Top 250 Movies Like Sacred Paths

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.

When his son dies while hiking the famed Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in the Pyrenees, Tom flies to France to claim the remains. Looking for insights into his estranged child’s life, he decides to complete the 500-mile mountain trek to Spain. Tom soon joins up with other travelers and realizes they’re all searching for something.

Amanda is a divorced woman who makes a living as a photographer. During the Fall of the year Amanda begins to see the world in new and different ways when she begins to question her role in life, her relationships with her career and men and what it all means. As the layers to her everyday experiences fall away insertions in the story with scientists, and philosophers and religious leaders impart information directly to an off-screen interviewer about academic issues, and Amanda begins to understand the basis to the quantum world beneath. During her epiphany as she considers the Great Questions raised by the host of inserted thinkers, she slowly comprehends the various inspirations and begins to see the world in a new way.

An American fugitive flees to Rome and tries to elude capture by masquerading as a priest.

Saar is an HIV positive gay man living in London, where he found refuge from the religious kibbutz where he grew up in Israel. Ever since he was diagnosed with HIV, Saar has craved his family's love, while they struggle with fears and prejudices.

Between 1978 and 1979, the inhabitants of the Oise are in fear of a maniac who kills several hitchhikers and escape the police. He was then dubbed "the killer of the Oise" is actually a shy young policeman who will investigate his own murder, only to lose control of the situation.

Set in ancient China, Zeng Jing is a skilled assassin who finds herself in possession of a mystical Buddhist monk's remains. She begins a quest to return the remains to its rightful resting place, and thus places herself in mortal danger because a team of assassins is in a deadly pursuit to possess the remains which holds an ancient power-wielding secret.

Jonathan is sick and tired of the boring life in his seagull clan. He rather experiments with new, always more daring flying techniques. Since he doesn't fit in, the elders expel him from the clan. So he sets out to discover the world beyond the horizon in a quest for wisdom.

During the British Raj, the orphan of a British soldier poses as a Hindu and is torn between his loyalty to a Buddhist mystic and aiding the English secret service.

The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as 'Kundun', which means 'The Presence'. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when communist China invaded and enforced an oppressive regime upon the peaceful nation. The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala ever since.

Summer 1890. In order to make some money to feed his family, Anton Chekhov, modest physician, wrote short stories for newspapers to sign Antosha Tchékhonté. Important characters, writer and editor, just make him aware of his talent. His situation is improving and Anton Chekhov gets the Pushkin prices and admiration of Tolstoy. But when one of his brothers died of tuberculosis, Anton saw it as a personal failure and wants to escape his fame and his love.

Jacques Mayano, a French journalist who has lived a traumatic experience, is recruited by the Vatican to be part of a task force that must investigate the veracity of a supernatural apparition allegedly happened in a small French village.

Jake and Sunti go to meet Mongkol, the leader of the Abu Karaf. Mongkol confirms that ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Jantapan has worked to corner the narcotics and arms markets. Jake must engage in a battle that will put both his physical and spiritual powers to the ultimate test.

A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria and her relationship with her slave Davus, who is torn between his love for her and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity.

A small time delinquent, turned police mechanic for a go fast task force, is forced to defend his innocence when his mentor is killed by dirty cops.

In a small French village, everything would be quiet if the local wildlife cop was not being ridiculed by a smart poacher.

In 1852, the mountain village in Provence where Violette lives is brutally deprived of all its men after the repression of the republicans ordered by Napoleon III. Women spend months in total isolation, desperate to see their men again. In this situation, they make an oath in case a man arrives in the village.

Gabrielle is a young woman with Williams syndrome who has a contagious joie de vivre and an exceptional musical gift. Since she met her boyfriend Martin, at the recreation centre where they are choir members, they have been inseparable. However, because they are "different," their loved ones are fearful of their relationship. As the choir prepare for an important music festival, Gabrielle does everything she can to gain her independence. As determined as she is, Gabrielle must still confront other people's prejudices as well as her own limitations in the hope of experiencing a love far from the "ordinary".

A disturbed priest, who witness an occult ritual, thinks the people are possessed and start a private inquisition to exorcise the demons by torturing them to death.

Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory, apparently playing themselves, share their lives over the course of an evening meal at a restaurant.

A writer, possessed by a terrifying story hunts for its secret heart in a mysterious landscape. He journeys into unknown, dreamlike places, haunted by the infamous Hum emitted from a strange factory.

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.

Renowned writer F. Scott Fitzgerald is living the last months of his life with his youthful secretary, confidant, and protégé who later wrote a memoir of their time together.

After the death of Lama Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist monks find three children — one American and two Nepalese — who may be the rebirth of their great teacher.

A fiery and inventive docufiction that portrays two marginal teenagers living in a remote and underserved Canadian village.

The film chronicles Perceval's knighthood, maturation and eventual peerage amongst the Knights of the Round Table, and also contains brief episodes from the story of Gawain and the crucifixion of Christ.

A struggling writer finds a shortcut to fame, but a blackmailer threatens to ruin his perfect life.

A love story situated in the Himalayas. A Buddhist monk can't choose between life and the way of the Buddha.

The lives of three 12-year-old buddies -- sharing a carefree existence in the summer of 1970 -- suddenly change when one of them, Dustin, makes an unexpected friend after cutting the lawn of 75-year-old Jonathan Sperry. As Jonathan shares lessons in faith with Dustin and his pals, a spiritual transformation occurs in this Christian drama.

Down-and-out former preacher Bill Hill witnesses stranger Juvenal save a woman from her abusive husband by defusing the latter's anger — and ending his wife's blindness. Determined to profit from Juvenal's mystical powers, Bill asks an old friend, Lynn Faulkner, to sneak into the Alcoholics Anonymous facility where Juvenal works as a counselor, but she finds herself falling for the healer.

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 disappearance of a young woman puts two forensic police officers on the trail of a serial killer. Their fears are confirmed by the discovery of several corpses, what follows is a long hunt across Paris.

Sebastien Nicolas is a reclusive realtor leading a double life – in his spare time he creates complex disguises based on acquaintances. Combined with minutely studied and rehearsed impersonations, Sebastien can disappear completely into other people's lives. Things spiral out of control after he impersonates the wrong man.

The story of G.I. Gurdjieff an Asian mystic who after a lifetimes study developed a form of meditation incorporating modern dance.

Viennese doctor Josef Bruer meets with philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to help him deal with his despair.

Divorced private detective Francois Maneri is assigned by his agency to investigate the disappearance of Rachel, a young student who has been missing for six months. After interviewing Rachel's family, friends and classmates, Francois is attacked and injured by an anonymous assailant and becomes reluctant to continue his search. But when Rachel's body is found, Francois is drawn deeper into the investigation as he discovers the dead girl's secret life.

When five strangers with nothing in common come together at a remote roadside eatery, they place their orders with the diner's omniscient owner, who seems to know everything about them ... and is eerily reminiscent of Jesus Christ.

The ambiguous suicide of a local beauty, weathergirl, cheese model, and Marilyn Monroe look-a-like finds an eager sleuth in David Rousseau, best-selling crime novelist. When Rousseau visits a remote Alps village for the reading of his friend's will he unwittingly, but irresistibly, gets caught in the tangled web of murder and small town politics in this off-beat mystery.

Paris, 1982. Franck and Serge are police investigators in charge of making a good catch in the Parisian porn industry. In order to infiltrate the mafia, they take over a peep show in Pigalle riddled with debts. In attempt to jump start the business, they begin to produce short porn films.

Readers and fans worldwide know the land of Narnia and the magical beings who dwell there. But few know the genius who created this beloved fantasy. Now meet C.S. Lewis, an extraordinary creative force, in this engaging true life story, filmed in Oxford, England where he lived, worked and imagined The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and the other tales that make up the beloved The Chronicles of Narnia.

The Hiding Place is an account of a Dutch family who risk their lives by offering a safe haven for Jews during World War II

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occuring.

When a ransom bid results in the death of a child, the police have only one lead – the old lady who witnessed the kidnapper using a public phone box. Though her recollection is vague, she volunteers to act as bait for the killer – telling the press that she had seen the kidnapper's face and she waits for him to attack.

When, Birdie, fragile teenager with an overactive imagination is placed in an isolated Midwestern convent on the brink of closure, her strange and in some cases grotesque obsessions begin to consume her attention. Outside life beckons when she meets Julia, the confident, spirited maintenance girl, inspiring a growing infatuation. But privately, Birdie can’t turn away from her fascination with the gory and whimsical hallucinations that plague her. Birdie sets off on her spiritual quest to discover if the source of her visions is something saintly or a dark heresy. The convent itself holds ghosts of nuns who’ve met untimely deaths. Are they calling Birdie to the same fate?

Hildegard von Bingen was truly a woman ahead of her time. A visionary in every sense of the word, this famed 12th-century Benedictine nun was a Christian mystic, composer, philosopher, playwright, poet, naturalist, scientist, physician, herbalist and ecological activist.

When her brother disappears during a brief travel layover in Mexico, Mitch begins a desperate search that will eventually lead the young divorcee into the capital city's most notorious neighborhood. But even with the aid of the American Ambassador, her plight is only met with indifference and inaction from the authorities. As the story unfolds, Mitch is forced to look for help in the least likely places as she races against time in a dangerous quest to find answers and locate her brother.

Sarah Taylor, a police psychologist, meets a mysterious and seductive young man, Tony Ramirez, and falls in love with him. As a cause of this relationship, she changes her personality when she begins to receive anonymous telephone calls.

Elisabeth and Charles search for a link between three very different murders.

Christine is a wheelchair-using woman with severe multiple sclerosis. In order to escape her isolation, she makes a journey to Lourdes, the iconic site of pilgrimage in the Pyrenees Mountains, along with other people with varying disabilities. During her stay she begins to regain the use of her limbs. This is in contrast with others, who appear to have stronger faith than Christine but experience only slight, passing improvement. Her fellow pilgrims are eager to call it a miracle; however, as the pilgrimage draws to a close, exactly how accurate a claim this is becomes uncertain.

A biopic of famous French writer Françoise Sagan, best known for her groundbreaking first book, Bonjour Tristesse.

Between September 2012 and May 2013, France is debating the upcoming marriage equality laws. During those nine months, sociologist Irène Théry talks about what is at stake with her son Mathias Théry, who will make a movie with Étienne Chaillou out of those hours of conversations. It is a documentary about the social debate in France, but also about family and intimacy.

In 2014, Tsai Ming-Liang was invited to make a film for the MarseilleFID, Marseille International Film Festival. Since he was not familiar with Marseille, he decided to make a film as tourist, capturing the beautiful Mediterranean sunshine in the late summer of that year. He also invited famous French actor, Denis Lavant, to appear alongside Lee Kang-Sheng playing Xuanzang. "Journey to the West" was invited to be the opening short film at the Berlin International Film Festival the same year.

Western culture treats mental disorders primarily through biomedical psychiatry, but filmmakers Phil Borges and Kevin Tomlinson reveal a growing movement of professionals and survivors who are forging alternative treatments that focus on recovery and turning mental “illness” into a positive transformative experience.

This documentary presents an awakening inspired by the life of the Benedictine monk Henri Le Saux. After living in a monastery in Brittany for 20 years, he left for South India with the objective of bringing the best of Christian monastic life with him. To achieve his goal, he believed it important to first open himself to the spiritual heart of India. In doing so he encountered Ramana Maharshi, one of the great sages of his time, at the foot of the sacred mountain Arunachala. The impact of this meeting on him was so powerful that Le Saux’s initial plan was turned upside down. In the presence of this mystical mountain, and its Sage, Le Saux began a spiritual adventure that would lead to his own rebirth.

Having cleared his name, genius mechanic Lino has only one goal in mind: getting revenge on the corrupt cops who killed his brother and his mentor.

Two crooked lawmen (Stomy Bugsy, Titoff) search for a precious stone to collect an inheritance.

Alfonso, brutal agent of the Department of Protection of High Personalities, is forced to team up with young inexperienced recruit Walter, fascinated by the world of show biz. This improbable duo is in charge of the protection of Jal-Y, a young R'n'B star threatened by his ex, a criminal on the run.

A spiritual adventure film chronicling the discovery of ancient scrolls in the rainforests of Peru. The prophecy and its nine key insights predict a worldwide awakening, arising within all religious traditions, that moves humanity toward a deeper experience of spirituality.

The adventures of a sailor from Mexico to a lagoon in the Pacific ocean, and the meeting with a lonely girl.

Fleeing from his enemies in the Catholic Church, the free thinking philosopher, poet and scientist Giordano Bruno has found some protection in Venice. But the Roman Inquisition, fearing his influence in Europe, wants to bring him on trial for 'heresy'.

A fascinating story of the truth behind the legend and history of St Patrick. This special will feature the world reknown voices of two of Ireland's incredible top actors: with narration by Liam Neeson and also Gabriel Byrne supplying the voice of Patrick. The story of the real St. Patrick is a fabulous mix of part adventure tale and part spiritual awakening. His radical ideas were suspect and he attracted the censure of the Church establishment in Roman Britain. Patrick refused to compromise this commitment and soon won the respect and love of the Irish and even the finally the reluctant support of his detractors. He started out as a slave an eventually became a liberator, who learned to forgive and ultimately love his enemies.

It centres on the life of the entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre and his total devotion to studying insect behavior, travelling from Avignon to Paris, from Paris to his death in Sérignan. He is honoured by the French president Raymond Poincaré and his patience, obstinacy and knowledge are also recognised by Napoleon III, the publisher Charles Delagrave and the philosopher John Stuart Mill. They reach their climax in his book, Souvenirs entomologiques.

After freeing Baghdad from its terrible ruler, Aladin delays his marriage to the princess until a new dictator arrives to take over the city.

Sometimes, when you think you have it all, everything falls apart. That is exactly the story of Jeanne .Just when she is offered the chance to dub famous American actress Jennifer Marshall in a successful American TV Show and her salary is about to triple, Marshall decides to withdraw from the show. So Jeanne makes a crazy decision, fly to Hollywood herself and make Jennifer change her mind about leaving the series...

From the co-founder of Slamdance comes the story of a young man who returns home from a trip abroad to confront not just his peculiar family and friends, but also a pair of Colombian jewel thieves and a roving gang of Iowa kickboxers, culminating in a showdown at Carhenge. A seminal movie in the history of independent film, "Omaha: The Movie" was the film that spearheaded the birth of the Slamdance Film Festival.

Julie and Mathieu, soon after meeting for the first time, embark in a quest across Paris to stop one of Mathieu’s pupil at school from doing anything stupid after finding a disturbing love note. Inside Mathieu’s old little car, the two characters mix like oil and water, with the math teacher’s carelessness for others not going so well with Julie’s larger than life personality. The more Mathieu discovers some fragility under Julie’s exuberance, the more the two become inseparable.

The parallel fates of a few inhabitants of a strange planet : the world of Internet gay encounters...

Serge Renart, a television journalist who's now a has-been, and Natacha Bison, a war reporter who has been laid off because she posed too much of a danger to her colleagues, find themselves forced to investigate a story together, which will take them to Thailand, in search of one of the best kept secrets of contemporary history. What really happened during the televised broadcast of the Apollo 11 mission, when man first walked on the moon?

Zodiac Crush is a captivating reality TV movie that explores the fascinating world of astrology and numerology in the context of dating. The movie centers around a star bachelorette who is on a quest to find her soulmate, and she does so by dating five guys, each representing a unique star sign and life path number. Throughout the movie, the bachelorette goes on a series of dates and engaging challenges with her suitors, and viewers get to witness the highs and lows of each encounter. Along the way, the bachelorette receives expert guidance and predictions from astrology and numerology experts, Mike Anthony and Rachel Black, who help her navigate the complexities of compatibility based on star signs and numerology.

Three former bank robbers are meeting after 25 years...

Follow ocean legend Sylvia Earle, renowned underwater National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry, writer Max Kennedy and their crew of teenage aquanauts on a year-long quest to deploy science and photography to inspire President Obama to establish new Blue Parks to protect essential habitats across an unseen American Wilderness.

For generations, we have believed that man is driven by ruthless self-interest. But over the past decade, this idea has been increasingly challenged. New research from fields as diverse as political science, psychology, sociology and experimental economics is forcing us to rethink human actions and motivation. ‘The Altruism Revolution’ examines the scientific reasons behind the call for a more caring society.

For over 60 years, Studs Terkel elevated the voices and experiences of everyday Americans through his skillful interviews on radio, in books and on TV. This documentary takes a fond and illuminating look back at one of America's most influential authors and media personalities whose curiosity about people never dimmed over the course of a long and brilliant career.

The brutes and the belles. The gadflies and the good ol' boys. The taboos and the profound truths. They're all part of a tennessee state of mind -- a realm of places, personalities and ideas. Williams is front and center for this exploration, reading from his works, placing them in the context of his life, and serving as guide in visits to his career-shaping refuge in New Orleans and his later-day writing quarters in Key West. Also, dramatizations by distinguished actors -- including Jessica Tandy, Broadway's original Blanche DuBois, in a recreation of her A Streetcar Named Desire triumph -- give flesh-and-bone immediacy to some of the writer's famed works. In his own words. In his own places. The resilient character and memorable characters of one of our greatest writers reside in Tennessee Williams' South.

My Jules Verne, by director Patricio Guzman, presents modern-day explorers who retrace the paths of some of Jules Verne's intrepid characters. Accompany Hubert Reeves, Laurence de La Ferrière, Hubert Falco and others to the Antarctic, to the centre of the earth, under the seas and into outer space.

February 2013, Allahabad, India. Over the next 55 days, nearly a hundred million people will come here, to the Great Kumbh Mela. This incredible and awe-inspiring celebration of the world's oldest religion happens every 12 years at the place where Hindus believe two sacred rivers meet. For many Hindus this is their most important pilgrimage, and it happens at one of the most holy sites in India. Hindus come to cleanse themselves in the sacred waters of the river Ganges, to pray and emerge purified and renewed. This follows British pilgrims as they embark on a once-in-a-lifetime spiritual journey. A journey that will take them into the heart of Hinduism - its philosophy, its beliefs and its traditions. A journey that will culminate in the largest ever gathering of humans in one place.

Following in the footsteps of US writer Jack London, philosopher Philippe Simay travels through the inhospitable lands of the Canadian Far North.

A tale set in a decaying Parisian porn theatre, where within its dark confines, male patrons -- soldiers, transvestites, married men -- regularly engage in anonymous sex acts. In the ticket booth of the theatre, a wise Italian woman serves as benevolent gatekeeper, observing -- but never judging -- the proceedings occurring under her watchful eyes. One day, one of her regulars engages her in a conversation that leads to an unusual friendship, as these two worldly souls share their common experiences.

Dara returns home to reconnect with her husband and her young daughter, whom she left two years earlier. When she arrives, she discovers that a woman who is seven months pregnant has taken her place and that her daughter no longer recognizes her.

Four interwoven meditations on the nature of time, memory, experience and the quest for spiritual enlightenment.

The 20 year old Muslim religious law student Ibn Battuta (1304–1368), whose full name was Abu Abdullah Muhammed Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta, set out from Tangier, a city in northern Morocco, in 1325, on a pilgrimage to Mecca, some 3,000 miles (over 4,800 km) to the East. The journey took him 18 months to complete and along the way he met with misfortune and adversity, including attack by bandits, rescue by Bedouins, fierce sand storms and dehydration.

One morning, a worn-out field cop, nicknamed Ping-Pong by everyone, burns his police ID and disappears. During one night and one day, his colleagues look for him, meet him and lose him in Toulouse and its suburbs. But every hour that passes brings Ping-Pong a little bit closer to his own destiny.

Marco Lopez, a former Neo-Nazi and skinhead, tries to leave his violent, racist and hateful past behind him.

Writer Léo Shepherd lives in rural France together with his daughter Virginia, who manages his affairs. One day Virginia gets a call from the Swedish Academy. Léo has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. His estranged son Paul tries desperately to contact him, but is denied every time by his sister. When Léo starts traveling to the ceremony in Stockholm by motor bike, Paul decides to follow him and try to speak to him. Clearly Léo doesn't want to be followed, starts speeding and gets involved in a accident, but isn't badly hurt. The police confuse another motorist for Shepherd and announce his death. Paul, driven by his childhood experiences, decides to kidnap his father.

A beautiful dancer has two admirers -- one is a young worker whom she has only met by accident, and the other is an unscrupulous businessman. The worker had been training as a Buddhist monk and as his interest in the dancer and the businessman's pursuit of the woman develop, the dancer and the former monk end up at the archaeological site of Angkor.

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.

A young mother Nina and her son Enzo find themselves sleeping on the streets of Paris. Eventually there lifestyle leads them to Versailles.

Sometimes, we're just waiting for a miracle. A nurse who is a Jehovah's Witness, grows fond of the miracle survivor of a plane crash. Two sexagenarians, a bartender and a parking lot attendant want to explore their forbidden passions. A conservative, well-off couple drown their disappointments in booze and gambling. And a man does his utmost to make amends for an irredeemable action, bringing us to a plane bound for Cuba. An ensemble film where every character affects the lives of others.

Exploring the life and impact of the greatest spiritual and legal philosopher in Islamic history, this film examines Ghazali's existential crisis of faith that arose from his rejection of religious dogmatism, and reveals profound parallels with our own times. Ghazali became known as the Proof of Islam and his path of love and spiritual excellence overcame the pitfalls of the organised religion of his day. His path was largely abandoned by early 20th century Muslim reformers for the more strident and less tolerant school of Ibn Taymiyya. Combining drama with documentary, this film argues that Ghazali's Islam is the antidote for today's terror.

Follows Sophie and Nicolas who move from the capital to start a new life, but when his son comes back from playing with their new neighbors' son, they find he has some strange marks on his back and become suspicious of their neighbors.

Late 1950s in France. One woman, two men. She, Ève Faugère, a glamorous diva at the peak of her career. The man, her husband, Maurice Faugère, an immense author who made her and propelled her for years to the firmament of the song. And finally the lover, Jean Leprat, her pianist who adores her and burns with passion for her. The atrocious poison of jealousy will consume them to the point of tragedy, the trap of a Machiavellian plot will take them all three. And she, the other one, the so pretty Florence, so fresh. This ambitious young singer, ready to do anything to overthrow the one she admires, is she not also caught in the trap of a diabolical game that is beyond her? Where does the danger come from? Who is orchestrating this fatal merry-go-round engraved in the vinyl of the brand new singles that brings its poisonous message every day? Who will die? Who will survive?

Teen Parisian superheroes Ladybug and Chat Noir visit New York on a field trip and discover that superheroes exist in the United States too.

A British-produced documentary about the bizarre life of Nazi SS officer Otto Rahn, focused on his search for the mystical Holy Grail of Christ.

Senegalese pop sensation Youssou Ndour has spent the last 20 years in the spotlight as a world-renowned musician and the iconic representative "voice of Africa." At the height of his career, Youssou became frustrated by the negative perception of his Muslim faith and composed Egypt, a deeply spiritual album dedicated to a more tolerant view of Islam. The album's brave musical message was wholeheartedly embraced by Western audiences but ignited serious religious controversy in his homeland of Senegal. The film chronicles the difficult journey Youssou must undertake to assume his true calling.

In "The Soul of A Man," director Wim Wenders looks at the dramatic tension in the blues between the sacred and the profane by exploring the music and lives of three of his favorite blues artists: Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J. B. Lenoir. Part history, part personal pilgrimage, the film tells the story of these lives in music through an extended fictional film sequence (recreations of '20s and '30s events - shot in silent-film, hand-crank style), rare archival footage, present-day documentary scenes and covers of their songs by contemporary musicians such as Shemekia Copeland, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Garland Jeffreys, Chris Thomas King, Cassandra Wilson, Nick Cave, Los Lobos, Eagle Eye Cherry, Vernon Reid, James "Blood" Ulmer, Lou Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Marc Ribot, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Lucinda Williams and T-Bone Burnett.

Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker, Anders Østergaard, brings us close to the video journalists who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country.