Talk at the BFI's Reuben library

I had an enjoyable evening speaking at the British Film Institute's Reuben Library last Monday (23rd Feb).

I was talking about my book "100 Bible Films" and focussed on two areas: the biblical films made by some of the great auteurs such as Rossellini, Pasolini, Godard, Buñuel, Scorsese etc. as well as those that have proved very controversial over time – often those made by the same directors, but also including the Pythons, Mel Gibson and many others. Finally I talked about the productions that have emerged since the book, including The Chosen, though I had to skip some of this in to keep to time.

There was some high-spirited debate afterwards. I always regret having to leave out certain films (this almost finished me off when I was writing the book!) and one guest was disappointed I had missed out The Greatest Story Ever Told (which we agreed was incredibly beautiful). Another guest asked about non-white portrayals of Jesus as I'd not really discussed these very much. It was a very valid question as usually this is core part of what I discuss, and I was a little disappointed that I'd not covered some of these given I normally do.

Thanks to everyone who came and special thanks to both Ian Sullivan from the BFI for hosting me and his colleague David Eagle for the photos, which are used with permission. You can see more of them here.

If you'd like me to speak at your event, please just get in touch.