This five-part series of educational films, aimed at 16-18
year old students of theology and religious studies, discusses some of the
complex ethical issues surrounding one of the biggest questions: if there is a
God, why is there evil in the world? Examining various theodicies linked to the
topic,
The Problem of Evil has one central evil at the heart of it – to
help tie everything together – and that is the Holocaust, represented
sensitively-but-honestly with stunning archive film.
The main four films (which I shot and edited) provide
the in-depth starter knowledge to help inspire and sustain informed and
passionate debate within the classroom, while the fifth film (for which I
wrote the script and edited) provides an optional brief history of the
Holocaust, from the election of Adolf Hitler, through the end of World War II,
and beyond to the present day.
Editing this series provided some interesting creative
challenges (as evidenced in the third video clip below), not only in continuing to produce visually-arresting educational
films that didn't resemble the staid affairs I remembered from my own high
school days, but also in sensitively dealing with tragic subject matter – most
specifically the Holocaust. The main four films all exhibit sequences relating
to the subject, but the key was to not push too far with the footage, while
maintaining an honest and educational approach to the material.
However, we also felt that it was important to provide an
optional extra on the DVD – the aforementioned The Holocaust: A Brief History
– which fully lays bare the horrors of those events in a truthful manner that
avoids audience manipulation. It isn't required viewing in a class room, but
teachers have been provided with the choice to show it, or alternatively
utilise the script (provided on the DVD with comprehensive teacher's notes).
Once again, by working on an educational DVD, a challenge
was offered to create strong and interesting visual representations of the
complex theological issues and ideas being put forward by the narration. I was
able to tweak and improve upon previously used techniques, as well as try out
some new ideas across all the films, to keep the presentation fresh and
absorbing.
Click “READ MORE” below to watch preview clips of all five
films featured in The Problem of Evil, and see what people think of the films themselves...
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