the old bill

Jesus FlickFest 4

This year's FlickFest will focus on award-winning directors, the best in international films that connect with the Jesus theme.  We'll also throw in a bit of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and a Singalong version of Superstar.

Here's the confirmed list of films for FlickFest 4 [we're still waiting a final word on a few others]:

Directors Cut:

*Base’s L'Inchiesta [The Final Inquiry]  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491720/

Son of Man http://www.sonofmanmovie.com/

Rossellini’s Il Messia http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077925/

La Marre’s The Colour of the Cross http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0760160/

Arcand’s Jesus de Montreal http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097635/

Godard’s Je vous salue, Marie [Hail Mary]  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097635/

Scorcese’s The Last Temptation of Christ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095497/

Hartley’s The Book of Life http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167059/

Passolini’s Il Vangelo secundo Matteo http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058715/

*& we hope Ferrara's Mary http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425236/ 

Music

*Cotton Patch Gospel [Harry Chapin musical based on Clarence Jordon's writings] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140919/

*Singalong Jesus Christ Superstar http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070239/

Johnny Cash: The Gospel Road http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070125/

Documentary

*Inside Bob Dylan’s Jesus Years  http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Bob-Dylans-Jesus-Years/dp/B001EN46NO/ref=sr_1_44?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1236705327&sr=1-4

*Seidl’s Jesus, du weisst [Jesus you know]  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373941/

Jesus Camp http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486358/ 

Drama

*Mary, Mother of Jesus [starring Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) as Jesus]  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0214930/

*Peter and Paul [starring Anthony Hopkins]  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082900/

*Un Bambino di nome Gesu [A Child called Jesus]  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092613/

The Miracle Maker http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208298/

The Nativity Story http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762121/

Johnny got his gun http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067277/

Jesus http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199232/

And, of course,

Life of Brian http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079470/

* premiering

gritty emergence

It's been gritty and cold and long, this winter, this living sometimes, lately,  it's been harsh, harsher than anyone wanted, relentless, but somehow as Tom Waits says, you can never hold back spring:  You can never hold back Spring/even though you've lost your way/the world keeps dreaming of Spring/so close your eyes/open your heart/to one who's dreaming of you. . .

There's no shortcut to Spring, if there was we'd all take it.  And sometimes, sometimes it's a just a brutal walk, but even when the winter is rough, unyielding,  we're not stuck - the world keeps dreaming of spring, keeps turning, and if we keep walking suddenly somehow it's all slush and potholes but it's so good that slush, even the potholes, and we feel the promise inside us and something inside us rises up.  Lately some of us have been exploring landscapes we didn't want to think about let alone explore, but even though the landscape seems at first so bleak, so unrelentingly grim, it too breaks, colour seeps through, grass cracks concrete, boulders roll, curtains tear and there's life again, sweet, tender, resilient.

Still, if there was a plebiscite on short cuts, I'd vote in favour.  Until then... i guess we'll have to settle for the long way round and try to be as kind to one another as we can, as we clean the grit out of our ears and eyes and get our front ends re-aligned, and be glad that there's One who dreams of us, even when our own dreaming is in disarray....

Hope wherever you are it's getting warmer too, that bits of colour are breaking through.