The first film shown for the third annual Sun Valley Film Festival will have plenty of support. "The Power of Forgiveness," directed by Martin Doblmeier, will be screened at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, at the Sun Valley Opera House.
The film is sponsored by the Wood River Jewish Community, Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood, Light on the Mountains Spiritual Center, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, St. Thomas Episcopal Church and Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church.
Scheduled for broadcast on public television in early 2008, the film features Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh and best-selling authors Thomas Moore and Marianne Williamson. It also features vignettes on the Amish, Ground Zero and Northern Ireland that demonstrate how physical, mental and spiritual benefits may be obtained through forgiveness.
In attendance at the Opera House will be Azim Khamisa, a father whose teenaged son was killed by a 14-year-old boy. Featured in the film, he will speak about his subsequent work with youth around the country. The valley-based clergy will be part of a question-and-answer period with Khamisa following the film.
Prior to the film screening, Rabbi Barney Brickner and the Wood River Jewish Community will hold a Shabbat Shuval at 5:30 p.m. at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ketchum. The service is referred to as the Sabbath of Forgiveness. Everyone in the community and the clergy are invited.
On Saturday, Sept. 15, there will be a panel discussion on forgiveness and reconciliation, moderated by the Very Reverend Dr. Brian Baker. Panelists will include Dr. Khaleel Mohammed, an associate professor of religious studies at San Diego State University. Mohammed is a member of the university's Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies, and is a specialist in Islamic law. Also on hand will be documentary film maker and producer Steve Crisman, University of San Diego philosophy Professor Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Father Frank Desiderio, president of Paulist Productions.
For more information on the Spiritual Film Festival, to be held Sept. 14 through 16, visit svspiritualfilmfestival.org.
?The Power of Forgiveness? will open the third annual Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival.
