Session 2: “Jesus at the Movies,” taught by Dr. Kent Brintnall
June 2 and 4; June 9 and 11
10am – 12pm

Efforts to depict the life of Jesus on film are almost as old as the medium itself. From the silent era through the age of classical Hollywood, from the height of independent filmmaking and into our current streaming age, filmmakers have been attracted to the words and deeds of this well-known figure of Western history. Like the gospel writers before them, each of these filmmakers have made an argument about who Jesus was, what he accomplished, and why his life mattered. Like the gospel writers before them, their work responds to the cultural and political moment of its creation.

In this course, we will discuss some key moments from the history of Jesus films to think through the ways that in the hands of filmmakers “Jesus” is a cipher for thinking about race, gender, sexuality, war, colonialism, and all manner of issues and questions. Participants will be given a selection of films they can consider screening outside of our time together.

Meet your instructor: Kent L. Brintnall is an associate professor at UNC Charlotte affiliated with the Department of Religious Studies, the Film Studies Program, and the Women’s & Gender Studies Program. His book Ecce Homo: The Male-Body-in-Pain as Redemptive Figure discusses the political operation of representations of suffering male bodies in film, religion, and visual art. He has been teaching and thinking carefully about Jesus films for the past two decades.