As of 5:50PM on February 27, we plan to proceed with this event. Due to weather uncertainty, please consult the University of Waterloo website to check for closures. If the University closes, Grebel will also close. Be sure to exercise caution when traveling.
The Institute of Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies invites you to a screening of Zwingli: Der Reformator (The Reformer. Zwingli: A Life's Portrait), the Swiss filmmaker Stephan Haupt's award-winning 2019 depiction of the early Reformation in Zurich.
Dr. David Neufeld will provide a brief introduction to the film and lead a post-screening discussion with attendees.
The film will be shown in its original Swiss German, with English subtitles.
Film synopsis
Zurich, 1519. The young widow Anna Reinhart (Sarah Sophia Meyer) leads a marginal life between godliness and anxiety about the future of her children, when the arrival of a man in town causes an uproar: the young priest Ulrich Zwingli (Max Simonischek) takes up his new post in Zurich’s Grossmünster church and arouses controversial debates with his sermons against ills in the established Church. His revolutionary thinking makes Anna afraid. As she witnesses how Zwingli practices charity in keeping with his preaching, she becomes captivated by him. But Zwingli’s success soon becomes dangerous. His ideas contribute to civil conflict and a battle for power and control over interpretation, not least with his Anabaptist opponents, ensues. As the Catholic powers begin to deploy forces internationally, the relationship between Zwingli and Anna is severely tested.