Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere

Prof. Francisca Cho | Georgetown University

“A BUDDHIST THEORY OF FILM”

The relationship between Buddhism and Film is often defined in terms of how films depict Buddhists and Buddhism to a broad Western audience, and how films (both with and without Buddhist characters) can depict Buddhist concepts, values, and practices. In this talk, I explore some ideas about how Buddhist thought can help us to understand the medium and phenomenon of film itself as being religiously significant. Contemporary film studies is well aware of the power of film and seeks to understand this power from cognitive perspectives, as well as to critique its potential ideological maneuvers. Buddhist thought can be used, in contrast, to see how film’s unique ability to turn illusion into reality is a liberating religious lesson.

Francisca Cho is Professor of Buddhist Studies at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on the expression of Buddhism through aesthetic media such as fiction, poetry, and film. Her latest book is Seeing Like the Buddha: Enlightenment through Film (SUNY Press, 2017).