Religion in film: characters, themes, resources

Beliefnet’s Kris Rasmussen has a list of 10 positive Christian characters in recent films. I was pleased to see Amy Adams’ performance in Junebug included, though for me the most spiritually touching moment in the movie was when Alessandro Nivola, as her character’s highly secular brother-in-law surprises his new wife by getting up at a church dinner to sing a hymn. The list is an excellent one, including historical characters like Sophie Scholl and James J. Braddock and fictional characters like Spider-Man‘s Aunt May.

An online film festival called “One Nation, Many Voices” announced the winners of its competition for authentic, non-stereotyped portrayal of Muslim-American characters.

Adherents.com has an excellent spiritual guide to movies that includes the religious affiliations of the most influential film-makers and critics’ lists of the best Catholic and Jewish movies.