Jungian Concept Series There are few venues that can move us more deeply in our very souls than a stirring film. The psyche lights up with recognition when age-old archetypes unfold in creative ways on the screen. The Autumn 2008 Concept Series will explore these archetypal dimensions as unveiled in four diverse films. Each uniquely addresses the transformative journey of the psyche. With the exception of The Pathfinder, presented on November 12, please rent and view each film prior to the presentation. The series is open to all levels of knowledge and group participation is encouraged.
Ostensibly a Cold War thriller set in Communist East Germany, The Lives of Others is a stunning examination of loneliness and psychological transformation which exemplifies the Jungian concept of individuation. The film won the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. German writer/director Von Donnersmark offers an incisive character study of Stasi agent Gerd Wiesler as he spies on an East German playwright, the playwright’s actress-mistress, and dissident friends. The film marks Gerd’s slow change from a cold, calculating Stasi agent to a more psychologically integrated man. There are parallels here with Coppola’s The Conversation, with a wire-tapper as the central character, but the focus is instead on the crossings of all kinds of borders, physical and psychological, which marks Gerd’s transformation. The film offers subtle explorations of thresholds, liminal spaces and active imagination, and other elements that activate the individuation process.
James Palmer, Ph.D. is a Film Studies Professor and President’s Teaching Scholar at CU. Currently Director of the Conference on World Affairs, he has published articles on Jung’s psychology and film and teaches interdisciplinary courses, including Jung, Film, and Literature.
 Betsy Hall, Ph.D., LCSW – The Secret of Roan Inish –
Wednesday, October 22 , 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. (Early Registration Form) Inspired by the determined spirit of a young girl and the redemptive pull of the divine child, The Secret of Roan Inish portrays a movement from psychic fragmentation to re-union with the Self. Embedded within the film is the Celtic myth of the Selkie, a feminine figure who is part human and part seal. Just as the Selkie must instinctively return to the sea, the fragmented individual and the communal psyche seek wholeness through a return to soul-space and the divine child – one who unites the opposites and symbolizes futurity. This profoundly mythic film expresses both the individual and cultural necessity for a re-union with the natural instinctive realm of soul, seals, and the sea.
Betsy Hall, Ph.D., LCSW is a Professor at Regis University in the Graduate Counseling Program. She has been a practicing psychotherapist for 23 years and in 2004 completed a Doctorate in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology.
The profound search for meaning through one of life’s deepest sorrows, the loss of a beloved partner, is explored in this stunningly beautiful movie. We set out on the journey following one man who lives in three historical periods: the mid 1500’s, present day, and the 25th century. The background tapestry is the struggle between our human will to know/control and the eternal cycles of life, or the struggle between the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life. Jung’s concepts, particularly those focusing on the individuation process, are shown in the wisdom of this metaphoric story portrayed in The Fountain and will be revisited and discussed during the evening.
Bernice Hill, Ph.D. is a Jungian Analyst, member of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, and has a practice in Boulder. A recent addition to her publications is a review of The Fountain in Psychological Perspectives (Spring 2008).
 Linda Leonard, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst – T he Pathfinder – Wednesday, November 12, 7:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. (Early Registration Form) The Pathfinder, directed by Nils Gaup, is a Norwegian film based on a 1,000 year old legend that is part of the Arctic Sami Reindeer People’s culture. It is one of the first films about an aboriginal shamanic culture created by a director from that culture. The Pathfinder is a story about the heroic journey of transformation. Linda discovered the film in the course of writing her book, Following the Reindeer Woman, just after returning to the United States from a trip to explore the Sami culture in “Lapland.” She also traveled to Siberia where she stayed with the Reindeer People of the Even Tribe. Linda will discuss the culture of the Reindeer People, the symbolism of the Reindeer and its relation to Nature and the feminine spirit, and archetypal figures from the film.
The Pathfinder will be presented in its entirety in tonight’s program.
Note: This film contains violence.
Linda Schierse Leonard, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst, is currently in practice in Boulder. She is author of six books translated into 14 languages: The Wounded Woman, On the Way to the Wedding, Witness to the Fire, Meeting the Madwoman, Following the Reindeer Woman, and The Call to Create.
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Concept Series 
