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This article asks about the processes of "seeing the other" using the medium of cinema. Films discussed include Baraka, West Bank Story, Eve and the Fire Horse, and Babette's Feast. Each demonstrates unique perspectives on distinct religious traditions, exploring differences as well as resemblances. Two consequences emerge. First, films are not merely "escape" that people watch and then forget about. Instead, what we see "on screen" changes our relationships with other people "off screen". Watching movies becomes part of the social construction of reality, constructing our understandings of race, religion, gender, nationality, and ethnicity. Thus, films that demonstrate strong interreligious connections may affect our perceptions of seeing each other. Second, comparing these films allows us to see how interreligious connections are not merely about "dialogue", but about shared food, smells, sights, and spatial locations. The sensate body stands at the heart of religious life, as well as the heart of interreligious connections.
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