God Willing

The Battle for Christianity(en)

Professor Robert Beckford looks at how immigration, radical social action, conservative morality and charismatic worship are all transforming the face of the faith, and asks what that might mean for the future in an increasingly secular society. Some academics are warning that popular churches who take a firm line on issues like gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia are pushing Christianity farther away from the attitudes of mainstream society. Others believe that the fervour of charismatic faith is attracting large numbers, but ignoring a quiet exodus out of the back door. Robert Beckford speaks to church leaders in the UK, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, about how they see the future. This revealing film gets to the heart of what’s changing within Christianity in the UK. It will show how the faithful are kicking back against the steady decline in church attendance, and provide evidence of a more committed, but potentially divided, future.

Aside From That(en)

How do we live, knowing we are going to die? In search of answers, we probed the minds of atheists, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, physicians, philosophers, authors, academics, a legendary stand-up comic, and scores of random pedestrians.

Outremont et les Hassidim(en)

OUTREMONT AND THE HASIDIM reveals the challenges of accommodating the “Hasidim” – or ultra-Orthodox Jews – in the affluent Montréal borough of Outremont.​Some 7,000 Hasidim live in or near this choice neighbourhood of Québec’s Francophone elite. After settling there more than 70 years ago, the Hasidim are a rapidly growing minority group which today represents about 23% of Outremont’s population.​Thanks to unprecedented access to this self-isolated community, the film lifts the veil on its practices, traditions, music and life as they had never before been seen on Canadian television, without ignoring the community’s expectations, fears. and hopes.

Daughters of Wisdom(en)

An intimate portrait of the nuns of Kala Rongo, a rare and exceptional Buddhist Monastery exclusively for women situated in Nangchen, in remote and rural northeastern Tibet. These nuns are receiving religious and educational training previously unavailable to women, and playing an unprecedented role in preserving their rich cultural heritage even as they slowly reshape it. They graciously allow the camera a never-before-seen glimpse into their vibrant spiritual community and insight into their extraordinary lives. Some shy, some outspoken, all are committed to the often difficult life they have chosen, away from the yak farms and herding families of their birth. It is the story of their spiritual community, one that couldn't have existed 20 years ago but is thriving today.

Is Genesis History? Mountains After the Flood(en)

In this fascinating sequel to "Is Genesis History?", watch a team of scientists discover new evidence for the global Flood. By the time the journey is over, you'll understand exactly how modern science connects to the book of Genesis.

Tales of Sand and Snow(fr)

In a quest to rediscover the spiritual values of his own people, an African filmmaker from the Gourmantche tribe of Burkina Faso visits an Aboriginal band, the Atikamekw of northern Quebec. The resulting documentary is a dialogue between those who divine the future in the sand with those who use snow-encased sweat lodges to reconnect with the spiritual world.

Morality for Youth(en)

An accident on a youth rafting trip is used to illustrate the dangers of flirting with immorality. States the Lord's standard for morality and provides parents, leaders, and teachers with a starting place for discussions with youth to help them stay morally clean.

Devil's Chapel(es)

After finishing building his Chapel, Lorenzo suffers a depression and is locked in it for three years. When he opens the doors he calls his children to show what he did: good and evil.

I Was Possessed by God(en)

On Valentine's Day, 1993, Caveh Zahedi decided to ingest 5 grams (a very large dose) of hallucinogenic mushrooms. For the first time in his mushroom-taking history, he had an experience of "divine possession," in which he felt that a divine being took possession of his body and spoke through him, in a voice that was not his, and with knowledge that he himself did not possess. He later tried several times to repeat the experience. I WAS POSSESSED BY GOD is the documentary record of one such attempt.

Encruzilhadas do Som(pt)

The documentary adresses the meaning of music and the musical diversity present in Umbanda (a Brazilian religion with afroindigenous roots). With interviews with four umbandistas from Fortaleza - Ceará, Crossroads of the Sound pays reverence to the enchanted dimension where the sounds cross each other to make the spirits dance.

Charles Manson, The Church of Satan, The Universal Order & The Process Church of Final Judgment(en)

Out of the spiritual chaos of the 1960s, more strange cults and unorthodox messiahs have emerged than ever. Charles Manson is seen as the annoying result of libertarianism of the 1960s - the Cain who murdered the Abel from The Love Generation. Or in the words of one commentator; "the Elvis of alienation."

Far from the Trees(es)

An unprejudiced portrait of Spanish folklore and a crude analysis in black and white of its intimate relationship with atavism and superstition, with violence and pain, with blood and death; a story of terror, a journey to the most sinister and ancestral Spain; the one that lived far from the most visited tourist destinations, from the economic miracle and unstoppable progress, relentlessly promoted by the Franco regime during the sixties.

Manifest Destiny Jesus(en)

Documentary on gentrification, colonialism, and the way that minorities have been repressed through a lack of representation.

J.R. “Bob” Dobbs and The Church of the SubGenius(en)

What started out as an inside joke amongst two self proclaimed weirdos in Ft. Worth, Texas soon becomes much more than they bargained for. Frustrated by the rising consumer-driven culture, out-of-work pals Douglass St. Clair Smith and Steve Wilcox decide to turn their conservative southern ideology on its head and invent a new religion all their own. Spurred on by the overreach of religion and zealous televangelists of the day, the pair concoct religious monikers (Reverend Ivan Stang and Dr. Philo Drummond), a newly minted prophet (J.R. "Bob" Dobbs), and devise a crusade to expose the conspiracy of normalcy by using humor as the ultimate weapon.

Equilíbrio e Graça(pt)

A short film about the meeting of a Trappist monk and a Zen Buddhist master.

Gods of Molenbeek(fi)

The district of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean in Brussels has become world-famous as a center of jihadism, but for six-year-old Aatos and his friend Amine, it is a familiar home. Here, they listen to spiders, discover black holes, and fight about what is going to steer a flying carpet. Together they search for the answers to life's big questions. But the brutality of the adult world makes itself known when terrorists detonate a bomb in the neighborhood. Aaatos envies Amine's Muslim faith and looks for his own gods, although his classmate Flo questions him; she is strongly convinced that anyone who believes in God is completely nuts. Gods of Molenbeek is a wonderful portrayal of childhood friendship, inquiry and the creation of meaning in a chaotic time.

A Life Apart: Hasidism in America(en)

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 Family(en)

Anne Hamilton-Byrne was beautiful, charismatic and delusional. She was also incredibly dangerous. Convinced she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, Hamilton-Byrne headed an apocalyptic sect called The Family, which was prominent in Melbourne from the 1960s through to the 1990s. With her husband Bill, she acquired numerous children – some through adoption scams, some born to cult members – and raised them as her own. Isolated from the outside world, the children were dressed in matching outfits, had identical dyed blonde hair, and were allegedly beaten, starved and injected with LSD. Taught that Hamilton-Byrne was both their mother and the messiah, the children were eventually rescued during a police raid in 1987, but their trauma had only just begun.

Hasta mañana, si Dios quiere(es)

Sunseed(en)

This documentary explores the growing American interest in the 1970s in Eastern religions and philosophy. The teachings and lifestyles of ten spiritual teachers and their followers are presented without voice-over narration.