New Orleans / initiated 2022
Cinema Sanctuary
Initiated by Zachary Pine and Christopher Givens in Spring 2022, Cinema Sanctuary is a film series exploring varieties of spiritual experience, existential crisis, and encounters with the sacred.
The first iteration was generously hosted by the First Unitarian Universalist Church and Community Center. A shifting community of organizers and presenters helped make the series a welcoming place where viewers could experience and discuss meaningful, diverse stories through cinema.
The screen is a gathering point: a means of slowing down, thinking critically, and building relationships around images that resist easy consumption. The project returns in Fall 2026 at the Church of Hotel Peter & Paul, continuing its commitment to films otherwise unseen in New Orleans and to conversations shaped by local artists, writers, musicians, and community groups.
Past organizers and presenters
Chelsea Braun, Josh Stover, Dan Miller, Isabel Owen, Lauren Plevy, Sophia Sells, Derek Zimmer, Henry Griffin, Michael Syrimis, Ivan, Chris Givens, Zach Pine, Cameron Jeffries, Max Akin, Dorian Rolston, and many more.
Screening History
First RunSummer 2022
Cemetery of SplendorApichatpong Weerasethakul · 2015 · Thailand
The Devil, ProbablyRobert Bresson · 1977 · France
MirrorAndrei Tarkovsky · 1975 · Soviet Union
Ordet + Silent LightCarl Theodor Dreyer / Carlos Reygadas · double feature
Meshes of the Afternoon + OrpheusMaya Deren & Alexander Hammid / Jean Cocteau · double feature
The Tree of LifeTerrence Malick · 2011 · United States
Woman in the DunesHiroshi Teshigahara · 1964 · Japan
YeelenSouleymane Cissé · 1987 · Mali
The Elephant ManDavid Lynch · 1980 · United States
Fall Season2022
Portrait of a Lady on FireCéline Sciamma · 2019 · France
TeoremaPier Paolo Pasolini · 1968 · Italy
Chega de Fiu Fiu + Belladonna of SadnessAmanda Kamanchek & Fernanda Frazão / Eiichi Yamamoto
Funeral Parade of RosesToshio Matsumoto · 1969 · Japan
Parting GlancesBill Sherwood · 1986 · United States
An Angel at My TableJane Campion · 1990 · New Zealand
BuddiesArthur J. Bressan Jr. · 1985 · United States
LetoKirill Serebrennikov · 2018 · Russia
Taste of CherryAbbas Kiarostami · 1997 · Iran
Spring Season2023
L’ArgentRobert Bresson · 1983 · France
4:44 Last Day on EarthAbel Ferrara · 2011 · United States
The Color of Pomegranates + Valerie and Her Week of WondersSergei Parajanov / Jaromil Jireš · double feature
After LifeHirokazu Kore-eda · 1998 · Japan
Wings of DesireWim Wenders · 1987 · West Germany / France
The Last CommandJosef von Sternberg · 1928 · United States
Margaret (Extended Cut)Kenneth Lonergan · 2011 · United States
DreamsAkira Kurosawa · 1990 · Japan
Summer Season2023
Leningrad Cowboys Go AmericaAki Kaurismäki · 1989 · Finland
God’s CountryLouis Malle · 1985 · United States / France
All That Heaven AllowsDouglas Sirk · 1955 · United States
The Ice StormAng Lee · 1997 · United States
Fall Season2023
God’s CountryLouis Malle · 1985 · United States / France
The Ice StormAng Lee · 1997 · United States
All That Heaven AllowsDouglas Sirk · 1955 · United States
KikujiroTakeshi Kitano · 1999 · Japan
IdaPaweł Pawlikowski · 2013 · Poland
Babette’s FeastGabriel Axel · 1987 · Denmark
Don’t Look NowNicolas Roeg · 1973 · United Kingdom / Italy
Cinema Sanctuary — overview and complete screening history (PDF) ↗