'Twas the Fight Before Christmas

Francois the Tree Man is far from his wife and three small children in Quebec, selling Christmas trees and living in a van on the streets of New York City. He does it for them. But this is home, too. Like the hundreds of Christmas tree sellers who descend upon the city from Canada, New England and even Europe, Francois delivers the magic of the season over a grueling month in his adopted neighborhood. He's a star, a storyteller, a Santa Claus in a sap-stained coat, a confidant, a friend, and a father figure to the local characters who are his New York family. They also need him. TREE MAN is the story of Francois's journey, how he arrived here, what holds him, and the conflict that will cause him to leave. As one of Francois' long-time customers says: "This has nothing to do with the trees anymore."

This is a dramatization of a deposition given by a chicken farmer in the destruction of his chicken pasture. The chicken farmer goes off on a rant that everyone has to see.

The Lacosse family goes on a roadtrip to Rockglen, SK.

Scott Mills travels to Uganda where the death penalty could soon be introduced for being gay. The gay Radio 1 DJ finds out what it's like to live in a society which persecutes people like him and meets those who are leading the hate campaign.

The only thing colder than a Canadian winter is Canadian bureaucracy (probably). Based on five real life stories, Romy Boutin St-Pierre and Joe Nadeau pay homage to the nation-wide stress headache of phone calls with the government in this surprising short.

In a darkened classroom, the white cracked walls serve as a movie screen. We are in a remote mountain village in Georgia. The light from the projector breaks the darkness: the children's first cinematic experience is about to begin. Among the kids are Iman and Eva, two Muslim girls, for whom the experience becomes a turning point and inspires them to pick up a camera and start filming their daily lives. The girls are growing up in a valley infested by radicalism, where most people live in constant fear that their relatives will sacrifice their lives in the name of God.

A look behind the scenes as the world's most profitable toy maker opens its biggest ever Lego store, in London. Designer Justin's first ever kit finally hits the shelves, and Lego pro Duncan prepares to make the largest model ever - a replica of Tower Bridge.

Religious imagery in Curado I, a small neighbourhood in the northeast of Brazil.

A documentary based on the book Umbanda no Brasil by the scholar Mata e Silva, who is interviewed by the director. The book studies the Brazilian religion known as spiritism, a syncretism of African beliefs and magical rites, Indian beliefs and images, and Catholic symbols.

Polish documentary directed by Tomasz Sekielski about child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Poland.

Glade jul

Documentary on the Jews of San Nicandro, Italy; a community of Christians who converted to Judaism during Fascist Italy

Denise, Hannah and Leticia are three ordinary women with extraordinary stories to tell. As transgender people, they talk about the challenges of finding their true identities within an intolerant and prejudiced society.

A Life Apart: Hasidism in America, is the first in-depth documentary about a distinctive, traditional Eastern European religious community. In an historic migration after World War II, Hasidism found it's most vital center in America. Both challenging and embracing American values, Hasidim seek those things which many Americans find most precious: family, community, and a close relationship to God. Integrating critical and analytical scholarship with a portrait of the daily life, beliefs, and history of contemporary Hasidic Jews in New York City, the film focuses on the conflicts, burdens, and rewards of the Hasidic way of life.

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.

An exploration of America’s cultural divide ignited by the 2020 controversy surrounding the forcible toppling of Father Junipero Serra’s statues. Best-selling author Arthur Brooks examines the toxic polarization gripping the nation. Can we bridge this divide, or are we destined to repeat history?

Artifice

Jésus a-t-il vraiment existé ?

Simon Russell Beale takes a journey through Italy, Britain, Germany and Austria as he explores how the sound of Christmas has evolved in response to changing ideas about the Nativity. His story takes us through two millennia of music, from a fragment of papyrus preserving the earliest known piece of Christian music to the stories behind Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night and In the Bleak Midwinter, and the work of popular Christmas composer, John Rutter. Music is performed by Harry Christophers and his choir, The Sixteen.

A touching and almost festive story about how to remain optimistic and continue to do your job, despite all the hardships of the times. One of the film's main characters is a chaplain, a current priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Dmytro Povorotnyi. He invites musicians with guitars to travel to military locations in Donbas. The entire musical tour led by the chaplain takes place in one day. The chaplain and the musicians are accompanied by a film crew from Suspilne Culture. The film, which was supposed to tell about a New Year's Eve volunteer trip to the military in the grey zone, became a story about mercy, understanding of need and help as a state.