The Religion and Film Reader

Jolyon Mitchell editor S Brent Plate editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:3rd Sep '07

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The Religion and Film Reader cover

Edited by leading experts in the field, The Film and Religion Reader brings together the key writings in this exciting and dynamic discipline. In over sixty interviews, essays and reviews from numerous directors, film critics and scholars, this eagerly anticipated anthology offers the most complete survey of this emerging field to date.

Film is now widely studied and researched in theology and religious studies departments, The Film and Religion Reader is therefore ideal for students and researchers, introduced and organized into the following thematic and chronological sections, each with an introduction by the editors:

  • the dawn of cinema: adherents and detractors
  • the birth of film theory: realism, formalism, and religious vision
  • directors and critics: global perspectives – African and Middle-Eastern perspectives; Asian and Australisian perspectives; European perspectives; South and North American perspectives
  • theological and Biblical approaches to analysing film
  • recent reflections on the relation between religion and film.

This Reader brings together a huge amount of material in a student-friendly format and will be an invaluable resource for courses within both theology and religious studies.

'This is a genuinely useful addition to the maturing literature on religion and film. The imaginative selection of readings makes this book an invaluable resource that will broaden and deepen the insights of students and researchers in this field. This will undoubtedly become a key text for any serious course exploring the various ways in which religion and film intersect.' – Gordon Lynch, Professor of Sociology of Religion, Birkbeck, University of London, UK

'[There is a lot to think about here], and it is just a micro-sample of all that is to be found in this milestone collection.' – Project Muse (Scholarly Journals Online)

'Jolyon Mitchell and S. Brent Plate ... consistently stress the historical depth, the geographical spread and the sheer critical complexity that marks reflection on the relationship between religion and film. ... Inconclusion, this is a highly intelligent and thought-provoking collection of work exploring the relationship between religion and film ...[T]his eclecticism is also one of the volume's main strengths for it constantly throws up new and challenging ways of thinking about religion and film, and for this reason alone, I would warmly recommend this book to scholars seeking a way into this field or looking for a course reader for their students.' – David Murphy, University of Stirling, Literature and Theology, 23(2)


The editors have done a particularly fine job of supplying readings that give a multicultural perspective, with sources from African, Asian, European and American filmmakers and critics whose work has a religious dimension. In addition, historical sources provide insight into the ways that film has been understood as a religious medium since its origins, and readings from contemporary religion scholars demonstrate the range of scholarly approaches being developed. The volume is unique in its scope and depth, treating all aspects of the field of religion and film.

John Lyden, Professor of Religion, Dana College, USA

This is a genuinely useful addition to the maturing literature on religion and film. The imaginative selection of readings makes this book an invaluable resource that will broaden and deepen the insights of students and researchers in this field. This will undoubtedly become a key text for any serious course exploring the various ways in which religion and film intersect.

Gordon Lynch, Professor of Sociology of Religion, Birkbeck, University of London

ISBN: 9780415404952

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 920g

496 pages