年輕女孩雅麗娜獨自由德國回到羅馬尼亞，往山區的修道院裡，探訪從小一起在孤兒院長大的好友薇琪塔，遊說對方跟她遠走高飛，永遠在一起，卻不料對方早已決心成為一名修女。對感情執著的雅麗娜跟修道院裡的修女和神父發生了衝突，眾人更野蠻地一致認定雅麗娜被魔鬼附體，展開毫無人道驅魔儀式──雅麗娜的屍體最終被發現綁在十字架上，成為一片「恐同」風聲下的犧牲品！這件敏感事故曝光後，震撼全歐洲，不僅遭到當地東正教派的嚴厲譴責，相關神職人員也隨即被拘捕起訴；而此片劇力萬均精彩劇本，正是改編自撰述此意外的賣座紀實小說。
Exiled unjustly, convicted without trial, slandered without cause. Man of God depicts the trials and tribulations of Saint Nektarios of Aegina, as he bears the unjust hatred of his enemies while preaching the Word of God.
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.
It is 1595. Brutal wars have just ended in an uneasy peace between Protestant Sweden and Orthodox Russia. We focus on the spiritual defeats of two conquered Finnish brothers, one a hardened near-psychopathic war hero, the other a gentle scientist in an age with no use for such men. They find themselves in the swampy interior, demarcating the new border with a unit of sadistic Russians.
A beautifully affecting love story that has rightly earned comparisons to Brokeback Mountain, Haim Tabakman's potent yet impeccably restrained tale has won awards and accolades at film festivals the world over. Aaron, a pillar in Jerusalem's Orthodox community is respected by friends and family. However, when he hires handsome runaway student Ezri to assist with his business, sexual tensions bristle and the pair cautiously embark on a love affair. Meanwhile, a neighbouring shopkeeper persists in seeing a man of her own choosing, even though she's been promised by her father to another. As forbidden truths come to the fore, these lovers are forced to either confront or relent in the face of a centuries-old religious community, with startling results.
Haim-Aaron is a bright, ultra-orthodox religious scholar living in Jerusalem. His talents and devotion are envied by all. One evening, following a self-imposed fast, Haim-Aaron collapses and loses consciousness. The paramedics announce his death, but his father takes over resuscitation efforts and, beyond all expectations, Haim-Aaron comes back to life. After the accident, try as he might, Haim-Aaron remains apathetic to his studies. He feels overwhelmed by a sudden awakening of his body and suspects this is God testing him. He wonders if he should stray from the prescribed path and find a way to rekindle his faith... The title means "Rectify" in Hebrew; nevertheless the movie is called Tikkun in the English-speaking world.
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.
In this film the last living witnesses of the events from Second World War are telling their stories and thus transferring silenced victim’s voices to present times.
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.
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”.
A cinematic story of drama after the drama and war that rages on in people's hearts even after the war. The hero, an Orthodox Christian monk, finds himself on a road to spiritual healing through circumstances he could never have dreamed of. The story follows the path to spiritual uplifting, metaphorically introduced at the very beginning in the hero's walk to the secluded hermitage. The leitmotif of watering a dry, dead tree, repeated throughout the film, illustrates the absurdity of the monk's faith. The permanent paralysis of the characters after the torment of war invokes forgiveness as the only means to ultimate healing.
On the island of Cyprus, an insomniac is haunted by hallucinations that his mother believes are a message from his dead father.
The "Good News" is a film dedicated to one of the main holidays of Orthodox Christians: the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. The main idea of this holiday is the beginning of the liberation of the human race from sins and eternal death, the joyful news about the upcoming birth of Jesus Christ. The film shows how people living in the remote Russian village are preparing for the Annunciation, marking the turning point of winter and the beginning of field work. Everyday details of the parish community life help to feel Russian Orthodox customs that have been formed for centuries.
"The Moscow Pilgrims" is a film that takes you on a tour of Russia’s ancient capital. The film’s main characters – father and son – are doing the most intersting sights of old Moscow, including the Simonov Monastery, the New Spassky Cloister and the Krutitsky Church located on a picturesque bank of the Moskva River. The celibate priest Ilia, the dean of the church of the Holy Mother of God father Vladimir and other priests will help the pilgrims and visitors to see the world of Moscow’s ancient holy sites: the burial-vault of the noble Romanov family, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of God recently cleared from security services, and the graves of the Kulikovo battle heroes, the monks Oslyabi and Peresvet.
The film is based on the events of the 4th International Orthodox Music Festival held in Moscow in February, 1992. The Festival featured not only such famous works as Rakhmaninov's "The All Night Service" and "Liturgy" but also the first performance of the latest interpretations of ancient Russian songs and the sensational first performance of Sviridov's cycle of "spiritual songs".
The film chronicles four events that take place over a span of two days, all relating to superstition and spirituality in India. It aims to show the thin line between harmless faith and the kind that puts down human dignity in the name of religion. Starting with a Godman with questionable intent, it moves on to a place where women are segregated during their periods, a lady isn't allowed to enter her place of worship for being born into a specific caste, and finally to a dargah where mentally ill women are admitted for being cured of their demons.