Christianity as lived in daily life by a Flemish family with three children, two of them with serious disabilities; a faithful biography, based on unpublished historical documents, of the French Jesuit philosopher and scientist Teilhard de Chardin; documentaries on the life and faith of the gipsies in Romania or on the hidden forms of poverty in the rich city of Geneva: just some of the themes of the films screened in recent days at the 21st year of the Prix Farel, the international festival of films with a religious background that closes today, 4 October, in Neuchatel, in Switzerland. Some thirty films were entered for the prize, subdivided into three categories (short, long and medium), most of them documentaries transmitted over the last two years on public and private TV channels in France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg. It’s an annual festival with a strong ecumenical character: the films entered for the award are of Catholic, Protestant or other religious inspiration. The jury too is interconfessional. Over a hundred participants gathered in the Theatre du Passage from morning to evening to view the films and await the verdict of the jury, which will be announced today, at an official ceremony in the afternoon that will conclude the festival. “The prizes will go to films that, apart from their quality and technical aspects, are able to propose to viewers a deep spiritual message and a message of hope”, explains André Kolly, organizer of the Prix Farex. The winners of the three categories will be given a cash prize of 2000 Swiss francs and a bas-relief sculpted by the Swiss artist Francis Berthoud. The many themes and stories treated in the films include the experience of French Protestants in the “Café biblique”, the American community of the Amish who live with religious and social rules in complete contrast to modernity, the genocide in Rwanda, and the new phenomenon of the evangelical churches imported from the USA that have made headway among Swiss youth, often mixing together religion and politics.
