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| Introduction  Bill Mousoulis Independent film director What I ask of a work of art is that it should have either Grace or Fury, and that it should deliver either Wisdom or Mystery.
So says the eminent film critic John Flaus, and who am I to disagree? I myself have always been attracted to cinema as the prime art form, because of its innate ability to capture and/or create an entire world – the world (reality itself) or, indeed, the world of our experiences. Questions of humanity, of “spirituality” if you like, are always at the forefront of films, yes, every film – but, these questions are more like answers most of the time, especially in the homogenised product of Hollywood. Away from Hollywood, away from the cliches and platitudes, there are films that dare to question, provoke, catalyse (they have Fury), and there are others that pierce through the cliches to something true, sublime, beautiful (they have Grace). Undoctrinate is a brilliant short film that has Fury and delivers Mystery. Mystery is no mean feat, especially in this day and age. This film is like a severe European art film, like a Haneke (The White Ribbon) or Dumont (Twentynine Palms). It has an imaginative soundtrack, some razor-sharp editing, and only one word (apart from the title) – but what a word, and, never let it be said that there is no difference between upper and lower case letters! Alike Alove and My Mother, My Friend have Grace and deliver Wisdom. One film is about the joy of parenting, the other about the sorrow of separation. Life and Death. Alike Alove skirts close to advertising aesthetics, with its “happy” images and baby sounds, but it is not only about joy, it is joyous in itself. Precise framing and slow-flow dissolves, of photos, and then a magical cut to moving images – the cinema as metaphor for life, the breath of life. My Mother, My Friend is on the surface a simple documentary, but its protagonist/narrator is wonderfully candid and a great storyteller to boot. She recalls the moment she is told her mother will die, “she’s going to die”, and at such a moment, her only response is silence, and the film captures this silence, this deep existential sorrow of death, with … yes, silence, no music, no commentary. Now that’s wisdom. Outlawed and Framed have Fury and deliver Wisdom. Outlawed is an ingenious melding of thriller tension and personal diary cinema. Within the chaos, within the confused landscape of multiculturalism and racism combined, there is the human voice saying “Hey, say hello, don’t be afraid”. Framed is an all-too-familiar tale, down the ages, of religious persecution and social engineering. Human nature is a complex place, full of the most beautiful good, and the most terrible evil. Can the evil be eradicated, one day? Can humans evolve? Short films, unlike most features, have a real chance of delving into important life issues in a more personal and interesting way, and these five films prove that. Also, short films are generally produced by younger filmmakers, who are dying to express themselves, their feelings. Cinema is the most wondrous of mediums for investigating the important issues in life. And art in general is one of life’s great salvations. Bill Mousoulis is an independent filmmaker alternating between Melbourne and Europe. He has made over 90 films since 1982. He formed the Melbourne Super 8 Film Group in 1985, the online journal Senses of Cinema in 1999, and currently presides over the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers website. 
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Faith Responses In ascending order of Australian representation (ABS, 2006)
|  [Baha'i] Undoctrinate illuminates two truths about a life of faith. First, those of us seeking nearness to God must eschew blind imitation of past traditions. We must be especially wary of any tradition that emphasises adherence to doctrine over creating authentic bonds of human fellowship. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, a central figure of the Bahá'í Faith, analyses the dynamics of blind imitation this way: In past centuries the nations of the world have imagined that the law of God demanded blind imitation of ancestral forms of belief and worship....
At the same time the basic foundation of the religion of God, which was ever the principle of love, unity and the fellowship of humanity, has been forsaken and cast aside, each religious system holding tenaciously to imitations of ancestral forms as the supreme essential. Therefore, hatred and hostility have appeared in the world instead of the divine fruitage of unity and love. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá contrasts this pattern of past centuries with modern times in which “it has come to pass that we are renouncing all that savors of blind imitation, and impartially and independently investigating truth.” Such investigation leads us to see that it is possible to exchange G-d for God without sacrificing our faith.
Undoctrinate goes further than this, though, to exchange God with god. This second exchange, in my reading, illuminates a second truth: as an alternative to blind imitation, the blind questioning of all authority often supplants the impartial investigation of truth. Such blind questioning does not seek answers and, in forgoing a focus on truth, undermines the foundations of human happiness. God becomes god all too easily in modern times; He even dies.
Bahá'u'lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, voicing the call of God to humanity, explains this dynamic in a metaphor apt for the anonymous axe-wielder in Undoctrinate: “O MOVING FORM OF DUST! I desire communion with thee, but thou wouldst put no trust in Me. The sword of thy rebellion hath felled the tree of thy hope.”
In my experience, a life of faith demands that we avoid both the extreme of blind imitation and the extreme of blind questioning. We must live in the tension generated by a relentless posing of questions in a relentless search after truth. In that tension, we find new ways to embody “the basic foundation of the religion of God, which was ever the principle of love, unity and the fellowship of humanity.”
John Bush
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|  Joey George's My Mother, My Friend, has a powerful underlying message. When Jenny speaks to her Mother; "Thankyou for making me, and making our family beautiful", she shows true appreciation for all the love and guidance her mother has given her. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, recognise the importance of the 10 Commandments. Jenny here is showing a great example of the 5th commandment: honour your father and mother. The film highlights just how strong and loving the bond between a parent and child can be. We should strive to honour our parents in our own way. How do you honour your parents? Max Gross
Young Adult Co-ordinator, Union of Progressive Judaism | Facilitator, Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia |
|  [ Framed] This short film is about Christianity and the translation of the Bible into a local language. It deals with the issue that religion has an important role in every individual’s life. The main character, Kate, is a translator. To do her work, she has to overcome huge resistance, and it is revealed at the last that many people just like Kate are “framed”, sacrificing their life to translate and publish Bible. There is an underlying message, which I think is that religion can be used as a tool to bring change in a society, and in life as well. As the film says, “Today lives have been changed”. A touching short film. Dharma Theja
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|  [Outlawed] My gut reaction to watching this film was that it describes a personal account of a Middle Eastern man’s journey on a train and subsequent abduction, in a realistic and gritty form. What I liked about the film was that the man’s journey on the train could happen to anyone and how it depicts the way people are so quick to judge others on their appearance.
One of the messages I took from this film was that if you want to find out about something, go to the source instead of relying on second hand information. We should judge ourselves before we dare to judge others.
The narrative at the end of the film echoes the sentiment that effective communication is a key tool to achieving peace in Australia and the world.
Jim Selim
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|  A man hacks purposefully and methodically at a large tree in a forest; a hand writes, erases and rewrites various versions of a single word on a lined page. I was drawn to Undoctrinate because it stayed with me for some time after the first viewing – mainly because the director uses the medium thoughtfully and confidently, and approaches his subject from an intriguing oblique angle. The film is neither ham-fistedly didactic nor simplistic – two elements that tend all too frequently to undermine (if not thoroughly deaden) cinema with ‘spiritual’ content or thematic focus. In short, it’s an engaging experimental journey through spiritual quandary and frustration, and an accomplished piece of filmmaking. Diane Cook
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|  [ My Mother, My Friend] This short film emotionally enveloped me. It portrayed death as the random, frightening, tragic fact of life that it is. In the protagonist's reflection on the moments leading up to her mother’s death, I was on the edge of my seat and lost for breath. However, despite her honesty and bravery for sharing this story, she lost me in the final frame. As an atheist, to me death is the end. That is what makes it sad, and that is what makes life so special. I feel the prospect of Heaven and eternal life, whilst understandably comforting in moments of death, is contrary to evidence and merely wishful thinking. To me, it belittles the importance of living in the moment, as well the emotionally devastating reality of losing a loved one. The hopeful and tranquil notion of Heaven - no doubt one of the most widely held beliefs in our society - comes so naturally to us that we do not realise the logical and rational contradictions of the concept unless we stop and think about it clearly. Still, I learnt from this film, as much as I've learnt with my own experiences of death, that we must live each day as if it could be our last, and to make it known to those close to us how much we love and appreciate them. Jason Ball
President, University of Melbourne Secular Society |
|  We live in a digital age when films are frequently being saturated with special effects and arresting images at the expense of plots, characters and even storyline. And so it is exciting to see short films that are both visually impressive and intellectually, emotionally and spiritually stimulating. As films to stimulate discussion and contemplation, they are simply outstanding. Framed is a confronting short film on the reality of modern day Christian persecution and martyrdom. It is violent and raises challenging issues that require maturity and is therefore not-suitable for children. The film shows persecution for what it is -- horrible, terrifying, evil -- and thus avoids falling into the great temptation and common failing of many others who glamorise martyrdom. Teaching or discussion on the subject of suffering for one's faith requires attention to two elements -- shock and hope. - Shock. Persecution is not glamorous, it is violent and shocking and dangerously close. As such, some degree of shock is essential, not only for the sake of realism, but in order to shatter the unreality we live in -- an unreality that says persecution can't happen to us because it only happens to other people who are different from us; people who are far away geographically, culturally or historically.
- Hope. God is sovereign, compassionate and faithful. He never leaves his children and his plans cannot be thwarted, even when evil appears to be winning. God can be trusted and he is building his Church, just as he promised.
The story of 'Kate Masters' opens the door to discussion and contemplation of these issues. Issues that can be -- indeed should be -- discussed are: - the contemporary reality and confronting nature of persecution and martyrdom;
- the divine strength that is promised to faithful believers who wait upon the Lord (Isaiah 40:27-31) for his all-sufficient grace (2 Corinthians 12:9). This is a supernatural strength that enables ordinary, humble believers to endure what might have been considered unendurable. Neither Kate (a mature missionary) nor the local teenage convert buckle under the pressure of suffering and threat of death. As such, they are victorious over their captors who could not turn them. Even the young teenage convert, as she expresses her assurance that "it's alright", knows that her inheritance is in heaven.
- the extent of Kate's victory and God's faithfulness. This is revealed in the postscript which explains that Kate's translation work was later recovered and published. Because of this the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17) is now in the hands and homes of multitudes of local believers. It is being read and it is changing lives in the land for which Kate shed her blood and gave her life. Death was not the end for her, for she lives on in glory on account of Christ's work on the Cross. Death was not the end of her work, which also lives on and is being used by the Holy Spirit of God to save many.
For more on this issue see Persecution - whatever that is
The closing scene, of a wall full of photos of Christian martyrs from every "tribe and language and people and nation" (Rev 5:9), is a powerful reminder of the global nature of the contemporary church, where martyrs have names like
Graham Staines (58, Australian Christian humanitarian in India; martyred/burned January 1999);
Dr. Martha Myers (57, American Christian humanitarian doctor in Yemen; martyred/shot Dec 2002),
Jiang Zongxiu (34, Chinese female evangelist; martyred/bashed June 2004);
Archbishop Paulus Faraj Rahho (65, leader of Chaldean Church, Nth Iraq; martyred/kidnapped by Islamic militants -- died in custody, March 2008);
Mansur Mohamed (25, Somali convert from Islam; martyred/beheaded 2008);
Ravi Murmu (28, Indian evangelist, martyred/hacked May 2010) etc... I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
(Jesus, Matthew 16:18 ESV)
Elizabeth Kendal
International Religious Liberty analyst and advocate  [Undoctrinate] “Short” is not a strong enough term to describe the blip of two images that weirdly are what I remember best of all five films I saw here. However, the image of a man hacking away inadequately at an imposingly large tree and the word representing “God” gradually becoming more familiarized by filling in a gap and de-capitalising the G teased me for quite a while. How much do we hack away at our idea of God, trying to make God more accessible, less mysterious, more containable? That man with his little axe it seems will never conquer the tree, and has no strategy for the time it ever comes crashing down. Rather than trying to reduce the tree to woodchips, what would happen if the man decided to sit in its shade and listen to the birds that find refuge in the branches? It seems a much less futile, more gentle way of finding out more about the tree. Similarly, even though I have loved academic theological study, the best way I have found to connect to God is to stop my deconstructive efforts for long enough to quietly sit and observe and hear from those who have genuine encounters of grace. What if we took the gentler way? Jude Waldron
Rev. Jude Waldron, Armadale Baptist Church |
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