On May 2, Barbara Nicolosi Harrington’s talk entitled “Why Hollywood Matters” explored the challenges facing Christians in the art of cinema and the art in churches. Harrington explains how the traditional philosophical definition of beauty is the combination of wholeness, harmony, and radiance.

A professor at Pepperdine University, Nicolosi is the founder of Act One, an organization that seeks to nurture the next generation of Christian artists and media pioneers. She was a theological consultant for The Passion of the Christ and she co-edited Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith and Culture. Her latest screenwriting project is Mary, Mother of the Christ, which stars Al Pacino and Peter O’Toole and will be released in 2012 by MGM.