The recording of a panel discussion which took place at Watershed on Sun 13 May as part of the Festival of Ideas: Spirituality and Film Season.

This panel was chaired by Watershed’s Head of Programme Mark Cosgrove who along with with guest speakers Ian Christie, Anniversary Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck College, Stephen Hinde, a Buddhist teacher within the Longchen Foundation tradition, Dr Rupert Gethin from the University of Bristol and Father Robert King, Catholic Chaplain, University of Bristol asked the following questions….

Is cinema the 21st century church or is it just fiction to pass the time? Is Groundhog Day a classic Buddhist text or is it just a damn funny film? Can cinema deal with notions of spirituality? These are some of the questions that this panel discussion explores.