I’m very pleased to announce the launch of my new Substack newsletter The Vocation of Cinema.
The Vocation of Cinema is a deep dive into thinking about the art of cinema with the philosophical and theological resources of the Catholic intellectual tradition.
At its heart lie two questions:
What is the unique calling of cinema among the arts and in the life of man?
How ought mankind respond to this calling in the making and receiving of cinematic works?
As a filmmaker and as a cinephile, I’ve always yearned to understand what makes cinema such a powerful influence in my life. I am equally held by the joy of making films, and the joy of receiving them. What is the ultimate source of that joy?
Encompassing both the path of the filmmaker and the path of the cinephile, this series will offer a number of reflections on questions of cinema, cinephilia, history, film studies, philosophy, and theology. Key to our inquiry will be an appreciative and critical engagement with the work of philosophers, film theorists, and historians.
My hope is that this series will prove helpful to anyone approaching cinema as an art that is beautiful, meaningful, and life-changing. For filmmakers and artists, it means taking hold of the freedom and the confidence to make and to make beautifully. For cinephiles, critics, and scholars it means integrating one’s quest for cinema into the flourishing of the whole human being.
Check it out over on Substack, subscribe, and please share!