Out in theatres this weekend, here is a Sundance interview about Frozen River. Every year some films are the “buzz” of Sundance. This time the buzz converted to one of Sundance’s major awards. Enjoy Craig Detweiler’s exclusive discussion with the producer (Heather Rae), writer/director (Courtney Hunt) and two actors (Melissa Leo and Misty Upham) from “Frozen River,” which has not only been talked about by the film-goers, but was picked up for distribution by SONY Pictures. Frozen River’s feature-length script is set in a real-life smuggling zone on a Native American reservation between New York State and Quebec where the lure of fast money presents a daily challenge to single moms who would otherwise be making minimum wage. Strapped for money and having been deserted by her husband, working class Ray (Melissa Leo), reluctantly teams up with Lila (Misty Upham), a widowed Mohawk Indian, to smuggle illegal immigrants across the frozen St. Lawrence River from Canada to the U.S. in the trunk of a Dodge Spirit. Both women swear each trip will be their last, but one final run across the river leads to a showdown with the law on all sides.

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On the afternoon of March 29, 2002 the world was shaken when an 18 year-old Palestinian girl and suicide bomber, entered a market where she detonated a bomb, killing herself, injuring 30 and killing a 17 year-old Israeli girl. No one was shaken more than the mothers of the two dead teenage girls, who shared so much in common and yet whose differences brought them to their untimely deaths. In her thought-provoking documentary, To Die In Jerusalem, Director & Producer Hilla Medalia puts a human face on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through two mothers, who struggle to cope with the event that put them in the center of an intractable geopolitical conflict. After conversation with Hilla, we are joined by John and Ed Priddy, producers of the film. We then turn to audience questions.

In his classic God in Popular Culture, sociologists Andrew Greeley concluded, “my thesis is simple enough: Popular Culture is a theological place”the locale in which one may encounter God. Popular culture provides an opportunity to experience God and to tell stories of God to, to put the matter more abstractly, to learn about God and to teach about God.” Today a discussion about interpreting film with Craig Detweiler, author and director of Reel Spirituality at Fuller Seminary’s Brehm center, Peggy Rupple from Biola University and Cathy Bruner from Taylor University.

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Windrider Forum hosts young filmmakers and theologians in an exploration the films of Sundance. Today a discussion about the importance of Sundance in these endeavors. We feature Craig Detweiler author and director of “Reel Spirituality,” Lisa Swain a film producer and director of the communications film program at Biola University and Dr. Jim Spiegel, philosophy Professor from Taylor University.