{Singapore Premiere}
SAT 29 SEP | 11:00am
USA 2016
87 mins
PG13
Consumer Advice: Some violence and nudity
Directed by Thomas Lennon
Synopsis
Shot by more than 40 filmmaking teams around the world, Sacred immerses viewers in the daily use of faith and spiritual practice. At a time when religious hatred dominates the world’s headlines, this film explores faith as a 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.
Director’s Bio
Thomas Lennon’s work in documentary film has earned him an Academy Award and three Academy nominations. His works often explores the themes of society and history. His works have been nominated three times for the Academy Award, winning in 2007 for The Blood of Yingzhou District. He has also won all major USA television awards including two Peabodys, Emmys and duPont-Columbia University Awards. Other notable films include “The Battle Over Citizen Kane” and “Seven Days in Bensonhurst”.
Director’s Statement
When it comes to faith, we know what we think. Our minds are set. That’s true of many issues, of course, but with religion, it seems especially so.
As journalists and documentary filmmakers, our training is to approach faith sceptically, and that’s probably as it should be. Religion has wreaked a lot of havoc in recent years; it invites hard scrutiny. And yet that scepticism – a badge we wear proudly – is also limiting. With this film, we set out to take faith seriously as primary human experience. The goal was to capture that experience from the inside, and with enough immediacy that it disturbs some of our certainties, and invites us to think.
