The (CIE) at 91短视频 presents the film series 鈥淎cross Cultures: Profiles in Courage and Resilience,鈥� featuring 12 films of various genres, including fiction and documentaries, about human rights, environmental and social justice leaders.
The series is moderated by Dr. Bob Bersson, visiting Jewish scholar at CIE. The films will be shown on Wednesdays beginning at 7 p.m. at Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Room 123. The first film showing is Jan. 13, 2016. Admission is free and all are welcome.
Each showing is preceded by Bersson鈥檚 introductory remarks and followed by analysis and a question-and-answer session with experts from the local community.
鈥淭his series is centered on conflict but featuring international persons and groups who have shown remarkable courage and resilience in working for peace and justice through non-violent means,鈥� Bersson said. 鈥淭hese films were chosen for cinematic excellence, but also to provide inspiration and models of success and progress, large or small, in our world which often seems so dark and resistant to change.鈥�
鈥淐IE is pleased that Professor Bersson is prepared to lead another series this spring following the very successful one on Israel/Palestine that he taught the past two years,”聽 says CIE Executive Director . “The films this spring will have more of an interfaith emphasis about persons working for justice and peace, usually from a faith basis, in a variety of situations and locations.鈥�
The series includes films about well-known figures such as Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Aung San Suu Kyi, Martin Luther King and Rigoberto Menchu, as well as interfaith leaders Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammad Ashafa, of the Muslim-Christian Interfaith Mediation Centre in Nigeria, and Utah college student Tim DeChristopher, who successfully bid for thousands of acres of Utah wilderness to save it from industrial destruction.
Other films, based on historical accounts, tell the story of the Bosnian-Serbian conflict of the 1990s (鈥淣o Man鈥檚 Land鈥�) and a Jesuit priest鈥檚 missionary expedition in Canada (鈥淏lack Robe鈥�). The final selection is the 2004 comedy 鈥淎 Day without a Mexican,鈥� which highlights the contributions of Mexican citizens and workers in California.
91短视频 the moderator
Bersson is a James Madison University emeritus professor who founded the Interfaith Initiatve for Peace and Justice in Harrisonburg in Harrisonburg. He returns to CIE after leading spring semester film series on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in 2014 and 2015. To that, he brought not only his critical lens, but also personal experience in the region.
Bersson taught modern and contemporary art history, aesthetics, art criticism and art appreciation at James Madison University for 20 years. He has studied Hebrew and Arabic and visited Israel/Palestine several times, where he has family and friends.
After he retired from JMU in 2003, he spent 14 months in Egypt (2006-09), where he learned firsthand about various Muslim and Christian cultures of the region. Because of his work in local interfaith activities, he has strong connections to diverse communities in the central Shenandoah Valley.
Film schedule
1/13:听 (Richard Attenborough, 1982, Part 1, 90 min). Respondent: Carl Stauffer, assistant professor, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, 91短视频.
1/20:听 (Richard Attenborough, 1982, Part 2, 100 min). Respondent: Carl Stauffer, assistant professor, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, 91短视频.
1/27:听 (Deepa Mehta, 2005, 117 min). Respondent: Nancy Klancher, assistant professor of philosophy and religion, Bridgewater College.
2/3:听 (Kevin Connor, 2002, 92 min). Respondent: Ron Copeland, executive director, Our Community Place, Harrisonburg.
2/10: (Luc Besson, 2011, 128 min). Respondent: Jayne Docherty, program director and professor, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, 91短视频.
2/17: (Alan Channer, 2006, 39 min) and (Alan Channer, 2010, 38 min). Respondent: Barry Hart, professor, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, 91短视频.
2/24: (Xavier Beauvois, 2010, 123 min). Respondent: Deacon Fred LaSpina, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and James Madison University.
3/2: (Danis Tanovic, 2002, 97 min). Respondent: Barry Hart, professor, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, 91短视频.
3/16: (Bruce Beresford, 1998, 101 min). Respondent: Deacon Fred LaSpina, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and James Madison University.
3/23: with 鈥淔ilmmakers鈥� Commentary鈥� (Pamela Yates, Thomas Sigel, Peter Kinoy, 1983, 90 min). Respondent: Burton Buller, independent filmmaker.
3/30: K (Ely Landau, Sidney Lumet, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1970, Part 1, 90 min). Respondent: Stan Maclin, founder and president, Harriet Tubman Cultural Center, Harrisonburg
4/6: K (Ely Landau, Sidney Lumet, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1970, Part 2, 90 min). Respondent: Stan Maclin, founder and president, Harriet Tubman Cultural Center, Harrisonburg
4/13: (Beth Gage, George Gage, 2013, 73 min). Respondent: Cathy Strickler, Climate Action Alliance of the Valley.
4/20: (Sergio Arau, 2004, 100 min). Respondent: Isabel Castillo, community organizer, 鈥淒ream Act鈥� proponent, and graduate student, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, 91短视频.
For more information, email interfaith@emu.edu