commbox Religion & Communication

"This collection, sponsored by the Asian office of the International Catholic Organization for Cinema (OCIC), provides an overview for the study of cinema in Asia. It consists of articles, more or less arranged in concentric circles, addressing cinema in general, Asian cinema, and the cinema of part ... icular countries. Authors include film critics, scholars, and film makers. The first and most general section asks how the cinema teaches values, examining the process of the construction of meaning. Jacob Srampickal, one of the volume's editors, sees the cinema as a mirror of social values while Peter Malone, the international president of OCIC and a film critic from Australia, examines the hopes and failures of cinema in teaching family values. He highlights in particular questions of patriarchy, commitment, cohabitation, separation and divorce, single parenting, careerism, rebellion, peer pressure, and sexual abuse as they appear in films. Virgilio Fantuzzi, a Rome-based film educator, provides a theoretical piece on transcendence in film and introduces a number of film makers known for their transcendental style. Jose Palakeel, the dean of studies at Ruhalaya in Central India, argues that audiovisual expression is particularly apt for the construction of meanings and values. Rooting his analysis in Jungian psychology, he notes that the individual constructs meaning and values through association of images, feelings, relationships, and intuitions. The section also includes Pope John Paul II's World Communication Day message of 1995, the centenary of the cinema. Because of its general character, this first section proves less helpful than the others in the book. Several of the writers correctly remark that their topics need more space for development. They do, however, raise key issues, particularly regarding the mechanisms through which cinema influences culture and society. The second section, on Asian cinema, returns to these themes. Gaston Roberge, the founder of Chitrabani in Calcutta, specifically investigates the film as a cultural object and tries to identify how people interact with it in the context of Asian cultures and values. Aruna Vasudev, the editor of Cinemaya, an Asian cinema magazine, argues that even in the face of Hollywood blockbusters an Asian cinema has emerged with an emphasis on "the continuity of certain traditions--the family, the community, honour, emotionalism" (p. 52). He illustrates these themes and concerns with examples of film from Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, India, and Iran. The Sri Lankan film critic Tissa Abeyasekara raises a challenge to this view, acknowledging that, while there is cinema in Asia, it may not have developed a specifically Asian aesthetic or idiom. Noting cultural differences across Asia, he admits that Asian cinema does share at least two common elements--a lack of support for the medium and a lack of integration with the rich traditions of the plastic arts across the region. The book's third section, consisting of examples and studies from the various countries of Asia, proves the richest by far, particularly for a reader less familiar with Asian cinema. Satish Bahadur, a retired member of the Film and Television Institute of India, contributes a study of the cultural and historical factors that have shaped cinema in India, discussing themes, directors, styles, and audiences. For example, Indian life has made cinema an urban phenomenon, but one rooted in the culture of the village, with city dwellers still clinging to village values. This juxtaposition also helps to explain the side-by-side existence of the Bollywood film and the socially conscious film. Roberge adds another essay here that explores some specific films and their relationship to the Indian family. Rounding out the examination of India is Manjunath Pendakur, a professor of international communication at Northwestern University (USA). His essay on Indian documentary film traces the rise of an independent film industry, competing with official government documentary production. The cinema of other Asian countries receives briefer treatment. Tadao Sato, a Japanese film critic, penetratingly explores Japanese cinema by asking whether there is something "typically Japanese." His historical overview explains the rise of certain themes and approaches to acting and film making while relating these to the history of Japan in the twentieth century. Lawrence Saldanha, a film educator in Pakistan, surveys a young Pakistani industry, noting its mixed fortunes in the face of shifting government regulation. Nicasio Cruz, a film critic, traces the rise in Filipino cinema of the action spectacle and the teen heart-throb movie. Both connect to the immense popularity (and political success) of movie stars in Filipino culture. James Reuter, a film educator on the staff of the Catholic Church communication office, asks whether there is place for God in the midst of such spectacle and vulgar romance films. Finally, William Biernatzki, the editor of Communication Research Trends, and Taewon Suh, a university lecturer, provide an overview of cinema in the Republic of Korea. They look both at the state of the industry (affected by government quotas, censorship, and the threat of piracy) and at the development of a Korean aesthetic. The editors close the volume with reprinted "testimonies" from two great Indian directors: Satyajit Ray ("Why Do I Make Films?") and Shyam Benegal ("Values Are of Primary Importance to Me")." (https://www.thefreelibrary.com) more

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Catholics in the Cinema: A Strange History of Belief and Passion. Beginnings, 1895-1935

Robert Molhant

Brussels: International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audiovisual (OCIC) (2000), 45 pp.

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Teatro, templo y mercado: Comunicación y marketing de los nuevos pentecostales en América Latina

Leonildo Silveira Campos

Quito: Abya-Yala (2000), 427 pp.

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Tres décadas de educomunicación en América Latina: Caminos desde el Plan DENI

Pablo Ramos (ed.)

Quito: Organización Católica Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Comunicación (OCLACC) (2000), 500 pp.

"En este libro, rico en experiencias en el campo de la Educación para los Medios, la OCLACC rescata una deuda con el pasado de sus instituciones nacionales, además de iluminar los caminos recorridos por quienes en América Latina – reconocidos autores o maestros anónimos– han dedicado imagina ... ción, sabiduría y voluntad política a las experiencias en torno a la promoción de receptores críticos y de promotores activos de acciones comunicacionales. En el trabajo de Pablo Ramos algunos tópicos merecen ser destacados. El primero es la manera creativa con que el autor, partiendo del impulso fundador de Luis Campos Martínez, creador del Plan DENI, elabora la síntesis del pensamiento latinoamericano sobre la Educación para la Comunicación. Se trata de un texto sólido, indispensable para quienes están inmersos en la labor educomunicacional, especialmente para las jóvenes generaciones de especialistas en la materia. El segundo es la sistematización de investigaciones sobre la Educación para los Medios, producidas en los últimos diez años, socializando informaciones indispensables para quienes desean actualizar sus referenciales y metodologías en el campo de la recepción crítica. Finalmente, la valoración –no común en texto de esta naturaleza– del aporte del movimiento en torno al Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano al campo de la pedagogía de la recepción [...] Si es verdad – como señala Ramos–, que muchos de los proyectos pioneros no alcanzaron sobrevivir por falta de animadores interesados en el tema, otros, al contrario, florecen en el seno de la sociedad, bajo otras circunstancias promoviendo resultados muy animadores. La propia idea de la Educomunicación tomada no solamente como un conjunto de proyectos de Educación frente a los Medios, sino como un esfuerzo sistémico de planificación de procedimientos y prácticas destinadas a crear ecosistemas comunicacionales abiertos y democráticos en espacios educativos, ilustra y comprueba la hipótesis de que los proyectos tradicionales han cumplido su destino histórico de cambiar mentalidades y de provocar cambios culturales. El trabajo de Ramos permite al lector descubrir que las recordadas categorías de Graciela Carbone, mediante las cuales la autora intenta comprender los distintos momentos de confrontación y de aproximación entre Comunicación y Educación (divorcio, recelo, denuncia y vinculaciones) necesitan ser revisitadas. En este momento, el concepto de Educomunicación descrito por Ramos representa un esfuerzo de síntesis que permite llevar a espacios aún no visitados los ideales de una educación que facilite una nueva lectura de la cultura mediatizada por la información y, simultáneamente, el dibujo e instalación de políticas cada vez más democráticas, abiertas y participativas de comunicación. Se trata de un ideario que desde el inicio caracterizó el Plan DENI y los demás proyectos desarrollados a lo largo de los últimos 35 años por las Organizaciones Católicas de Comunicación. En este sentido, la OCLACC se refleja y se expone en el trabajo de Pablo Ramos, como una institución que ha sabido romper prejuicios y construir referentes y paradigmas que hoy ya pertenecen al dominio público." (Prólogo de Ismar de Oliveira Soares, páginas 5-6) more

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The Role and Governance of Community Radio Stations in Zambia: The Case of Radio Icengelo

Bright Phiri

Durban: University of Natal, Graduate Programme in Cultural and Media Studies, Master Thesis (2000), ix, 70 pp. + annexes

"This paper seeks to fill a necessary qualitative gap by focusing on the conceptual and operational characteristics of Radio Icengelo as a case study. Radio Icengelo is a Catholic-run community station launched in 1995, and situated in Kitwe on the Copperbelt province of Zambia. The paper further ex ... more

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Didaktik der religiösen Kommunikation: Die Vermittlung von Religion in Lebenswelt und Unterricht

Eckart Gottwald

Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag (2000), 169 pp.

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25th Aniversary of Macau Diocesan Social Communications Centre

Macau: Centro Diocesano dos Meios de Comunicaçã Social (2000), 81 pp.

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Radio Presence: A Collection of International Stories & Experiences

Angela Ann Zukowski, Pierre Bélanger (eds.)

Brussels: UNDA (2000), 255 pp.

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Ethics in Communications

Pontifical Council for Social Communications

Nairobi: Paulines (2000), 28 pp.

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Les Catholiques et le cinema: Une étrange histoire de craintes et de passions. Les débuts, 1895-1935

Robert Molhant

Brussels: International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audiovisual (OCIC) (2000), 54 pp.

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Ética nas comunicações sociais

Pontifício Conselho para as Comunicações Sociais

Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana (2000), 43 pp.

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Ética en las comunicaciones sociales

Pontificio Consejo para las Comunicaciones Sociales

Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana (2000), 44 pp.

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Foley: Kirche braucht Basis des Vertrauens zu Journalisten. Mediendiskussion auf der EXPO 2000

Christof Haverkamp

Communicatio Socialis, volume 33, issue 4 (2000), pp. 436-438

"Im Rahmen der Reihe "Vatikanische Gespräche" auf der EXPO 2000 in Hannover war im Pavillon des Heiligen Stuhls am 30. August 2000 auch die Rolle der Medien in Kirche und Gesellschaft das Thema eines Diskussionsabends. Darüber sprach Erzbischof John Patrick Foley, langjähriger Präsident des Päp ... more

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