approach for when choosing what films to screen:

First, it should be clearly understood that the agency responsible for the rating of films in the United States of America, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), is a secular organization that does not rate films with any particular slant towards a Christian worldview or with any concept of what is morally acceptable in film. Rather, the MPAA’s duties can be summed up best as merely making superficial observations about a given film, noting that a film may or may not be best suited for a particular age group.

While the MPAA has made it a practice—particularly in recent years—to inform audiences that a film might be rated R for violence and sexuality (just as an example), they’re rating system has nothing to offer in the way of expressing whether such violence and sexuality is glorified in an immoral or inappropriate manner, or if such things are dealt with in a mature and sensitive way that encourages the audience not to praise such behavior, but examine the consequences that result from responding with violence to a wrong, or engaging in immoral sexual activities (much like so many stories found in Scripture which Detweiler references above).

To take on the MPAA’s rating system as some sort of moral compass for viewing films—making such decisions as some Christians have to abstain from R-rated films—is, in the of opinion RFF co-founder Mikel J. Wisler, naïve at best (and potentially irresponsible for those working in any form of art, literature, entertainment, performance, or education). For the culturally relevant and discerning Christian, such issues are seldom so clear cut and simple as merely avoiding a particular rating.

With all of this in mind, it is important to point out that the RFF is not intended as some sort of shock-value entertainment. The RFF has no interest in showing films that are vulgar for the sake of vulgarity, or glorify evil. In this spirit, we invite open dialogue and suggestions about films to be screened and discussed. People wishing to attend a RFF screening are encouraged to look up information about each film being shown and make an educated decision about whether or not they should attend.

We certainly recognize that not all films apple to all people, and do not wish to pressure anyone into watching something they do not want to or feel comfortable viewing. With this in mind, we encourage open dialogue about such films and encourage each other to be open to new experiences and healthy discussion of this powerful medium that has so much impact on our culture.

In closing I want to stress the importance of a continued learning experiences. All of life offers us opportunities to grow as human beings and as Christians. Often we growth through shared experiences. I find it exciting that two of the core values of The River are to encourage people to grow and to share. The Film Forum is just one of many ways we can help make that happen. The ultimate goal of the RFF is to provide a shared growing experience through film appreciation and discussion, which leads to not just a better understanding of film, but of each other as well.

I will leave you with one more quote about our responsibility from my former teacher, Craig Detweiler: “Filmmakers may prove humble enough to hear the creative whispers of their Creator, but it’s up to audiences to learn to ‘look closer,’ to discover and support films that offer truly moving images, that nudge us close to one another and close to the divine.”[vii]

Sincerely,

Mikel J. Wisler

Originally drafted and used for the Redeemer Film Forum, January 2007

Revised for The River Film Forum, August 2010

End Notes: