ALLEGANY, N.Y. — St. Bonaventure University will host a Feb. 1 screening of a new film about St. Francis and the Sultan of Egypt that explores the spiritual exchange between these two men of faith amid a 13th century battlefield of horror.
“The Sultan and the Saint,” a docudrama about Muslim-Christian relations, features historical content about their meeting provided by several experts affiliated with St. Bonaventure.
The public is invited to the Feb. 1, screening, which will be held in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts on campus. The event will begin with a reception from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Quick Center Atrium, followed by the showing of the film in the Rigas Theater and a question-and-answer session.
The program is expected to conclude at 8:30 p.m. There is no charge to attend.
The screening is sponsored by St. Bonaventure’s Center for Arab and Islamic Studies, the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and the Franciscan Action Network.
In the year 1219, during the height of the bloody Christian-Muslim conflict known as the Crusades, Saint Francis of Assisi risked his life by walking across enemy lines to meet the Sultan of Egypt, the Muslim ruler Al-Malik al-Kamil. This remarkable encounter, and the commitment to peace of the two men behind it, presented an alternative to the persistent call for war.
Among those who shared their expertise on Franciscans and Islam for the film were Fr. Michael Calabria, O.F.M., director of St. Bonaventure’s Center for Arab and Islamic Studies; Fr. Michael Cusato, O.F.M., distinguished professor of Franciscan studies at the university; and Sr. Kathy Warren, O.S.F., a 2002 Franciscan studies graduate. In addition, St. Bonaventure alumnus Patrick Opitz, ’01, an IMDb-credited actor, had a small role as an extra in the film.
More information about the film is available atwww.sultanandthesaintfilm.com.
The film was produced by Unity Productions Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to create peace through the media.
