Introduction to the Biblical Lenses

Hello there! My name is Lily Davis, and I am a training theologian at Yale Divinity School. While my background and education are not in film, I unflinchingly believe in the power of film. I also believe in the beauty, nuance, and power of the Bible.

As a filmmaker being invited to approach the Bible, you may have various reactions: skepticism, trust, apathy, appreciation, confusion, intrigue, all of the above, or maybe none of the above! During my Master’s in Christian Theology, I'll be the first to say I have felt every mix and shade of those emotions.

Recognising the complex ways the Bible is perceived and understood, my goal is simple: to create a resource to empower you as you approach the Bible.

To do this, I've created five immersive articles reflecting on themes that surround this year's commission: Incarnation, Identity, Neighbour, Grief, and Imagination. Feel free to click through to these articles, but I see these as a filmmaker's User Guide, and I'd like to tell you why.

Film holds infinite possibilities for imagination. It tells stories while bringing the other in, beckoning them to be there, be present, and be changed.

These reflections are lenses: something for the filmmaker to look through and perhaps glimpse something new.

Though I'm personally writing from a Christian background, my honest intent is for these to be invitations. And each invitation is addressed to you, the filmmaker, from me, saying, “Come, let's look, think, and make together.”

Each Lens follows a broadly consistent structure: a biblical passage, a theological reflection, examples of films that wrestle with similar questions, and prompts for further consideration.

By opening with an extract from the Bible, I hope that you will encounter these lenses not as simply abstract ideas, but as themes grounded in the rich, complicated worlds of the biblical text. For example, in Grief, we don't first approach grief as an ambiguous experience of death. Instead, it is considered through the life and loss of the historical King David.

The theological reflection that follows is intended to guide the filmmaker from the world of the text into the inner work of theological reflection. Here, each essay offers my own dialogue with the passage — my wrestling with its themes, tensions, and implications. These reflections are intentionally personal, not because my perspective is the best, truest, or most important, but because they offer an honest glimpse into my own process of meaning-making and engagement with the Bible. I hope that, by seeing how I wrestle with these texts and themes, you will feel emboldened to question, imagine, and cultivate your own vision.

The Films to Consider at the end of each article are not illustrations of the "right" answer. They are films that, in different ways, wrestle with the same questions raised by the biblical text. If you can, watch them. Pay attention not only to what they say, but also to how they say it. What emotions, images, or tensions linger for you? What conversations do they invite? Let them challenge or excite your own instincts as a storyteller.

Each essay also concludes with questions for development. These are not comprehension questions but creative ones. They are designed to accompany the early stages of story development. If something resonates, write your first responses without overthinking them. Then return to the questions after sitting with the biblical passage or after watching one of the recommended films. Notice what has changed. Ask new questions. Follow unexpected threads.

Incarnation

We increasingly trust AI models with no body. How does the idea of the divine becoming human change how we see that trust?

Identity

What turns someone from a face in the crowd into a person we cannot replace, and how can filmmakers capture that shift?

Neighbour

In a world of curated connections, what stories emerge when we stop choosing who belongs and start noticing who is there?

Grief

If AI can recreate someone we have lost, what separates keeping their memory alive from refusing to let them go?

Imagination

Does your film show the world as it is, or invite us to imagine what it could become?

These essays are intentionally longer because they are meant to model a process rather than simply communicate an idea. Read them slowly. Return to them during development. They are not commission briefs or prescriptive frameworks. They are invitations into a way of engaging with the ancient text of the Bible that welcomes curiosity, disagreement, and creation. Wherever you approach these essays from, I hope that they will encourage you to wrestle deeply with the biblical text and discover the stories that only you can tell.