Forty years after leaving his ultra-Orthodox roots, journalist Tuvia Tenenbom returns to Jerusalem's Mea Shearim. With rare access, he uncovers a world that remains a mystery to outsiders.
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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 documentary film about men, women, and children fleeing northward from the existential threats in their home countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. They embark on a perilous journey with an uncertain outcome. Shortly after crossing the southern Mexican border, they find shelter with people who want to help them survive the ordeal of the at least 1,700-kilometer journey to the US.
The conflict in Israel today is often linked to the belief that the Bible serves as the Israelis' claim to the land, based on God's covenant with Abraham, Moses, and the Israelites. Filmmaker Timothy Mahoney investigates this by exploring ancient prophecies made by Moses, which predicted Israel’s rise as a kingdom, its fall due to breaking the covenant, the scattering of its people, their persecution, and eventual return to the land. Using archaeological evidence and expert insights, Mahoney delves into these events, raising deeper questions about Israel's suffering, their chosen status, and its relevance today. "The Israel Dilemma – Ancient Prophecies" is part one of a two-part film series exploring these themes.
Josh-awan Bulman details some highlights of the Zhuang Alliance Group's Style Guide.
When many people think of Israel, it is often in terms of modern war or ancient religion. But there is much more to the Jewish state then missiles and prayers. In his debut as a documentary filmmaker, adult-film entrepreneur and political columnist Michael Lucas examines a side of Israel that is too often overlooked: its thriving gay community. Undressing Israel features interviews with a diverse range of local men, including a gay member of Israel's parliament, a trainer who served openly in the army, a young Arab-Israeli journalist, and a pair of dads raising their kids. Lucas also visits Tel Aviv's vibrant nightlife scene-and a same-sex wedding-in this guided tour to a country that emerged as a pioneer for gay integration and equality.
In this sensitively crafted documentary, choreographer Hadar Ahuvia explores the roots of the Israeli folk dances she grew up dancing with her mother. Facing romanticized stories about her grandparents, Zionist ‘kibbutznik’ settlers in Palestine in the 1930’s, she begins a personal endeavor unpacking and confronting the appropriative origins of this inherited dance. Through this vulnerable, personal story a larger weaving of powerful artistic portraits emerge— Jewish, Israeli, and Palestinian dancers living in New York City question what is inherited and what we choose to carry forward.
Writer-actor Aaron Davidman embodies seventeen different characters in and around the sacred city of Jerusalem as he takes us on an eye-opening journey into the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian story. Exploring universal questions of identity and human connection, the film is about one man's effort to embrace a multiplicity of conflicting viewpoints, chronicling a brave exploration of the complex humanity at the heart of one of the world's most troubling conflicts.
A fascinating new look at the biblical, historical, and scientific evidence for Creation and the Flood. Learn from more than a dozen scientists and scholars as they explore the world around us in light of Genesis. Dr. Del Tackett, creator of The Truth Project, hikes through canyons, climbs up mountains, and dives below the sea in an exploration of two competing views... one compelling truth.
In the week when Hindus celebrate the holy festival of Diwali, this documentary tells the story of one of their faith's most sacred symbols - the swastika. For many, the swastika has become a symbol synonymous with the Nazis and fascism. But this film reveals the fascinating and complex history of an emblem that is, in fact, a religious symbol, with a sacred past. For the almost one billion Hindus around the world, the swastika lies at the heart of religious practices and beliefs, as an emblem of benevolence, luck and good fortune.
Over the past few years, Israel's ongoing military occupation of Palestinian territory and repeated invasions of the Gaza strip have triggered a fierce backlash against Israeli policies virtually everywhere in the world—except the United States. This documentary takes an eye-opening look at this critical exception, zeroing in on pro-Israel public relations efforts within the U.S.
Jeff Hood, a spiritual advisor to death row inmates, travels to Oklahoma in September 2024 to petition against the forthcoming execution of Emmanuel Littlejohn and to guide him to his death, if the state chooses to kill him.
The film examines the modern-day phenomenon of religious "intentional communities," or as they are often called, "cults." It takes as its focus "The Church," also known as "The Brotherhood," the 35-year-old ministry of shadowy messianic figure Jim Roberts. Since 1971, this secretive organization has recruited (hundreds) of adherents who live together in austere, separatist, communal groups, preaching salvation and damnation, and turning their backs on the outside world except when proselytizing for new members. A powerful exploration of a 35-year-old American religious sect known as “The Church” or “The Brotherhood.” It also outlines the struggles of families whose children turn away from them to become “Brothers” and “Sisters” in the group, renouncing their past lives and the world – often, without ever turning back.
A close-up look at the New Yorkers who took to the streets during the 2024 Presidential Election.
A cheerful documentary about the daily life of a community of Franciscan sisters. “Hasta mañana, si Dios quiere” (See you tomorrow, God willing) is a film born from the desire to understand that mysterious feminine universe that gives up its life and leaves behind family, home, lovers, disobedience, and physical love.
Paul Wellstone was the charismatic Minnesota progressive who used grassroots organizing to get elected and give ordinary people a stake in government. His 3rd election campaign was cut short when his small plane crashed into the north woods of Minnesota just 11 days before the 2002 election. Wellstone! explores the origin of his politics, his controversial road to the United States Senate, his deep bond with his wife and 'co-senator' Sheila, and the legacy of a life of progressive populism.
This documentary chronicles the inspirational story of a man who would not accept "no" for an answer. Born with cerebral palsy, Cordell Brown faced many challenges and most believed he would amount to nothing. Despite the odds stacked against him, Cordell proves that with heartfelt determination he can make a difference in the world.
Punk rock, B-movies, and Jehovah’s Witnesses unite in this heartfelt documentary. As members of Jehovah’s Witness start to explore culture outside of their religion, they have to wrestle with the possibility of being excommunicated from friends and family. Featuring in-depth interviews and extensive home video footage, Witness Underground tells the story of punk rocker Witnesses pushing against the highly controlling Jehovah’s Witnesses religion as they build their own community through music and art. This prolific community of Witness musicians create their own record label, Nuclear Gopher, and become early adopters of promoting their music through the internet, including what may have been the first album to ever be livestreamed. This community’s history is well documented through archival footage of their home movies and self-produced music videos, all with a very charming energy.
This is a film about the power of the Rosary, a Catholic Prayer. The film depicts personal stories about how the rosary has affected their lives.
During May 2001, Chilean filmmaker Miguel Littin traveled through historic Palestine, documenting everyday life amid the war—more precisely, the existential distance between a child throwing stones with a slingshot and tanks filled with artillery.
Penetrating the insular world of New York's Hasidic community, focusing on three individuals driven to break away despite threats of retaliation.
Fourteen years after his first visit, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the occupied West Bank.
Ross McElwee sets out to make a documentary about the lingering effects of General Sherman's march of destruction through the South during the Civil War, but is continually sidetracked by women who come and go in his life, his recurring dreams of nuclear holocaust, and Burt Reynolds.
When indie comic character Pepe the Frog becomes an unwitting icon of hate, his creator, artist Matt Furie, fights to bring Pepe back from the darkness and navigate America's cultural divide.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
Louis Theroux travels to California to meet the man dubbed "the most dangerous racist in America"; Tom Metzger. Louis meets him, his family and his publicity manager as well as following him to skinhead rallies and on a visit to Mexico.
If you ever find yourself traveling down Interstate 49 through Missouri, try not to blink—you may miss Rich Hill, population 1,396. Rich Hill is easy to overlook, but its inhabitants are as woven into the fabric of America as those living in any small town in the country. This movie intimately chronicles the turbulent lives of three boys living in said Midwestern town and the fragile family bonds that sustain them.
20 years after Calvin and Hobbes stopped appearing in daily newspapers, filmmaker Joel Allen Schroeder has set out to explore the reasons behind the comic strip's loyal and devoted following.
IRIS pairs legendary 87-year-old documentarian Albert Maysles with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even in Iris’ dotage, a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. IRIS portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life’s sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment.
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.
After another 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! and 7 Plus Seven. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
After a 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
A night of drunken chaos rocks a quiet Dutch town in this shocking documentary about a teen's birthday invite that accidentally went viral on Facebook.
I am Chris Farley tells his hilarious, touching and wildly entertaining story - from his early days in Madison, Wisconsin, to his time at Second City and Saturday Night Live, then finally his film career (which included hits like Tommy Boy and Black Sheep). The film showcases his most memorable characters and skits from film and television and also includes interviews and insights from his co-stars, family and friends - including the likes of Christina Applegate, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, Bob Odenkirk, Bob Saget and Adam Sandler.
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.