Why didn't I hear about the movie they made - Agora about Hypatia of Alexandria??? Turns out it opened in a limited release in the U.S. on May 28, 2010 but it was made in Spain in 2009.
Of course the Catholic Church is mad about it - because the movie truthfully reports that Hypatia was murdered by a mob of Christians.
The Spanish Catholic Observatorio Antidifamacion Religiosa (Religious Anti-Defamation Observatory) protested against the film for "promoting hatred of Christians and reinforcing false clichés about the Catholic Church."
Two views of Hypatia:
Socrates Scholasticus
THERE WAS a woman at Alexandria named Hypatia, daughter of the philosopher Theon, who made such attainments in literature and science, as to far surpass all the philosophers of her own time.And John, Bishop of Nikiu
AND IN THOSE DAYS there appeared in Alexandria a female philosopher, a pagan named Hypatia, and she was devoted at all times to magic, astrolabes and instruments of music, and she beguiled many people through (her) Satanic wiles.
It reminds me of this scene from the 2005 movie Cassanova - Bishop Pucci, played by Jeremy Irons, and his flunky arrive to see a balloon in flight (minute 4:47 in the clip below):
PUCCI
(making sign of the cross)
Witchcraft!
FLUNKY
Actually, Your Reverence, I believe it's because hot air rises, overcoming the gravitational force of -
(catches a look from Pucci)
Witchcraft.
Looks like AGORA is playing this weekend in NYC - whoohoo!