Projects

Staff

Contact Us

News

Events

Research Opportunities

Links

Home

The Bible and the Moving Image

The Bible has always been an important part of film culture. From the very beginnings of cinema, film makers were interested in depicting stories of biblical origin, and the genre of the biblical epic was popular for some time especially in Hollywood. Naturally, biblical epics and Christ films have received much attention from biblical scholars. The significance of the biblical epic within cinematic culture has, however, been fading over recent years.

The scope of this project is broader than the biblical epic and Christ film, as it will take account of films and videos that allude to the Bible in many direct and indirect (though by no means less interesting) ways. As an art form, film is unique among the arts because it includes many other art forms, such as theatre, painting, photography, music, fiction and poetry. In order to interpret a film, one must therefore look at the way in which it includes and interprets other art forms. The biblical texts as well as art based on the biblical texts have always been a rich resource for film makers to create meaning. Research linked to this project will cover three areas:

1. Many films share their narrative patterns with those of biblical texts. Research in this area will aim to disclose meaning in such films by exploring the similarity of narrative patterns.
2. Many films offer quotations from the biblical texts as interpretative keys. Research in this area will interpret films through understanding the significance of a quoted biblical text at a particular point within a film.
3. Many films, rather than referring to a biblical text directly, use and interpret biblical paintings in order to allude to the text that lies behind the painting. Research in this area will ask what meaning biblical paintings contribute to a film, and describe how the meaning contained in a ‘timeless’ painting is unfolded (or changed) over the narrated time of a film.

The Theology and Religious Studies Department at the University of Wales Lampeter is one of the participating institutions of the International Research Project Film und Theologie.

Project Director
Ulrike Vollmer

Award for Project Director