Professor of Religious Studies S.B. Rodríguez-Plate recently presented an invited keynote lecture at Amsterdam’s Vrije University. Rodríguez-Plate’s talk, “Carnal Cinema,” was part of Vrije’s INTERFILM conference titled “From Darkness to Light: Hope in Contemporary Cinema.”
Rodríguez-Plate said “Carnal Cinema” worked through a lens of creative autobiography and demonstrated their ongoing fascination with cinema. Playfully examining the bodily dimensions of film viewing, they made an argument for the ways cinema can open us up to new experiences, new identities, and new intimacies.
“The activity of cinema becomes one of public intimacy, filled with hope and possibilities for transformation,” Rodríguez-Plate said.
Posted October 23, 2025
