“God has died and his death was the life of the world”, Philipp Mainländer once stated. It was Friedrich Nietzsche, who made the notion famous. He also wrote that even though “God is dead, but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown”. So what should we make of this idea that fascinated so many philosophers, theologians, poets and artists for centuries and that spawned so many revelations about transcendence and spirituality, Reason and Enlightenment, and above all, about human condition? How could we make sense of this seemingly irresolvable and impossible paradox – the idea of god being dead and the life of the world, spiritual life in particular, keeping on nonetheless?
Cinema may prove to have some answers. Not just because of it being an exemplar art of shadows moving on the walls of our modern caves but also as it is uniquely able to strive for reaching transcendence. Each of the seven screenings in the program will represent a different conceptual angle at approaching this idea. Cinema allows us to explore the theme of Death of God as it is - as a majestic paradox that opens up endless possibilities for reflection and revelation.
Where one director sees iconoclastic potential and space for the realization of a misotheistic impulse, the other one is excited with a sheer psychedelic spectacle of the deity-like figures proving mortal after all. Where one film caustically imagines the world left godless, the other one already sows the seeds for spiritual rebirth. Absurdity and ecstasy, disillusionment and transcendence, the ritual and the miracle - they all find a place in the program Death of God at LEFFEST 2021.
Curatorship: Alexey Artamonov, Denis Ruzaev, Ines Branco López
Program
If God is dead, everything is allowed
11th November, 15h, Teatro Tivoli BBVA
In the name of father (1971), by Marco Bellocchio
The Immortals (2018), by Caroline Deruas,
If God dies, who will tell us?
11th November, 19h, Cinema Medeia Nimas
Mary (2005), by Abel Ferrara
Surprise film
If God is dead, then who made this film?
13th November, 10h, Cinema Medeia Nimas
God’s Wedding (1998), by João César Monteiro
God’s death means a change in destiny
14th November, 11h, Cinema Medeia Nimas
Black God, White Devil (1964), by Glauber Rocha
What if we kill the white man’s God?
16th November, 12h, Teatro Tivoli BBVA
The Diary of an African Nun (1977), by Julie Dash
Fatma 75 (1975), by Selma Baccar
If God doesn’t exist, who is laughing at us?
15th November, 16h30, Cinema Medeia Nimas
This Transient Life (1970), by Akio Jissôji
If God has abandoned humanity, can images be sacred?
16th November, 14h30, Teatro Tivoli BBVA
Night and Fog (1955), by Alain Resnais
History(s) of Cinema. Chapter one(a): All the Stories (1988), by Jean-Luc Godard
God serves men, and not the other way around
17th November, 16h, Cinema Medeia Nimas
In the Name of God (1992), by Anand Patwardhan
Ideology replaces religion. What replaces ideology?
18th November, 18h, Cinema Medeia Nimas
Three Songs about Lenin (1934), by Dziga Vertov
Bells from the Deep (1993), by Werner Herzog