SUNDAY WORSHIP TIMES:
8:30am Early Church: Zoom Only
10:00am Hybrid: In person or on Zoom
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Information about Sundays at FPCPA
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Faith Issues in Film Group

Our group meets at 7 pm, on the first Tuesdays, eight months of the year. We watch the chosen film on our own, and then gather to discuss it; we’re very much like a book club in those aspects. Our meetings often include an introductory worship portion and we end with a time for sharing and prayers. We are always open to new members.

Meetings currently take place by Zoom; please contact ChurchOffice@fprespa.org for the link.

Here is our 2023-24 schedule:

Sept 5 Women Talking (2022)
Oct 3 The Duke (2022)
Nov 7 Tár (2022)
Jan 2 Living (2020)
Feb 6 Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
Mar 5 The Swimmers (2022)
April 2 Crip Camp (2020)
May 7 Denial (2017)

 

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

Director: Taika Waititi

Currently Streaming on Netflix and available on Hoopla and Kanopy from the library. Also some DVD copies from the library.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople tells the story of misfit foster kid Ricky Baker. When Ricky’s foster aunt suddenly passes away, he’s left alone with his grumpy uncle Hec. The unlikely duo find themselves on the run in the vast New Zealand bush, evading child services and the law. They are forced to work together to survive and despite their differences, form a bond in this hilarious and heart-felt adventure. Director Taika Waititi showcases his New Zealand heritage and fun sense of humor in this film. We follow Ricky’s struggles with the foster care system and see a really sweet relationship form between him and his reluctant uncle Hec. 

The Swimmers (2022)

Director: Sally El Hosaini

Availability: Netflix

The Swimmers is the true story of Yusra and Sarah Mardini, who flee their home country of Syria in 2015 after their house was destroyed during the civil war. The two young sisters embark on a harrowing journey as refugees, putting both their hearts and champion swimming skills to heroic use.

Director Sally El Hosaini steers away from making the two sisters into unappealing superheroes. It is not very often that we see two young girls incarnate kindness, compassion, and selflessness as they do during their long journey by land and sea to Turkey, Greece, and Germany. We cheer their final triumph. 

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (2020)

Directors: James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham 

Available on Netflix

“This camp changed the world,” we’re told, in the early moments of James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham’s documentary, “and nobody knew about it.” The most refreshing and surprising element of this moving chronicle is that, title notwithstanding, the subject is not Camp Jened, the Catskills getaway that offered disabled kids and teens in the 1960s a “normal” summer camp experience. It’s about how that camp was the epicenter of a movement — a place where they could be themselves and live their lives didn’t have to be a utopian ideal, but a notion that they could carry out into the world, and use as a baseline for change. 

Denial (2017)

Director: Mick Jackson, Emmy Award winner for Temple Grandin

Based on the acclaimed book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier

Availability:  Streaming on Amazon Prime and available on DVD

Denial is a movie about a real-life libel case. The filmmaking isn’t fancy or ambitious. Its aim is to tell the story of the case, from its origins to its finish, and it does so clearly, with no embellishment. Fortunately, the issues surrounding the case are so fascinating and so packed with moral importance that a straightforward telling is quite enough to make “Denial” a worthwhile drama. In 1996, the American historian Deborah Lipstadt was sued by the British historian David Irving over Lipstadt’s claim that Irving was a liar and a falsifier of history. In his books and lectures, Irving had claimed that there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz. In bringing the suit, Irving charged that Lipstadt had damaged his career and his reputation. 

This film reasserts the primacy of truth. What a tonic.