The theme for the 2020 Venice Buddhist Film Festival is “What is Faith?” The Film Festival will run on four consecutive Sundays, March 1 through March 22, starting at 11:30AM at the Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple.
Light refreshments will be available and a short discussion will follow each film. Cost is free, donations gladly accepted. For more information about the Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Film Festival, contact Richard Modiano or Judy Hopfield.
March 1
I Confess (USA, 1953, 91 minutes)
Otto Keller and his wife Alma work as caretaker and housekeeper at a Catholic church in Québec City, Québec. While robbing a house where he sometimes works as a gardener, Otto is caught and kills the owner. Racked with guilt, he heads back to the church where Father Michael Logan is working late. Otto confesses his crime, but when the police begin to suspect Father Logan, he cannot reveal what he has been told in the confessional.
Starring Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Grand Prize nomination, Cannes Film Festival (1953).
March 8
Pickpocket (France, 1960, 75 minutes)
This incomparable story of crime and redemption from the French master Robert Bresson follows Michel, a young pickpocket who spends his days working the streets, subway cars, and train stations of Paris. As his compulsive pursuit of the thrill of stealing grows, however, so does his fear that his luck is about to run out.
March 15
Pickpocket (France, 1966, 120 minutes)
When the highly respected British statesman Sir Thomas More refuses to pressure the Pope into annulling the marriage of King Henry VIII and his Spanish-born wife, More’s clashes with the monarch increase in intensity. A devout Catholic, More stands by his religious principles.
March 22
Sensou to Seishun (War and Youth, 戦争と青春) (Japan, 1991, 112 minutes)
Yuta Hanabusa runs an auto repair shop in a section of Tokyo near the Sumida River. His daughter Yukari has an uncommon interest in what happened to her Aunt Sakiko during the fire-bombing of Tokyo during WWII; her father remains reticent. Finally, Yuta opens up, and his daughter is able to piece together her aunt’s tragic story.