“Jilbab: A Documentary on the Indonesian Woman’s Headscarf”

Film Info: “Jilbab: A Documentary on the Indonesian Woman’s Headscarf”.  Directed by Jenn Lindsay, 2011.  Various lengths, from a focused 20 minute version to a more complex, 50 minute version.

Distributor: Jenn Lindsay (www.jennlindsay.comDownloadable preview posted on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/31991952

Film Summary: In Jogjakarta, Indonesia, the Muslim women’s headscarf is distinctively colorful, fashionable, fun and expressive. What are the dreams and commitments behind the choice to veil or not to veil?  JILBAB, a documentary named after the Indonesian word for the Muslim hijab, is about veiling trends for women in the city of “Jogja.” It features students from Universitas Gadjah Madah, designers of local women’s fashion boutiques,and Muslim women from outside of Indonesia speaking about the significance of veiling (or not veiling), veiling ideology and fashion, and the history of veiling in Islam. This film explores uniquely Javanese Islam, its unmistakable religious aesthetics, and what the jilbab suggests in an Indonesian context as opposed to Middle Eastern, North American or European Muslim contexts.

“Laatoo: Dance and Spirituality in Pakistan”

Film Info:  Laatoo: Dance and Spirituality in Pakistan” /« Laatoo : Danse et spiritualité au Pakistan »  English and Urdu with French subtitles. Directed by Alix Philippon and Faizaan Peerzada.  2003.  

Distributed by: Alix Philippon (Sciences Po, Aix-en-Provence, France).  There are various versions, ranging from 45 minutes to an hour and a quarter.  Contact the director for information.

Film Summary:  LAATOO is a documentary about the role of dance in Pakistan : from the classical Kathak,Bharanatyam and Odyssi to the sufi tradition of the dervish right up to the dances performed by prostitutes. The film uses scenes and interviews with great dancers such as Naheed Siddiqui, Sheema Kirmani, Tehreema Mitha, Indu Mitha and Fasi-ur-Rehman to help us locate Pakistani dance in its religious, philosophical, social, and political contexts.

LAATOO est un documentaire qui fait l’état des lieux de la danse au Pakistan : de la danse classique comme le khatak, le bharatanatyam et l’odissi, à la tradition soufie des derviches jusqu’aux danses pratiquées par les prostituées. C’est à travers les témoignages des grands danseurs classiques tels que Naheed Siddiqui, Sheema Kirmani, Tehreema Mitha, Indu Mitha et Fasi-ur-Rehman, que nous découvrons la danse et sa problématique dans son contexte religieux, philosophique, social et politique.

The Long Search

Film Info: “The Long Search” – BBC/Time/Life (1977) – a series of 13 programs, 52 minutes each

Distributor:  Ambrose Video – $99 for the entire set on DVD

Summary:  A documentary on world religions and new religions, narrated by Ronald Eyre (who is irritatingly obtrusive in several instances).  Especially useful are Orthodox Christianity – the Rumanian Solution, which is helpful for illustrating religious symbolism and ritual, the pervasiveness of religion in people’s lives, and the place of religion in one then-Communist country; and African Religion – Zulu Zion, which focuses on new religions in South Africa, emphasizing the importance of dreams, ancestors, and place.  Other useful films in the series include Protestant Spirit: USA; Catholicism; and Judaism.  The film on Alternate Lifestyles in California is disappointingly shallow.

Film notice taken (with permission) from the “Teaching Resources” list in Meredith McGuire’s Religion: The Social Context, third edition. Her 5th edition (available from Waveland Press: see www.religionthesocialcontext.com) does not contain the resource list. I have only traced some of these films to current distributors. Please post updated information about them, if you have it. – JS

Hinduism: 330 Million Gods

Film Info: Part of “The Long Search”, a BBC series hosted by Ronald Eyre – 52 minutes

Distributor: Ambrose Videos  has the entire series on DVD for $99

Summary: Traces the Indian religious experience in two highly contrasting locations: the bustling city of Benares where millions come to bathe in the holy waters of the Ganges, and the small village of Bhith Bhagwanpur, unvisited except by professional story tellers and itinerant priests. The film concentrates its attention on the Hindu approach to God. But which God? For there are 330 million of them.

Buddhism: Footprint of the Buddha

Film Info: Part of “The Long Search”, a 1977 BBC series hosted by Ronald Eyre – 52 minutes

Distributor: Ambrose Videos has the entire series on DVD for $99

Summary: To Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and India to discover the type of Buddhism practiced throughout southeast Asia. Among those we meet are Buddhist monks-including one American, school children, novices and housewives. Each offers something from his own experience to help us come to grips with a religion that has high moral standards but does not believe in God.

Indonesia: The Way of the Ancestors

Film Info: Part of “The Long Search”, a 1977 BBC series hosted by Ronald Eyre – 52 minutes

Distributor: Ambrose Videos has the entire series on DVD for $99

Summary:  There are almost 200 million people scattered across the world who belong to tribal religions that are local, exclusive and frequently animist – i.e., they believe that inanimate objects and natural phenomena possess a soul. Though no single group can be chosen as typical, this episode is devoted to primal religion-that of the Torajas who live in a mountain fortress on an Indonesian island.

The Land of the Disappearing Buddha: Japan

Film Info: Part of “The Long Search”, a 1977 BBC series hosted by Ronald Eyre – 52 minutes

Distributor: Ambrose Videos has the entire series on DVD for $99

Summary:   If the Buddha of India met the Buddha of Japan, would they recognize each other? To find out, this program talks to the staff in a Tokyo restaurant who keep regular Zen meditation schedules as part of their job, then on to the classical Zen calligraphy, swordfighting, archery and tea ceremony.

Taoism: A Question of Balance

Film Info: Part of “The Long Search”, a 1977 BBC series hosted by Ronald Eyre – 52 minutes

Distributor: Ambrose Videos has the entire series on DVD for $99

Summary: In our search for Chinese religious experience, we go to Taiwan. A whole pantheon of gods both local and imported from the mainland are worshipped in thousands of Buddhist and Taoist temples. Several strands make up the religious life of the village: a Confucian respect for past and the ancestors, the cosmic pattern of the Tao that permeates all levels of existence and manifests itself through oracles, the local gods who dispense justice and favors, and the hungry ghosts of the dead who have to be placated.