Contemporary films can inspire, challenge, and illustrate important life lessons. They allow the instructor to explore faith and spiritual issues using media familiar to students. This resource can help reawaken desensitized students to a vision of God’s plan and purpose for their lives. Use of these films can promote religious and moral values and encourage spiritual growth as young people grow in an appreciation of God’s activity in creation and human experience.

Volume 1 provides materials on twenty films that can be used in the religion classroom, for retreats, or with youth groups. The volume suggests ways to help students view films critically and to evaluate their messages. It seeks to help adolescents develop standards to judge what they see portrayed and promotes values and convictions basic to our baptismal calling in the modern world. Lessons include length and rating of each film, themes, scriptural applications, brief summaries, notes to the teacher, reflections, prayers, optional activities, and meaningful reproducible handouts to guide student discussion.

Titles included are as follows: As Good As It Gets; Babette’s Feast; Brother Sun, Sister Moon; Contact; Dead Man Walking; Dead Poet’s Society; A Few Good Men; Gandhi; The Lion King; A Man for All Seasons; The Man Without a Face; Pay It Forward; Rain Man; Regarding Henry; Remember the Titans; Rudy; The Saint of Fort Washington; Schindler’s List; School Ties; 28 Days.