The plot of the film unfolds in the ancient monastery of Dokhiar on the west coast of Mount Athos, on the Aegean peninsula. This peninsula is given to the exclusive use of the monks of Eastern Christianity. Images of nature are woven into a virtually uninterrupted series of work and prayer, lining up in the rhythmic interrelation of man and nature. The central figure of the film was the monastery’s elder, Hegumen Gregory, whose long-term experience of spiritual nourishment rewarded him with a deep understanding of the human soul and her desire to return to the state characteristic of Adam’s human nature before the fall.
A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.
Right alongside Jerusalem, in a Russian Orthodox Convent in the Mount of Olives, in the middle of the Arab quarter, lives the 82-year-old Estonian nun Mother Ksenya.
Traditions during Easter holidays in the remote village of Grešnica. The film was a research project of the newly opened Ethnological Museum to preserve the disappearing customs at least on film for future generations.
In his delirium from his return from war, Francesco Bernardone goes back in his memories to the days when he lived for parties and carnal pleasures. He slowly recovers, but after the illness he is no longer the Francesco that everybody knew. Instead of spending hours in taverns, he meditates on the beauty of God's creatures, soon renouncing his riches and his family with plans to rebuild an abandoned church and his life.
Sebastian, a novice in a post-apocalyptic Brazilian monastery, prepares to be ordained while struggling with intense doubts. Before priesthood, he must confess his greatest secrets: his rape as a child and the passion he has for another monk. He turns to penance and martyrdom to relieve his guilt.
A middle-aged Orthodox Jew, Aaron, living and working in Jerusalem with his wife and children, meets a homeless 19-year-old student. Aaron offers to give Ezri work as his assistant at his family's butcher shop. The two men grow close and their attraction becomes sexual. Aaron must now confront his own sexuality, his feelings for Ezri, and his obligations to his family and faith.
Saint Street is a classic American Christmas tale for the entire family. The story follows Percy who is a good man, but has found himself caught up in the riches of the world and is neglecting his most prized possession – his family. Christmas Eve has arrived and Percy is still hard at work late into the night, once again breaking his promises to his wife and kids that he would leave early so that they could drive to their traditional family Christmas party. After being warned time and again to change his ways from a heavenly being from beyond, Percy is about to experience some grave consequences for his actions. In a series of tragic events, Percy faces humble circumstances after losing everything in a car accident – his family, job and home. Paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair, he is forced to be homeless and live in the gritty world of misfits on Saint Street.
Simon, a deeply religious man living in the 4th century, wants to be nearer to God so he climbs a column. The Devil wants him come down to Earth and is trying to seduce him.
A dying priest is commissioned to investigate the deeds of Giacomo Nerone, a dead wartime partisan, and find out if he truly is worthy of being canonized.
Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives an unusual man whose bizarre conduct confuses his fellow monks, while others who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future.
Part one of this two-part epic follows the life and deeds of Boris I – a strong historic personality, which completes his mission to the full and at the end of his life receives holy orders.
They left ordinary life, wife, kids, work and entered to a monastery. In its portraits of three monks, Erik Praus’s documentary captures the inimitable spiritual ambiance and mysticism of Pochayiv Lavra, an Eastern Orthodox monastery on a hill above the town of Pochayiv in western Ukraine’s Ternopil Oblast. Fathers Gabriel, Vicilentius and Nazarij have left their past traumas behind, finding peace, balance and their lives’ meaning at the monastery. Their stories are allegories of spiritualization and purification from human passions against the backdrop of the turbulent Ukrainian reality. Motivated by material need and spiritual desperation, the faithful flock to this place of pilgrimage in search of new strength and forgiveness. The film respectfully observes the monks’ everyday lives, while also noticing the opulent splendour of their surroundings. The road to faith is not a privilege of the chosen few; it is open to all who hear its “calling”.
The life of the virgin and martyr Santa Maria Goretti
The first of four installments in the groundbreaking Heartbeat of the World anthology film series. Comprised of several short films by some of the world's most exciting directors, Words with Gods follows the theme of religion - specifically as it relates to an individual's relationship with his/her god or gods...or the lack thereof. In Words with Gods, each director recounts a narrative centered around human fragility, as well as environmental and cultural crises involving specific religions with which each has a personal relationship; including early Aboriginal Spirituality, Umbanda, Buddhism, the Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism, and Atheism. An animated sequence by Mexican animator Maribel Martinez is woven through each of the film segments, with each segment narratively connected as a feature-length film.
An orthodox heroine astride a motorbike. Young people breaking the monotony of a country life through stunt riding. A meeting against a Western backdrop between two universes that are at odds with each other except for their very reason for being: passion.
A story of spiritual resistance to physical political persecution. Set after the Russian revolution, when communist zealots hunt down everyone who will not forswear their Orthodox Catholic ways.
Meera, a zealous devotee of Lord Krishna, considers him to be her husband. She gets married to Rana Bhojraj, but follows her own way of living which is not acceptable to her husband and the society.
The film follows the lives of Peter and Paul: two characters in different eras - Peter in the 1980s and Paul nowdays. Peter looses his sister in an accident and is banished from his home. In the present time Paul's sister has cancer and is fighting for her life. The two story lines intertwine and find a way trough God's providence to serve each other for good.
Nanak Shah Fakir is a biographical film on the life and teachings of the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak Dev.