Film schools partner with Vatican for programs on human condition

Published: 2008-05-13

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The New York Film Academy is partnering with the Vatican and a Mexican film school to offer new programs to help aspiring filmmakers tell their stories from a more human, spiritual dimension. "Film has extraordinary potential" to delve into the meaning of life, go beyond the superficial, "transcend reality" and encounter the human soul, said Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture. The archbishop and others spoke at a May 13 press conference at the Vatican to unveil four initiatives to help future filmmakers get hands-on experience and become more effective in delivering a message about the human condition to their audiences. The Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Higher Education Center for Cinematographic Production in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the New York Film Academy are sponsoring the alternative filmmaking initiatives.

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