Sacred

2016, Thomas Lennon, USA, 86 min.

“A kaleidoscopic travelogue depicting demonstrations of faith worldwide.” —Andy Webster, The New York Times

Shot by more than forty filmmaking teams around the world, the film immerses the viewer in the daily use of faith and spiritual practice. At a time when religious hatreds dominate the world’s headlines, this film explores faith as primary human experience, and how people turn to ritual and prayer to navigate the milestones and crises of private life. The film’s director commissioned or sourced footage from top independent filmmakers from more than 25 countries—and a wide range of religious traditions—each team contributing a single scene. The film, sweeping in its global reach, yet intensely intimate, is a tour de force that unifies these scenes into a single work, told without narration, without experts and, for long stretches, without words at all.

Each of the six screenings will be followed by a conversation between director Thomas Lennon and a religious leader. For this screening on 5/10, Lennon will speak with Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie. They are joined by filmmaker David Gaynes.

Co-presented by Global Spiritual Life at NYU.

About the Speakers

Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is the founding spiritual leader of Lab/Shul NYC, an artist-driven, everybody-friendly, God-optional community. An Israeli-born Jewish educator, writer, and performance artist, he received his rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 2016. Rabbi Amichai is a member of the Global Justice Fellowship of the American Jewish World Service, a founding member of the Jewish Emergent Network, a consultant to the Reboot Network, a member of the URJ Faculty Team and the Advisory Council of ORAM, an LGBT-focused organization for refugees, asylum and migration. He was a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Israel (2008″“ 2009) and serves on the advisory committee of Faith House Manhattan. Rabbi Amichai has been hailed as “an iconoclastic mystic” by Time Out New York, a “rock star” by The New York Times, a “Judaic Pied Piper” by the Denver Westword, a “maverick spiritual leader” by The Times of Israel, and “one of the most interesting thinkers in the Jewish world” by the Jewish Week. In 2016 The Forward named him one of the thirty-two “Most Inspiring Rabbis” in America.

Thomas Lennon‘s work in documentary film has earned him an Academy Award and three Academy nominations. He has also won two national Emmys, two duPont-Columbia and Peabody awards, and had two films premiere at Sundance.

David Gaynes is an independent filmmaker whose work has been presented theatrically around the world. His work appears in Sacred.