In this edition of ReligionLink, we provide helpful background, in-depth resources, relevant stories and excellent sources to cover the many intersections between religion and film in 2023.

Michael Pasquier is an associate professor of philosophy and religion at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he specializes in the history of religion and culture in the U.S. He teaches courses on religion and cinema, religion in Louisiana and religion in Southern culture, as well as a course on American Catholicism.

Morgan Atkinson is a documentary filmmaker whose third film on the life of Thomas Merton, The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton, will be released later this year and will cover the last year of Merton’s life. Atkinson’s previous films, including Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton, have appeared on PBS nationwide. He […]

Judith Weisenfeld is a professor of religion at Princeton University, where she specializes in American religion, with an emphasis on the 20th century and African American religion. She is the author of Hollywood Be Thy Name: African American Religion in American Film, 1929-1949. She has taught 17 courses, including ones on religion and American film, religion […]

Jeffrey Howard Mahan is a professor of religion and communication at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He is the author of Media, Religion and Culture: An Introduction and Religion and Popular Culture in America.

Paul Allen Williams is an assistant professor in the department of philosophy and religion at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, and was editor of the Journal of Religion and Film from 2004 to 2008. He also teaches courses on African religions, the history of Christianity, world religions, Islam and New Testament.

Paul V.M. Flesher, University of Wyoming professor of religious studies, teaches a course on religion and film. He and Robert Torry are co-authors of Film and Religion: A Textbook (2007). He is also an expert on Judaism of the Rabbinic period and early synagogues.