oughts on NOING BAD CAN HAPPEN

Much of the feedback we've received from audiences about Nothing Bad Can Happen, the film we bought out of Cannes last year that's currently in theaters, is that it's both beautiful and brutal at the same time. We agree, and this duality is a big part of what drew us to the film. But that's not to say it isn't a challenging film to watch; the very act of watching it is visceral. The film also raises a lot of questions about faith and spirituality what it means to have faith, what it means to take a literal interpretation of the words of Jesus and the church, what are the potential difficulties with using civil disobedience to resist evil, etc.

As part of Drafthouse Films' mission to share films we love, we wanted to also share the experience of this film in particular directly with our audience. For that reason, we decided to facilitate a theological conversation around Nothing Bad Can Happen immediately after showing it here in Austin. Much like watching the film itself, engaging in the conversation was a pretty powerful experience for many people who attended. We discussed whether Tore was, in fact, a Christ-like figure; an atheist group asked whether Tore's actions are in line with traditional Christian ideals, to which a number of people responded quite differently; one woman, brought almost to tears, shared how completely moved she was by Tore's sacrifice; parallels were drawn to Dostoevsky's The Idiot, a work that influenced Katrin Gebbe, the director, in the making of this film; and the conversation became impassioned at times as different people from all walks of life and persuasions of faith shared in the way the film made them feel.

This is it, for us. This is what makes our jobs awesome, and why we want to continue bringing films like Nothing Bad Can Happen to wider audiences. Without expounding too much upon the meaning of film, let's just say we think film as an art form should not exist within a vacuum, and that it should both reflect and cause us to reflect upon life itself. This film accomplishes both of those objectives, and it was fascinating to talk about it with an audience. We can't wait to do it again.

LINK:	http://drafthousefilms.com/blog/entry/thoughts-on-nothing-bad-can-happ...
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