What A Miracle (1965)

Words with Gods

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.

We're No Angels

Two escaped cons' only prayer to escape is to pass themselves off as priests and pass by the police blockade at the border into the safety of Canada.

UFOria

Sheldon Bart (Fred Ward) is a drifter, and a small-time con man. He meets his old friend, Brother Bud (Harry Dean Stanton), a big-time con man into faith healing and fencing stolen cars, at his revival tent outside a small town. While he's helping Brother Bud, he falls in love with Arlene (Cindy Williams), a local supermarket clerk who believes in UFOs and is deeply religious and deeply lonely. When Arlene has a vision of a coming UFO, everyone deals with it in their own way.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Isolated bell-ringer Quasimodo wishes to leave Notre Dame tower against the wishes of Judge Claude Frollo, his stern guardian and Paris' strait-laced Minister of Justice. His first venture to the outside world finds him Esmeralda, a kind-hearted and fearless Romani woman who openly stands up to Frollo's tyranny.

Dogma

An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loophole and reenter Heaven.

Holy Man

In a world governed by commerce, Ricky and Kate, dedicated employees, find their lives forever changed when they encounter the enigmatic stranger G. As they navigate the realm of commerce, their paths intertwine in a surreal dance of love, loss, and redemption. G's presence, amplified through the pervasive influence of globalized television, casts a spell that reverberates beyond Ricky and Kate, impacting the lives of those who bear witness to their intertwined destinies.

Eight Days a Week

Peter loves his next door neighbour Erica and, on the advice of his grandfather, decides to camp out on her front lawn for the entire summer, or until she agrees to go out with him. His father is none too happy about the idea and refuses to let his son back in the house, even to get a change of clothes.

Portraits of Voyages: Lithuania - The Hill of Crosses

A short animated telling of the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania, a place of pilgrimage consisting of a formidable accumulation of crosses that was often razed during the Soviet period. Coming to replant a cross was then an act of resistance.

Leap of Faith

Jonas Nightengale is a fraudulent Christian faith healer who makes a living travelling around America holding revival meetings and conducting 'miracles' with the help of his friend and manager, Jane, and their entourage.

Religulous

Commentator-comic Bill Maher plays devil's advocate with religion as he talks to believers about their faith. Traveling around the world, Maher examines the tenets of Christianity, Judaism and Islam and raises questions about homosexuality, proof of Christ's existence, Jewish Sabbath laws, violent Muslim extremists.

Holy Smoke

While on a journey of discovery in exotic India, beautiful young Ruth Barron falls under the influence of a charismatic religious guru. Her desperate parents then hire PJ Waters, a macho cult de-programmer who confronts Ruth in a remote desert hideaway. But PJ quickly learns that he's met his match in the sexy, intelligent and iron-willed Ruth.

Eat the Rich

Alex is a disgruntled waiter at a snobby exclusive restaurant who falls on hard times. Forced to deal with the contempt and disgust of the upper class, Alex & cohorts attempt to go on a rampage. Meanwhile, General Karprov and Spider plot to involve the inept anarchists into their plans to derail the prime-minister-to-be's campaign.

I ♥ Huckabees

A husband-and-wife team play detective, but not in the traditional sense. Instead, the happy duo helps others solve their existential issues, the kind that keep you up at night, wondering what it all means.

Bewitched

It's more dificult to love than to be bewitched. The film has as it's central theme the loving separation, but the consequences of this separation are attributed to occult forces that throwing the protagonist in the world of Afro-Brazilian mystical religions.

Adam's Apples

A neo-nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devotional priest.

The Miracle of Father Malachia

"Wunderbar" takes on a new meaning in this routine satire by Bernhard Wicki about a bar that is miraculously transported by God Himself to a nearby, new location on an island. The nature of the miracle is a bit strange, but it comes in answer to Pater Malachias' prayers to get the sin-ridden place out of the center of the city. The good and naive Malachias is subtly played by Horst Bollimann. Once this miracle of relocation has occurred, the sharks and entrepreneurs, who would bilk both the faithful and the curiosity-seekers alike, crop up like an unwanted epidemic. The mercenary and the sacred clash, as many try to find deeper meaning in what has happened, and Pater Malachias starts to doubt the wisdom of his original prayer.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes

After a team of surgeons botches his beloved wife's operation, the distraught Dr. Phibes unleashes a score of Old-Testament atrocities on his enemies.

Preti

The growth of the relationship between an old homosexual priest and his apprentice

PK

A stranger in the city asks questions no one has asked before. Known only by his initials, the man's innocent questions and childlike curiosity take him on a journey of love, laughter and letting go.

Lilies of the Field

An unemployed construction worker heading out west stops at a remote farm in the desert to get water when his car overheats. The farm is being worked by a group of East European Catholic nuns, headed by the strict mother superior, who believes the man has been sent by God to build a much needed church in the desert.

Saint Young Men

What if Jesus and Buddha were living on Earth in modern times? What if they shared an apartment in Japan? Saint☆Oniisan is a humorous drama about daily lives of Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha who are living together as roommates in a Tokyo apartment while taking a vacation on Earth. The comedy often involves jokes about Christianity, Buddhism, and all things related, as well as the main characters' attempts to hide their identities and understand modern society in Japan.

Do Not Commit Adultery

Pino is a young man who lives in Assisi with his father Damiano, a communist revolutionary, and his partner Nadine. One day Pino sees Maria Teresa studying Latin and starts giving her some lessons. Soon they fall in love.

The Invention of Lying

Set in a world where the concept of lying doesn't exist, a loser changes his lot when he invents lying and uses it to get ahead.

Legend of Crystania: The Motion Picture

Ashram, desperate to find a home for his people, is tricked into selling his soul. 300 years later, Pirotesse's devotion to her king remains unshaken. In the sacred world of Crystania, amidst a civil war waged by shape-changing warriors, she searches for her beloved Ashram. She meets Redon, a young prince obsessed with avenging his murdered parents. Together, they confront Ashram's captor Barbas.

SoulMaid

Loosely based on the classic story of Sleeping Beauty, this irreverent gay fairy tale for modern audiences follows a man named Moses, whose frequent seizures are characterized by the appearance of Glintentica, a spurned Goddess planning her return to earth. Problems arise when Glintentica becomes determined to take over the soul of David, Moses' new love interest.

Baptists at Our Barbecue

"Baptists at Our Barbecue" is the comedic story of the small town of Longwinded, USA, a divided, feuding town of 262 Mormons and 262 Baptists. It's also a love story, about one man who will try anything to end the ridiculous feud, bring the town together, and keep the peace-loving girl of his dreams from leaving town.

The God

The film shows Shiva in a very traditional representation--in bronze and standing within a circle of bronze flames. Suddenly, a fly lands on Shiva's arm--one of many arms to be exact. Slowly, the bronze statue comes alive and swats the fly--missing again and again and eventually smashing the bronze circle.

Extreme Days

As four lifelong friends, Will, Bryan, Matt, and Corey, are on the road trip they've been planning their whole lives, Corey's beloved grandfather unexpectedly dies. When going to claim Corey's inheritance, the gang meets Matt's beautiful cousin Jessie and embark on a hilarious, extreme sports-filled adventure.

La passione

To avoid being sued, a film director reluctantly agrees to set up and direct the Good Friday celebrations in a small Tuscan town.

Salvation Boulevard

Set in the world of mega-churches in which a former Deadhead-turned-born-again-Christian finds himself on the run from fundamentalist members of his mega-church who will do anything to protect their larger-than-life pastor.

Hopelessly Devout

A woman in a Catholic brotherhood in the south of Spain tries to be president in a world traditionally reserved to men.

A Bear Named Jesus

At Archer’s Aunty Gladys’ funeral, he hears a tap on the window — it’s a bear named Jesus, who has come for Archer’s mom. “A Bear Named Jesus” is an allegory for religious interference, with an aching yet humorous look at estrangement and mourning for the loss of someone still living.

Majorettes in Space

Dimitri, a Soviet cosmonaut of Soyouz 27 likes majorettes. Catherine and Laurent like making love. Jean-Paul II loves airports. Vincent loves boys.

Bilal: A New Breed of Hero

A thousand years ago, one boy with a dream of becoming a great warrior is abducted with his sister and taken to a land far away from home. Thrown into a world where greed and injustice rule all, Bilal finds the courage to raise his voice and make a change. Inspired by true events, this is a story of a real hero who earned his remembrance in time and history.

Saint Young Men The Movie ~Holy Men vs Demon Army~

There are saints living in Tokyo, Japan: Buddha the Enlightened One, and Jesus, Son of God. After successfully bringing the previous century to a close, the two share an apartment in Tachikawa while enjoying some well-earned time off down on Earth. Buddha pinches pennies like a typical neighborhood housewife, while Jesus is prone to making impulse buys.

The Ninth Configuration

Army psychiatrist Colonel Kane is posted to a secluded gothic castle housing a military asylum. With a reserved calm, he indulges the inmates' delusions, allowing them free rein to express their fantasies.

Whatever Works

Whatever Works explores the relationship between a crotchety misanthrope, Boris and a naïve, impressionable young runaway from the south, Melody. When Melody's uptight parents arrive in New York to rescue her, they are quickly drawn into wildly unexpected romantic entanglements. Everyone discovers that finding love is just a combination of lucky chance and appreciating the value of "whatever works."

The Best Two Years

Two pairs of Mormon missionaries from America live in a beaten-up apartment in the Dutch city of Haarlem. Their personalities are distinctly different. Elder Johnson is the District Leader and oversees their efforts. His companion, the vain Elder Van Pelt, seeks to become the assistant to the mission president (the top post available) as soon as possible. The capable Elder Rogers has become disillusioned and inattentive to his duties ever since a previous missionary companion returned to America and married Elder Roger's girlfriend. The three meet Elder Roger's new companion, Elder Calhoun, in the train station. This new elder is a nerdy but enthusiastic "greenie" that has just arrived from the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Utah. Unfortunately, his training did not give him much fluency in the Dutch language. But as luck would have it, the first person he approaches to proselytize is a fellow American named Kyle.

Eternal Life & Associates

Ines is an old atheist woman who is intrigued by the funeral services provided by Giovanna, who takes her on a tour through the graveyard to show her all the special attentions they offer to their clients

The Story of the Other Wise Man

Based on a story by Henry Van Dyke. After years of searching, a fourth Wise Man finds Jesus Christ, but he has no gifts left to give Him. He is comforted to learn that "inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40)

For Heaven's Sake

An irresponsible young millionaire changes his tune when he falls for the daughter of a downtown minister.

She Came to Me

Composer Steven Lauddem is plagued by a creative block which leaves him unable to finish the score for his big comeback opera. When his former therapist-turned-wife Patricia suggests he rekindle his creativity by getting lost in the city, Steven sets out in search of inspiration. His epiphany comes after he meets a spirited woman named Katrina and discovers his life has much more potential than he bargained for, or ever could have imagined.

Julia Sweeney - Letting Go of God

Julia Sweeney's third autobiographical monologue, Letting Go of God takes the audience through her Catholic upbringing and how personal events in her life and that of her family led her to a disbelief in a personal universal deity.

Summer '03

16-year-old Jamie Winkle and her extended family are left reeling after her calculating grandmother unveils an array of secrets on her deathbed. As her family deals with her grandmother's surprising dying messages, Jamie sets out to make the most of her summer and explores her sexuality.

El Mago

A slapstick fantasy of the amorous adventures of a magician a la Cantinflas.

The Milky Way

Two men, part tramp, part pilgrim, are on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. On their way they meet a whole assortment of people—some truculent, some violent, and some bizarre; they experience many adventures—some mysterious, some erotic, some even supernatural.

Pops

How would you react if your father's last wish was a little bit out there? For siblings Roz and Elli, it becomes a battleground for who will determine their pop's final journey.