The Williams Lake Film Club will be showing Of Gods and Men on Tuesday, Nov. 25.
The film will be shown at the Gibraltar Room at the Cariboo Memorial Complex starting at 7 p.m.
Back doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Released in 2010 Of Gods and Men was awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
The language is French and Arabic, with English subtitles, the length is 122 minutes. It is a French film, the original title is Des Hommes et des Dieux.
This film is based on true occurrences described in the book The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria by John W. Kiser.
It is a film about Christian-Muslim friendship in a remote community in Algeria’s Atlas Mountains in North Africa.
This community was created during the Algerian war for independence when Algeria was bombed by the French and people fled to the protection of the monastery, a holy place where Christians sheltered them until they could build their own homes.
Despite pleas in 1996 by both French and Algerian authorities to leave for a safer place when threatened by Islamic extremists, the monks remained at their remote monastery out of a deep sense of commitment to their extended family of villagers who depended on them for moral, medical, and material support.
Like their neighbours, the monks trembled with fear at night.
They argued among themselves: does the Good Shepherd abandon his flock when the wolves come? Does a mother abandon a sick child which could infect her?
Do their vows allow for them to flee to safer ground when their friends cannot?
When seven of the monks were kidnapped, it was not their neighbours who did it.
It was done by an outside group — and something went terribly wrong.
As John Kiser said, universal fraternal love is the essence of Christianity and all true religion. As Abbot Christian of the monastery frequently said, if religion does not help us to live together, it is worthless.
Of Gods and Men will give you much food for thought.
Once more we will have old-fashioned German Advent Calendars available for you at the entrance. They are $2 each. You tape them on a window so that the light can shine through once you open the little doors. They are a total delight for children and adults alike. We have them on our window every year.
All funds raised by the Williams Lake Film Club help to support the LDA, Williams Lake Chapter of the Association for Students with Learning Disabilities.
Your help is thoroughly appreciated. A big thank you!
Admission to the film is $9 for regular admission, $8 for film club members, and $6 for seniors and students both high school students and college/university students.