Near the city

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.

This Punjabi Movie, Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam is a Punjabi movie about Sikhism. It was a great success. It portrays the people's belief in the almighty god who is one and how life teaches a lesson to those who does not believe so.

Gurmeet Kaur is a kind-hearted, compassionate and devout Sikh woman who lives with her widowed father, and teaches children in a make-shift outdoor school. Her life changes drastically when two men abduct her and take her to the hideout of the region's most feared bandit, Sardar Bakhel Singh. Her freedom curtailed, forced to live in a dark cave, watched day and night by male bandits, some of who would like to get more than physically intimate with her, she will soon find out the real reason behind her abduction.

Shamsher Singh (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) is a pure-hearted, selfless and God-fearing man. The only sad part in his life is that he is childless. One day, while returning from a pilgrimage, he and his wife, Bansa (Tanuja), find an abandoned child. They decide to bring up the child and name him Gurdit. Later, the couple has a child of their own. Both siblings grow to manhood, loyal to each other until a woman drives a wedge between them.

Patty is lying awake one night in a church basement, distraught and scared. She is to be executed the next morning for refusing to take the Mark of the Beast. Patty knows what lies ahead if she takes the mark but can still not believe in Christ.When those around her try to comfort her and encourage her to accept the Lord, she lashes out at them.

Nakaura of Julian (Julião Nakaura), a priest of the Society of Jesus, was one of four young ambassadors sent to Rome by the Jesuits in 1538, as proof that Japan had converted to Christianity. Fifty years after the mission, which so fascinated European royalty, Julian was forced again to prove his faith, only this time before a Shogun, who wanted to force him to abandon his religion. Julian resists, as does Miguel Chijiwa, a fellow at the embassy to Rome, who become a martyr. Betrayed by Cristóvão Ferreira, who cannot bear the torture, Julian suffers an inglorious death ... or maybe not. All the while, a woman wants to discover her past...

Solidarity, peace, and brotherly love – especially in difficult times. The passion stands for values and has fascinated people for over 2000 years already. Now, Jesus Christ gets resurrected once again in ‘Die Passion’ (The Passion): During the RTL live music event, he awakes in modern times – accompanied by real pop hits. The modern depiction of the final days in the life of Jesus Christ is enacted in ‘Die Passion’ by an array of popular stars of the worlds of acting and music.

Choosing between the love of a good man and the love of God is a tough call especially for vicar Peter Simmons. His tranquil life is rudely interrupted when he rashly proposes marriage to Jason his Samoan boyfriend, in church. As the news breaks globally of their forbidden sexual relationship, Peter’s place in the church is threatened and his belief in God is challenged to breaking point. The only thing that can save Peter is a miracle.

A native of Sennwald, Anna Göldi arrived in Glarus in 1765. For seventeen years, she worked as a maidservant for Johann Jakob Tschudi, a physician. Tschudi reported her for having put needles in the bread and milk of one of his daughters, apparently through supernatural means. Göldi at first escaped arrest, but the authorities of the Canton of Glarus advertised a reward for her capture in the Zürcher Zeitung on February 9, 1782. Göldi was arrested and under torture, admitted to entering in a pact with the Devil, who had appeared to her as a black dog. She withdrew her confession after the torture ended, but was sentenced on June 18, 1782 to execution by decapitation. The charges were officially of "poisoning" rather than witchcraft, even though the law at the time did not impose the death penalty for non-lethal poisoning.

Many women are killed in the city during the night by one and the same killer but his identity remains unknown. A young man will therefore want to do his own investigation in order to avenge them.

In a world governed by commerce, Ricky and Kate, dedicated employees, find their lives forever changed when they encounter the enigmatic stranger G. As they navigate the realm of commerce, their paths intertwine in a surreal dance of love, loss, and redemption. G's presence, amplified through the pervasive influence of globalized television, casts a spell that reverberates beyond Ricky and Kate, impacting the lives of those who bear witness to their intertwined destinies.

In a dark and dreary near-future in Peru, a young androgenous man faces a future without his lover, who is struggling against an unnamed disease.

In what could easily pass as a Twilight Zone episode, this film shows what happens when a troubled carnival owner returns back to his childhood home to escape God. Films like this would be shown to adult church groups to stimulate discussion - such as “was this man being stalked by Jesus in wooden shoes?”.

This classic from Rolf Forsberg, in the style of Fellini and Bergman, tells the story of a gardener who decides to introduce ants to his garden, because they will benefit what grows there. He is disturbed when the ants spend all their time fighting. He sends his son to teach them how to live peacefully.

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.

Three young Irish women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum.

Isolated bell-ringer Quasimodo wishes to leave Notre Dame tower against the wishes of Judge Claude Frollo, his stern guardian and Paris' strait-laced Minister of Justice. His first venture to the outside world finds him Esmeralda, a kind-hearted and fearless Romani woman who openly stands up to Frollo's tyranny.

For centuries, a secret Order of priests has existed within the Church. A renegade priest, Father Alex Bernier, is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of one of the Order's most revered members. Following a series of strangely similar killings, Bernier launches an investigation that forces him to confront unimaginable evil.

During Christmas Eve of 1937, two young men, apparently lost in the darkness of the mountain, knock on the door of a farmhouse, where a grandfather and his granddaughter live. From that moment, the situation will change, and a feeling of revenge will flourish as strong as the need to live. Short film made by 5 teenagers, all of them under 17 years of age.

After his father passes away at age 10, the lives of Luis Palau and his family are changed forever. Within a few years of his father's death, Luis, his siblings, and his mother are left nearly destitute. Luis is forced to discontinue his education at an elite boarding school in Argentina and provide for his family as they slip into poverty.