Zanskar, les promesses de l'hiver

How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader. This is his story, as told and filmed by Rick Ray during a private visit to his monastery in Dharamsala, India over the course of several months. Also included is rare historical footage as well as footage supplied by individuals who at great personal risk, filmed with hidden cameras within Tibet.

Suzanne Simonin describes her life of suffering in letters. As a young woman she is sent to a convent against her will. Since her parents cannot afford the dowry required for a marriage befitting her rank they decide she must instead become a nun. Although a kind and understanding Mother Superior helps her to learn the convent’s daily routine, Suzanne’s desire for freedom remains unabated. When the Mother Superior dies, Suzanne finds herself faced with reprisals, humiliation and harassment at the hands of the new Abbess and the other Sisters. For many years, Suzanne is subjected to bigotry and religious fanaticism. (Berlinale.de)

A group of college students break into an abandoned convent and become possessed by demonic spirits.

In the autumn of 1960, Father Thomas Riley and Father John Thornton were sent by the Vatican to investigate a miraculous event in an Irish home for 'fallen women', only to uncover something much more horrific.

Peyangki is a dreamy and solitary eight-year-old monk living in Laya, a Bhutanese village perched high in the Himalayas. Soon the world will come to him: the village is about to be connected to electricity, and the first television will flicker on before Peyangki's eyes.

Star follows the path of Tito and Jay, two brothers living in the Montreal neighborhood of Park Extension. Accompanying these young people in their daily life marked by complicity and intimidation, Star tackles themes dear to teenagers: identity and friendship.

Buddhist monks open up about the joys and challenges of living out the precepts of the Buddha as a full-time vocation. Controversies swirling within modern monastic Buddhism are examined, from celibacy and the role of women to racism and concerns about the environment.

The McAllister family house is the setting for Gerry and Ellie's grapples with work, children and how to get the bathroom fixed. Both have reached the stage where reason cannot be heard above the ticking clock of experience and ambition. When temptation comes, how will they react?

We follow the daily activities of Mother Teresa and her nuns, in service to the poor of India and the world. Mother Teresa attends to the basic needs of her nuns and the poor, while at the same time, balances her role as world-recognized leader. Throughout the film, we witness personal and "behind-the-scenes" events, including the blessing ceremony of a nun becoming part of Mother Teresa's "Sisters of the Poor" convent.

The oldest Quebecois Benedictine convent open its gates to a documentary filmmaker for the first time. Observed up close, life behind its walls is busier than one would expect. About twenty cloistered nuns, most of them over 70, share their daily life with diligence and humor. A contemplative portrait of a community of sisterhood and solidarity emerges, punctuated by prayer, work and games evenings.

Bones of the Buddha is a 2013 television documentary produced by Icon Films and commissioned by WNET/THIRTEEN and ARTE France for the National Geographic Channels. It concerns a controversial Buddhist reliquary from the Piprahwa Stupa in Uttar Pradesh, India. It was released in May, 2013, and was broadcast in July 2013 in the US on PBS as part of the Secrets of the Dead series.

In the valleys of the Himalayas, an orphan boy saves a Bengal tiger cub from the ruthless poachers who killed the tiger's mother. Together they set out in the Himalayan mountains to the Taktsang monastery in Bhutan known as "The Tiger's Nest" where Buddhist monks took refuge after the 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet and protect the big cats. A new great film for the whole family that talks about the importance of defending animals through the story of the friendship between two orphans, a tiger cub and a child, in a tale of brotherhood and the discovery of life.

Filmed in Karasjok, Norway - 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, BBC Four rigs a traditional reindeer sleigh with a fixed camera for a magical journey across the frozen wilderness of the Arctic. Following the path of an ancient postal route, the ride captures the traditional world of the Sami people who are indigenous to northern Scandinavia and for whom reindeer herding remains a way of life. Deliberately unhurried, the rhythmic pace of the reindeer guides us along an epic two-hour trip that takes us over undulating snowy hills, through birch forests, across a frozen lake and past traditional Sami settlements.

Northern Italy, 17th century. In a monastery, a nun accused of witchcraft tries to seduce a young confessor who refuses to yield to his searing temptation.

Story of four young monks left alone in their remote monastery in Myanmar. Shot entirely in newly-opened Myanmar with non-actors, the film bridges spirit, cinema, and traditional Burmese storytelling to open a view onto an unseen world.

Twenty-seven years ago Gil and Kelly Jo Bates tied the knot with no plans to have kids. Fast forward 19 kids later and this tight-knit family, seemingly too good to be true, has a tremendous bond but are far from perfect. As you will see, when you have a house full of 19 children, from ages two to 25, daily chaos is multiplied exponentially, but so are the joyful and poignant moments that life can bring.

Amidst the political conflict of Northern Ireland in the 1990s, five secondary school students square off with the universal challenges of being a teenager.

A sitcom set in a small pub in Manchester, “The Grapes”, where daily life is bound up in the issues of love, loneliness, and blocked urinals. Regular drinkers Joe and Duffy pass the time with landlord Ken and his police officer cronies.

Follows the staff and patients of a Yorkshire cottage hospital in the 60s, embroiled in tangled love lives and bitter power struggles.

Yukon Men is an unscripted American cable television series aired on the Discovery Channel. It is produced by Paper Route Productions. The series details the harsh life in the Alaskan village of Tanana where the population make their living by hunting and trapping game. It premiered on August 24, 2012. The show's prominent themes are community and survival. The television show is named after the nearby Yukon river and not the Yukon territory in Canada.

Iolo Williams explores the behaviour of birds in Wales, revealing all aspects of their lives from surviving harsh winters and avoiding predators, to living alongside us in our towns and cities.

Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold turn the clock back 500 years to the early Tudor period to become tenant farmers on monastery land.

Wonders of the Monsoon’ will explore the worlds of such places as the Himalayas to Northern Australia. The show will look at how the wildlife and culture of these places has shaped the Earth through some of its greatest natural phenomena on the planet. The series will take a journey to see how life manages to flourish under the tumultuous weather conditions that annually transforms an enormous part of our planet.

Janina Ramirez discovers how monasteries shaped all aspects of medieval Britain and created a dazzling array of art, architecture and literature, a story of faith, sacrifice, violence and corruption.

India - land of stunning wildlife, ancient cultures and extreme landscapes. Wildlife expert Liz Bonnin, actor Freida Pinto and mountaineer Jon Gupta reveal India's natural wonders.

Observational documentary series following the work of staff at three very different veterinary practices located within the ancient Kingdom of Mourne in Northern Ireland.

India's wildcats have been symbols of strength & royalty since the ancient times. Despite the reverence they evoke and their own adaptability & prowess, these cats have been pushed to the brink. Yet, they are the last hope for protecting the country's wild spaces. Two years in the making, 'Wild Cats of India' has journeyed across country's contrasting landscapes with an ambition to paint an intimate portrait of the intriguing lives of wildcats.

Exploring the vital role colour plays in the daily lives of many species.

Explore the tropical forests, dense jungles, and vast grasslands of Colombia, where a tremendous array of animals face a daily struggle against fierce predators and harsh weather. Watch as young tamarins face deadly boa constrictors, capuchins dodge hungry jaguars, capybaras share streams with caimans, and dazzling hummingbirds engage in an endless quest for nectar. In these unforgiving landscapes, stunning creatures and hidden dangers are waiting to be discovered around every corner.

What is happening today in European monasteries? Why do young people leave the “normal” world to devote their lives to spirituality? Let's embark on a journey to discover the sources of Europe and share the life of monastic communities from Ireland to Russia and from Greece to Germany.