Photographer-filmmaker William Klein takes on Handel’s Messiah, creating a gorgeous concert film that mixes the sacred with the profane. Performed in its entirety (conducted by Mark Minkowski), the oratorio provides a narrative of Christ’s nativity, passion, and resurrection juxtaposed against images of the absurdities of and abuses against humans around the world. The film reveals a wide array of worshippers from the Bodybuilders of Christ to the Lavender Light Gay and Lesbian Interracial Choir to the Dallas Police Choir. (1999, 117 min.)

This program is part of the UMS on Film series designed to expand understanding of the artists and cultures represented on the UMS season and reveal something of the emotions and ideas behind the creative process. For more information, please visit http://www.ums.org.

Messiah is being presented as part of the film series Examining Heroes and Icons, which UMMA is offering in conjunction with the exhibition Benjamin West: General Wolfe and the Art of Empire (on view September 22, 2012 until January 13, 2013), focusing on the idea of heroes and exploring ways in which heroes are defined through images.