A Case for Love (2024)

Love Parade: When Love Learned to Dance

At the end of the Cold War, something new arised that should influence an entire generation and express their attitude to life. It started with an idea in the underground subculture of Berlin shortly before the fall of the Wall. With the motto "Peace, Joy, Pancakes", Club DJ Dr. Motte and companions launched the first Love Parade. A procession registered as political demonstration with only 150 colorfully dressed people dancing to house and techno. What started out small developed over the years into the largest party on the planet with visitors from all over the world. In 1999, 1.5 million people took part. With the help of interviews with important organizers and contemporary witnesses, the documentary reflects the history of the Love Parade, but also illuminates the dark side of how commerce and money business increasingly destroyed the real spirit, long before the emigration to other cities and the Love Parade disaster of Duisburg in 2010, which caused an era to end in deep grief.

Like It Is

This documentary on the "youth movement" of the late 1960s focuses on the hippie pot smoking/free love culture in the San Francisco Bay area.

SYNCHRONOUS

SYNCHRONOUS is an intimate portrait of love and the reverse side of love: mourning. The granddaughter/maker looks idealistically at the endless love between her grandfather and grandmother. When her grandfather dies, she decides to look for answers by filming her grandmother. What happens when you've been together all your life and your great love dies? Where is the love then?

Bird Woman

Annedore takes care of orphan birds. They give her that which humans througout her turbulent life could never give her: love.

Heaven Can't Wait

The moving story of Carlo Acutis, a young British-Italian amateur computer programmer who died in 2006, aged 15, as a result of leukemia. However, even though he is no longer here, to this day Carlo continues to be a great symbol of strength among young people. The documentary brings together a series of reports from people who entrusted themselves to the intercession of the boy, beatified by the Catholic Church in 2020, and had their lives transformed.

Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn

An inspiring love story about a self-described “poor, gay, black man from North Philly” on his historic run for the United States Senate. But this race is about more than taking on the political competition. It’s about taking on an entire system.

Ben Affleck & Jennifer Lopez: Never Say Never

The love story of pop icon Jennifer Lopez and movie star Ben Affleck began with a movie set meeting in 2002, then weaved to a Las Vegas altar 20 years later.

Alternate Spaces

A short documentary on the River Ouse, following it downstream from Lewes to Newhaven, meditating on the surrounding area.

The God Who Wasn't There

Did Jesus exist? This film starts with that question, then goes on to examine Christianity as a whole.

Forms of Forgetting

Nesrin and Erdem talk about their relationship, which they don’t remember in exactly the same way. Çevik’s visually stunning essay uses their conversations to forge a pensive treatise on what it means to forget, where word and image play an equal role.

Gay Chorus Deep South

In response to a wave of discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws and the divisive 2016 election, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus embarks on a tour of the American Deep South.

Platónico, platónica

Plot unavailable

Miracles at the Movies: Locke + Signorelli

Firebrand pastors Greg Locke and Mike Signorelli merge condensed versions of their groundbreaking films, Come Out in Jesus Name and Domino Revival, infused with an unprecedented prophetic activation, for this special 2-hour Fathom event.

Journey to the Sermon on the Mount

Five individuals relate their life stories and struggles as they journey to participate in the filming of The Chosen's "Sermon on the Mount" scene.

The Holy Land

This movie is a short documentary about both the narrator's, and the youth's, experience as Christian tourists in Israel.

Those Who Wrestle With God

A Canadian couple reflect on how their painful journey in fundamentalism led to them rescuing their faith & relationship. Along the way, they uncover a supportive community that helps them navigate their journey of rediscovery.

The Happiest Man on Earth

A lonely 40-year-old man sits on the balcony of a Finnish apartment building. Joonas Berghäll has learned that he will die in 14 years’ time, unless he changes his way of living or attitude towards life. Joonas wants to make a film about the state of wellbeing of Finnish men, drawing from his own experiences and mirroring the society at large. The film is built around six stories. It starts with the context of school and proceeds through the contexts of military service, custody battle, burnout and substance abuse to end on the subject of premature death caused by health problems.

Zen, in Search of Enlightenment

A documentary exploring the rigorous training and meditation practices found at the Shōgen-ji, a Zen Buddhist monastery of the Rinzai school in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

The Servant

Domestic service worker Lera is accused of a crime. In a cell in the premises of a Civil Guard barracks, she meets Mihaela and Julia, two prostitutes with whom she shares the story of Santa Vicenta María, founder of the Religious of Mary Immaculate, which she says saved her life.

Sword-and-Sandal

The silent cinema had already created colossal movies based on ancient civilizations, but it is in the 1950s when peplums reach their apogee in Hollywood. Then, peplums take root at Cinecittà studios, in Rome, where cheap cinema is produced with bodybuilders as heroes. The genre decays in the late 1960s, but rises again decades later, when a modern classic is released in 2000.

Perfecting the Art of Longing

Cut off from his loved ones due to the strict COVID-19 lockdown at the long-term care facility where he lives, a quadriplegic rabbi is filmed by his daughter while reflecting on love, mortality and longing.

To the Sea

Before leaving for Rome with his mother, five year old Natan is taken by his father, Jorge, on an epic journey to the pristine Chinchorro reef off the coast of Mexico. As they fish, swim, and sail the turquoise waters of the open sea, Natan discovers the beauty of his Mayan heritage and learns to live in harmony with life above and below the surface, as the bond between father and son grows stronger before their inevitable farewell.

Radiating Joy: The Michelle Duppong Story

The story of Servant of God Michelle Duppong, who bore witness to Christ through heroic suffering and a passion for inviting others to be transformed by His love. In June 2022, Bishop David Kagan of Bismarck, North Dakota, announced the opening of the diocesan phase of investigation into Michelle’s life and reputation for holiness, which could lead to her beatification and canonization. On December 25, 2015, Duppong died of cancer at the age of 31

The Boy Who Found Gold

William Hart McNichols is a world renowned artist, heralded by Time magazine as "among the most famous creators of Christian iconic images in the world". As a young Catholic priest from 1983-1990 he was immersed in a life-altering journey working as a chaplain at St. Vincent's AIDS hospice in New York city. It was during this time that he became an early pioneer for LGBT rights within the Catholic church. "The Boy Who Found Gold" is a cinematic journey into the art and spirit of William Hart McNichols. The film follows his colorful life as he crosses paths with presidents, popes, martyrs, and parishioners, finding an insightful lesson with each encounter. McNichols' message as a priest, artist and man speaks to the most powerful element of the human spirit: Mercy.

Meráki

Plot unavailable

The Heart of Man

The Heart of Man is a timeless tale of a father's relentless pursuit of his son -- interwoven with interviews of top thought-leaders on brokenness, identity, and shame.

Keep Your Underwear On!

Yes, you read it right, it reads Keep your underwear on! If that is not shocking enough, now imagine your pastor standing up in front of the congregation and preaching a sermon entitled Keep your underwear on.

Home Movies

In this home movie collection of gay men, memory serves as an act of hope, power, and above all, resilience.

The Story and Forgiveness of José and Maria

After 50 years, José and Maria break off their marriage for good and agree to tell their grandson, for the first time, about the reasons that led them to this decision. A story about love, pain and forgiveness.

The Consecration of Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral

A day to remember - celebration and consecration in Liverpool.

I Shot My Love

Seventy years after his grandfather escapes from Nazi Germany to Palestine, Israeli documentary director Tomer Heymann returns to the country of his ancestors to present his film "Paper Dolls" at the Berlin International Film Festival, and there meets a man who will change his life. This 48-hour love affair, originating in Berghain Panorama Bar, develops into a significant relationship between Tomer and Andreas Merk, a German dancer.