Princeton, NJ, July 24, 2009–Princeton Theological Seminary will offer a fall film festival in conjunction with its course “‘Through a Glass, Darkly’: The Biblical and Shakespearean Visions,” taught by Clifton Black, the Seminary’s Otto A. Piper Professor of Biblical Theology.

Free of charge and open to the public, the festival will air on Mondays at 7:00 p.m. in Stuart Hall, Room 6, on the Seminary’s campus. It features films by major directors and actors like Kenneth Branagh, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Sir John Gielgud. The schedule for film screenings is as follows:

Monday, September 28
Richard II (1978): Directed by David Giles and starring Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir John Gielgud, Charles Gray, Dame Wendy Hiller, and Jon Finch. Running time is 157 minutes.  

Monday, October 19
The Merchant of Venice (2004): Directed by Michael Radford and starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, and Lynn Collins. Running time is 138 minutes.
This screening will take place at 1:00 p.m. in Stuart Hall, Room 3.
 
Monday, November 9
Ran (1985): Directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, and Mieko Harada. Running time is 160 minutes.

Monday, November 23
Hamlet (1996) [Part One]: Directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Kenneth Branagh, Sir Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Richard Briers, and Gérard Depardieu. Running time is 158 minutes.

Tuesday, November 24
Hamlet (1996) [Part Two]: Directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Kenneth Branagh, Sir Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet, Billy Crystal, and Robin Williams. Running time is 84 minutes.
                                             
Subject to viewers’ interest, brief discussions of the films with Professor Black will follow the screenings.

“Christian theology is, or should be, biblically based,” says Black, “and theology is considered reflection on what God is doing in the world. Shakespeare’s genius lay in crystallizing the stuff of our world with tension, insight, and poetry. The wedding of religion and politics, the freedom and limits of human will, the sense in suffering: To ponder his plays from a biblical platform is exhilarating.”

The film festival is sponsored by the Seminary’s Department of Biblical Studies. For more information, contact Michael T. Davis at 609.497.7835.

Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812, the first seminary established by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church.  It is the largest Presbyterian Seminary in the country, with more than 600 students in six graduate degree programs.