101 Thought Provoking Films

Films are entertainment that create an escape from our ordinary reality. Many of these films are thought-provoking, especially when they address possibilities that may come true in the future.

In a culture increasingly focused on visual media, students have learned not only to embrace multimedia presentations in the classroom, but to expect them. Such expectations are perhaps more prevalent in a field as dynamic and cross-disciplinary as religious studies, but the practice nevertheless poses some difficult educational issues -- the use of movies in academic coursework has far outpaced the scholarship on teaching religion and film. What does it mean to utilize film in religious studies, and what are the best ways to do it? In Teaching Religion and Film, an interdisciplinary team of scholars thinks about the theoretical and pedagogical concerns involved with the intersection of film and religion in the classroom. They examine the use of film to teach specific religious traditions, religious theories, and perspectives on fundamental human values. Some instructors already teach some version of a film-and-religion course, and many have integrated film as an ancillary to achieving central course goals. This collection of essays helps them understand the field better and draws the sharp distinction between merely "watching movies" in the classroom and comprehending film in an informed and critical way.

This volume presents a comprehensive, unbiased, and easily accessible review of U.S. immigration reform, and explains why reform efforts have resulted in the current state of political deadlock over the issue in the United States Congress. Comprising seven chapters, Immigration Reform: A Reference Handbook surveys the complex topic for high school, undergraduate, and general readers. Chapter 1 gives the historical background to current immigration reform efforts, concentrating on the period from 1965 to date. Chapter 2 discusses problems and controversies, and the proposed solutions to them. Chapter 3 consists of eight original essays contributed by other scholars, complementing the perspective and expertise of the author. Chapter 4 profiles major organizations and people who, as stakeholders in the politics of immigration reform, drive the agenda on the issue. Chapter 5 presents data and documents on the topic, giving readers the ability to analyze the facts. Chapter 6 provides additional resources that the reader may wish to consult, such as books, journal articles, and films. Chapter 7 provides a detailed chronology of important events from 1965 to 2017 that propel the politics and establish the policy of U.S. immigration reform. The book closes with a useful glossary of key terms used throughout the book and a comprehensive subject index.

Entertainment is seen as something that is superficial, lacking in substance - 'mere entertainment'. Taking Hollywood cinema as its main focus, this text challenges this negative account.

This book introduces the emerging, but still little-known, phenomenon of Nollywood-inspired filmmaking by African migrants in Europe. Using the unique example of a performance ethnographic case study in Switzerland, it shows how members of the African diaspora represent themselves through audio-visual media and what influence the post-colonial images of the Nigerian video film industry have on their image production. Drawing on Jean Rouch’s Shared Anthropology and the methods of Performance Ethnography, this book provides an in-depth look at the complexity of migrants’ everyday lives and showcases Nollywood-inspired transnational filmmaking practices. In its refreshing and accessible writing style, it also illustrates the performance ethnographic research process, highlights the pitfalls and challenges of collaborative film projects, and critically engages with fundamental questions of social research in decolonial settings.

Entertainment is a defining feature of contemporary culture, yet it is often accused of being superficial and even harmful. In this thought-provoking book, the authors challenge this negative view and argue for a reconsideration of the value of entertainment and the effect it has on the world in which we live. Taking Hollywood cinema as its central focus, this exciting book explores the range of debates that the phenomenon of cinema entertainment has aroused. It is packed with examples from modern, popular films throughout, including a whole chapter on the hugely successful film The Dark Knight. The book features interviews with Randy Thom and Walter Murch, filmmakers involved in creating some of the most successful films of recent years. There is an interesting discussion of the work and reputation of renowned filmmakers, Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock, names which have become synonymous with cinema entertainment. The authors consider what makes a film successful by looking at box office figures as well as detailed description and critique of current debates surrounding what it means to entertain and be entertained. Cinema Entertainment is important reading for film and media students as well as anyone interested in contemporary mass culture.

In order to be able to protect human rights, it is first necessary to see the denial of those rights. Aside from experiencing human rights violations directly, either as a victim or as an eyewitness, more than any other medium film is able to bring us closer to this aspect of the human experience. Yet, notwithstanding its importance to human rights, film has received virtually no scholarly attention and thus one of the primary goals of this book is to begin to fill this gap. From an historical perspective, human rights were not at all self-evident by reason alone, but had to gain standing through an appeal to human emotions found in novels as well as in works of moral philosophy and legal theory. Although literature continues to play an important role in the human rights project, film is able to take us that much further, by universalizing the particular experience of others different from ourselves, the viewers. Watching Human Rights analyzes more than 100 of the finest human rights films ever made-documentaries, feature films, faux documentaries, animations, and even cartoons. It will introduce the reader to a wealth of films that might otherwise remain unknown, but it also shows the human rights themes in films that all of us are familiar with.

A compendium of information on over 400 feature length films of Jewish intrest available on video