IMAX is the ideal format for panoramic presentations and the producers of the new film, Jerusalem, Taran Davies, George Duffield and Daniel Ferguson, use this venue to highlight the magnificence of the ultimate holy city, focal point of the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions.
The producers put it this way: “Our goal is to look at the roots of the universal attachment to Jerusalem: Jewish, Christian and Muslim. We hope the juxtaposition of these different religions and cultures – all with profound spiritual connections to the city – will reveal how much Jews, Christians and Muslims have in common and inspire all of us to better understand each other.”
That is a noble goal and all well and good, but what separates this film from the traditional is its use of three Jerusalemite teenage girls to tell its story. Farah Ammouri, a Muslim; Nadia Tadros, from a Greek Orthodox and Catholic family; and Revital Zacharie, a Jew, all tell the story of Jerusalem from their different points of view which lifts this film from being traditional to loftier heights.
IMAX is the frame for this innovative presentation which is narrated by the ubiquitous Benedict Cumberbatch and University of North Carolina-Chapel Lead Archeologist, Jodi Magness, lends a scientific sheen to the film.
All-in-all, the film is able to pack into its forty-minute presentation both a panoramic view of Jerusalem and an average person’s slant on the magnificent city of Jerusalem, no mean feat, and that makes it well worth seeing.
The film is now showing at The Kentucky Science Center. For more information, visit kysciencecenter.org/info-and-events.