Imago Convocation (ICON) is a weekend experience for viewers, thinkers, and creators who believe that screen stories shape souls. Held in Auckland during the NZ International Film Festival (NZIFF), this unique event invites you into a rhythm of film, faith, and thoughtful conversation.
Across two days, we’ll gather for:
🎬 In-house screenings
🍿 NZIFF screenings
🎙️ Sessions with guest speakers
🗣️ Guided conversations about films
☕ Unstructured time to reflect and connect
You’ll be encouraged to step into the cinematic experience with your whole heart, mind, and soul, while engaging with others in rich, meaningful, and layered discussion.
Our Guest Speakers
Andrew Hunt
Andrew Hunt is an award-winning filmmaker and with over 25 years’ experience working in film and television. He is the director of the award-winning documentary feature Funny You Never Knew, several short films including The Accidental Activist and The Love Game, as well as multiple advertising spots for internationally recognised brands. Recently, he, his wife and two sons moved from New York back to his native New Zealand, where he has since been funnelling his creative energy into painting. See Andrew’s film portfolio at andrewhunt.me.
Sam Bloore
After working in medicine for a number of years, Sam has spent the last two decades in ministry and teaching roles, and this year he completed a doctorate through Fuller Seminary. One of his papers explored the intersection of theology and the visual arts – including a wide-ranging theoretical survey and a practical photography project that will inform his session at ICON. Sam lives in Auckland with his wife Julia and their three children – the whole family are happiest in, on, or near the sea.
Richard Goodwin
Richard is a lecturer at Pathways Bible College and a big fan of movies. He has a PhD from Otago in which he researched the intersection of theology and film. He is the author of Seeing Is Believing: The Revelation of God Through Film (IVP, 2022). Before his doctoral studies, he completed a master's degree at Fuller Seminary, where he is now also an adjunct faculty member teaching courses looking at theological engagement with television and pop culture. He hails from Cambridge, New Zealand, where he lives with his wife, Hilly, and two young sons.
Who's it for?
Movie lovers with a hunger for deeper meaning
Creatives who want to integrate faith and artistry
Pastors/leaders interested in understanding culture through the arts
Anyone curious about where God might be found in cinema
What's in the Name, 'ICON'?
The religious icon has a long history as a visual artform through which an attentive viewer may encounter the transcendent. Cinema could, therefore, be understood as a type of contemporary iconography, a catalyst for contemplation of—and dare we suggest?—perhaps even an encounter with the divine. Here, the name serves as an abbreviation for our full name, Imago Convocation.
Imago is a word rich in sacred and cinematic connotations. The word is Latin for image, both a reference to the visual nature of the film medium and an allusion to imago Dei, a phrase used by theologians to capture the bold biblical assertion that humans beings are made in the very image of God. A convocation is a gathering (typically in an academic or church setting), a sacred calling-together of voices, hearts, and ideas.
ICON is thus a call, a call to artists, scholars, believers, doubters, seekers and dreamers—a call to you—to join together in conversations about faith, film, and the art of seeing.
Event Details
📍 Location: Eden Church, Auckland
🗓️ Dates: 1-2 August 2025
⌚ Time: Starting Friday at 5:30pm ending on Saturday at 3pm
🎟️ Pricing:
Adult: $75
Student or Senior: $60
Note: NZIFF film tickets are not included.
Register your interest now
Spaces are limited. Use the form below to register or stay in the loop as details are confirmed.
Contact
Pathways Bible College
7 Oak Lane, Judea, Tauranga
+64 7 571 6981
info@pathways.ac.nz
