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Sacred

Sacred

Academy Award-winning documentarian Thomas Lennon marshaled 40 teams of filmmakers from around the world to collaborate on his latest project, the thought-provoking “Sacred,” which explores the role of religion in everyday life. Divided into three sections, titled “Initiation,” “Practice” and “Passage,” this abstract, yet moving documentary follows the cycle of life from birth to death to rebirth through short vignettes.

We see young monks in Myanmar, the experiences of a Muslim boy in Pakistan, the blush of first love set against the backdrop of a Holi ceremony in India, and a young girl navigating her parents’ divorce through her Catholic faith in Spain. We watch the ritual of weddings from Kenya to the Netherlands to Wyoming, and the calm and clarity that comes at the end of life, yearning for forgiveness or to forgive.

“Sacred” delves into the darker places of life where faith sheds light, including American prisons and Ebola cemeteries. Belief is deeply personal, despite the theatrics of ritual, which offer a space for collective ecstasy and catharsis. A young Jewish man says that for him, “to believe is some kind of unknowing.” It’s a resonant statement that captures the courage of faith on display in this film, even when it wavers in the face of death and darkness.

The film articulates a concept of universal humanity. No matter the religion or circumstances, we all have the same desires for peace and connection throughout life.

-Katie Walsh, LA Times

Sacred

Tue September 12, 2017, 7:30 PM, Muenzinger Auditorium

USA, in various languages with English subtitles as needed, Color, 87 min

recommend

Tickets

10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission. $7 w/UCB student ID, $7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.

Parking

Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.

RTD Bus

Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus

International Film Series

(Originally called The University Film Commission)
Established 1941 by James Sandoe.

First Person Cinema

(Originally called The Experimental Cinema Group)
Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.

C.U. Film Program

(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
First offered degrees in filmmaking and critical studies in 1989 under the guidance of Virgil Grillo.

Celebrating Stan

Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.

C.U. Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.

Thank you, sponsors!
Boulder International Film Festival
Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

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