Example – Restoration and a Lecture by Shay Biderman – Herzliya Cinematheque

Tuesday | 22 September | 20:30 | Herzliya Cinematheque

Director: Kevin Smith
Cast: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino
(130 min, English; Hebrew subtitles)

Before the film, Dr. Shai Biderman will give a lecture.

Loki and Bartleby, a pair of angels (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck), are stuck in Wisconsin as punishment for an ancient transgression. When they discover a loophole in Catholic doctrine that may allow them to return to heaven—all they have to do is pass beneath the arch of a certain church in New Jersey—salvation seems close. There is just one minor problem: if they succeed, they will prove God wrong and thereby bring about the end of humanity.

Metatron (Alan Rickman), the voice of God, assembles a bizarre team to save the world: Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), an abortion-clinic worker who has lost her faith; Rufus (Chris Rock), the 13th apostle, erased from the New Testament because of his skin color; Serendipity (Salma Hayek), a muse who works as a stripper; and, of course, Jay and Silent Bob. Along the way, they encounter demons, heavenly thugs, a creature made of feces—and God herself.

When it was released, Dogma caused a major uproar. Kevin Smith took the anxiety surrounding the end of the millennium—with its accompanying religious, cultural, and apocalyptic baggage—and turned it into a wild comedy about faith, doubt, and the difference between religion and dogma. For years, the film nearly disappeared from circulation after its rights remained in the hands of Harvey and Bob Weinstein. In 2025, it was finally released from its symbolic captivity and returned to the screen. More than 25 years after it was made, its blunt and provocative ideas are once again being put to the test in a world that has changed dramatically—and in which the political power of religion is far from disappearing.