(Sorry if this is posted in the wrong spot!)
2004-12-10 18:03
VATICAN, ORTHODOX CHURCH TO COLLABORATE ON AN ECUMENICAL FILM PROJECT
MOSCOW (RIA Novosti commentator Olga Sobolevskaya)
The year 2005 will see an unprecedented ecumenical collaboration: Russian Orthodox Christians and Catholics from Italy and Poland will join "their scholarly and creative forces" to make a five-part historical documentary about early Christians, "Pilgrimage to the Holy City." The filming process begins in the spring, and the release is scheduled for Christmas.
Announcing the plan, Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia pointed out that the idea behind was to once again remind to the world that Christianity was the foundation of European culture. He sees the project as an event of paramount importance. "The recent signing of the EU Constitution, which does not even make any mention of the common Christian roots, requires a creative spiritual response as well as a political one," the Russian Patriarch said emphatically. According to him, "millions of Christians worldwide took as an insult [this attempt to] hush up the modern world's historical foundations."
Filling in this cultural and religious gap is precisely what the new film project is aimed at. It will describe the Apostles Peter and Paul, who both suffered martyrdom for their faith. The film's final part - devoted to dialogue between church and state - will focus on Roman Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena, thanks to whom major Christian shrines were discovered and the Church received government support.
The acclaimed Russian filmmaker Vladimir Khotinenko, 52, has been invited to direct the Christian documentary. His latest work, "72 Meters," glorifies heroic exploits of submariners. This patriotic feature has proved a huge box-office success, striking a chord even with teenage audiences. "Our task will be to make 'Pilgrimage to the Holy City' a film appealing to mass audiences," the director says. "Contemporary society has sidelined moral issues for some reason, making their consideration optional. A person coming forward to speak about those values in public will be immediately attacked or ridiculed. This is just what has happened to Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ,' for instance." Miracles should be made tangible and visible, Mr. Khotinenko holds. He said his ambition was to create a convincing visualization so that viewers would have no doubts the imprints of the Apostle Peter's knees on the stone floor were genuine (the imprints will be among the relics featured in the new documentary).
The film is going to be produced by a Moscow Patriarchy scholarly center, the Orthodox Encyclopedia. Sergei Kravets, in charge of the center and of the script editing team for "Pilgrimage to the Holy City," has announced, "all the catacombs and relics of the Vatican and Rome will be opened to Russian filmmakers for the first time ever." The Moscow Patriarchy and Holy See officials made the decision when they met for talks in Moscow in August. The visiting Vatican officials then brought along a copy of the Icon of the Virgin of Kazan, which had for more than a decade been confined to the Pope's private rooms. This year, John Paul II decided to return the image to the Russian Orthodox Church as a gesture of goodwill.
In response to the Pontiff's gift, Patriarch Alexis II expressed confidence that kind relations with the Roman Catholics would eventually be restored, noting that the Russian Orthodox Church had all along "showed willingness to develop these relations in the spirit of sincere cooperation."
The project's mission is political as much as educational-it aims to promote reconciliation between the two Christian Churches. In his public speeches, Alexis II often looks back with nostalgia to the dawn of Christianity, when there was no split into eastern and western traditions.
Several Russian government agencies, such as the Federal Agency for Culture and Film, are showing great interest in the Orthodox-Catholic collaboration. The Federal Media Agency has hailed the project, as it welcomes all secular projects drawing on the Christian worldview, from which Russian culture emerged, agency head Mikhail Seslavinsky recently emphasized. He believes these kinds of films and programs to be "socially significant" and, hence, ones to be given priority. Indeed, a number of such programs are on offer in Russia's broadcast media these days. And then, there is an international festival of Orthodox television and radio programs, Radonezh, and an international Orthodox media festival, Vera i Slovo (Faith and The Word).
The film "Pilgrimage to the Holy City" is an ambitious and promising project. A joint panel of Vatican and Moscow Patriarchy experts will be formed to certify its quality. And whether the film proves up to its political mission is to be seen next Christmas, which is when it will be presented to audiences.