Top 250 Movies Like Stories Of A Generation - With Pope Francis

There are lives that can inspire our own

A list of the best movies similar to Stories of a Generation - with Pope Francis. If you liked Stories of a Generation - with Pope Francis then you may also like: Neil Gaiman: Dream Dangerously, New York Stories, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, One Direction: This Is Us, Relative Values and many more great movies featured on this list.

Stories Of A Generation narrates the values of life: from love to pain, from work to dreams. 18 generational stories are enriched with the participation of Pope Francis and Martin Scorsese.

Neil Gaiman: Dream Dangerously

Neil Gaiman is one of the most beloved storytellers in the world today, a medium-jumping legend who opened a new era of comics with Sandman, scared a generation of young readers with Coraline and The Graveyard Book, and has thrilled his fans with years of live readings and signings. Recently, Neil embarked on his final signing tour, one last chance to talk to the fans who love his work and show his appreciation for their years of support. Now you're along for the ride! The film offers unprecedented access to Neil, chronicling his journey from myth-loving child to one of the most popular writers in the world. In addition to Neil, the film also features Amanda Palmer, George RR Martin, Grant Morrison, Bill Hader, Wil Wheaton, Michael Sheen, Karen Berger, and many more.

New York Stories

Get ready for a wildly diverse, star-studded trilogy about life in the big city. One of the most-talked about films in years, New York Stories features the creative collaboration of three of America's most popular directors, Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, and Woody Allen.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

A chronicle of Bob Dylan's strange evolution between 1961 and 1966 from folk singer to protest singer to "voice of a generation" to rock star.

One Direction: This Is Us

"One Direction: This Is Us" is a captivating and intimate all-access look at life on the road for the global music phenomenon. Weaved with stunning live concert footage, this inspiring feature film tells the remarkable story of Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis's really like to be One Direction.

Relative Values

A comedy of discriminating taste and dirty little secrets, the story is set in 1952 England, where Nigel, the Earl of Marshwood, woos Hollywood star Miranda Frayle, upsetting both his mother, Countess Felicity of Marshwood, and her former love, fellow Hollywood star Don Lucas. Right before the engagement party to be held at Marshwood, Moxie, the Countess's personal maid and best friend reveals that Miranda is her estranged sister. Crestwell, the Countess's butler, quickly devises a plan-but an inebriated Lucas's arrival at Marshwood to try to talk to Miranda causes all chaos to break loose.

Keeping the Faith

Best friends since they were kids, Rabbi Jacob Schram and Father Brian Finn are dynamic and popular young men living and working on New York's Upper West Side. When Anna Reilly, once their childhood friend and now grown into a beautiful corporate executive, suddenly returns to the city, she reenters Jake and Brian's lives and hearts with a vengeance. Sparks fly and an unusual and complicated love triangle ensues.

Killers of the Flower Moon

When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.

About Time

The night after another unsatisfactory New Year's party, Tim's father tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. They can't change history, but they can change what happens and has happened in their own lives. Thus begins the start of a lesson in learning to appreciate life itself as it is, as it comes, and most importantly, the people living alongside us.

The Age of Innocence

In 19th century New York high society, a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.

American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince

Martin Scorsese spends an evening with larger-than-life raconteur Steven Prince—a former drug addict, road manager for Neil Diamond, and actor—as he recounts stories from his colorful life.

Shooting Dogs

Two westerners, a priest and a teacher find themselves in the middle of the Rwandan genocide and face a moral dilemna. Do they place themselves in danger and protect the refugees, or escape the country with their lives? Based on a true story.

Follow Me, Boys!

Lem Siddons is part of a traveling band who has a dream of becoming a lawyer. Deciding to settle down, he finds a job as a stockboy in the general store of a small town. Trying to fit in, he volunteers to become scoutmaster of the newly formed Troop 1. Becoming more and more involved with the scout troop, he finds his plans to become a lawyer being put on the back burner, until he realizes that his life has been fulfilled helping the youth of the small town.

The Secret: Dare to Dream

A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.

Silence

Two Jesuit priests travel to seventeenth century Japan which has, under the Tokugawa shogunate, banned Catholicism and almost all foreign contact.

Hugo

Orphaned and alone except for an uncle, Hugo Cabret lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Hugo's job is to oil and maintain the station's clocks, but to him, his more important task is to protect a broken automaton and notebook left to him by his late father. Accompanied by the goddaughter of an embittered toy merchant, Hugo embarks on a quest to solve the mystery of the automaton and find a place he can call home.

Thomas and the Magic Railroad

Mr. Conductor's supply of magic gold dust, which allows him to travel between Shining Time and Thomas's island, is critically low. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to get more. Meanwhile, Thomas is fending off attacks by the nasty diesel engines. Getting more gold dust will require help from Mr. C's slacker cousin, his new friend Lily and her morose grandfather, plus the secret engine.

Luther

During the early 16th Century idealistic German monk Martin Luther, disgusted by the materialism in the church, begins the dialogue that will lead to the Protestant Reformation.

My Blueberry Nights

Elizabeth has just been through a particularly nasty breakup, and now she's ready to leave her friends and memories behind as she chases her dreams across the country. In order to support herself on her journey, Elizabeth picks up a series of waitress jobs along the way. As Elizabeth crosses paths with a series of lost souls whose yearnings are even greater than her own, their emotional turmoil ultimately helps her gain a greater understanding of her own problems...

The Flowers of St. Francis

In a series of simple and joyous vignettes, director Roberto Rossellini and co-writer Federico Fellini lovingly convey the universal teachings of the People’s Saint: humility, compassion, faith, and sacrifice. Gorgeously photographed to evoke the medieval paintings of Saint Francis’s time, and cast with monks from the Nocera Inferiore Monastery, The Flowers of St. Francis is a timeless and moving portrait of the search for spiritual enlightenment.

God's Country

In 1979, Louis Malle traveled into the heart of Minnesota to capture the everyday lives of the men and women in a prosperous farming community. Six years later, during Ronald Reagan's second term, he returned to find drastic economic decline. Free of stereotypes about America's "heartland," GOD'S COUNTRY, commissioned for American public television, is a stunning work of emotional and political clarity.

God's Outlaw

A dramatized biography of William Tyndale, the 16th Century reformer determined to translate the Bible into English, which illegal act set him at odds with the Catholic Church, Sir Thomas More and King Henry VIII.

A Decade Under the Influence

A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.

Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese

Part documentary, part concert film, part fever dream, this film captures the troubled spirit of America in 1975 and the joyous music that Dylan performed during the fall of that year.

The Last Summer

Standing on the precipice of adulthood, a group of friends navigate new relationships, while reexamining others, during their final summer before college.

Who's That Knocking at My Door

A Catholic New Yorker falls in love with a girl and wants to marry her, but he struggles to accept her past and what it means for their future.

Absolution

At a Catholic boys' school, domineering disciplinarian Father Goddard rules over his pupils with an iron hand. When one of his teenage charges confesses to murder, the dogmatic but deeply repressed Goddard finds his faith challenged and his life spiralling dangerously out of control.

The Third Solution

The Roman Catholic Pope is planning a reconciliatory meeting with the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, an event awaited for many generations. But suddenly, right while the Pope is addressing the crowds gathered in the Piazza Navone, a nun is assassinated by a Ukrainian, placing the upcoming talks between the two leaders in jeopardy. And the head of the American diplomatic corps (the nun was an American) assigns the investigation of the killing to one of his underlings, which leads the young man to investigate the Russicum, a center for the study of Russia within the Vatican city. And from there he finds himself caught up in an intrigue of international proportions, filled with agents and double agents, and ending with a revelation most unexpected.

Grierson

This feature film is a portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. Interweaving archival footage, interviews with people who knew him and footage of Grierson himself, this film is a sensitive and informative portrait of a dynamic man of vision. Grierson believed that the filmmaker had a social responsibility, and that film could help a society realize democratic ideals. His absolute faith in the value of capturing the drama of everyday life was to influence generations of filmmakers all over the world. In fact, he coined the term "documentary film."

Hav Plenty

Lee Plenty is an almost broke would-be novelist and Havilland Savage is a rich and very beautiful woman and his friend. When she invites him to her home for New Year's Eve, they start to build up a romance.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

Hitchcock/Truffaut

Filmmakers discuss the legacy of Alfred Hitchcock and the book “Hitchcock/Truffaut” (“Le cinéma selon Hitchcock”), written by François Truffaut and published in 1966.

The In Crowd

A young man of the rock and roll generation is in his senior year of high school. When one day he successfully gets on a popular teen dance television show he becomes a star. The plot follows him as he lives his new life in his new world. What he finds are adoring fans, jealous rivals, bitter friends left behind, and the girl of his dreams...his dance partner.

Italianamerican

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese interviews his mother and father about their life in New York and family history back in Sicily.

Life in a Day

A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.

Mean Streets

A small-time hood must choose from among love, friendship and the chance to rise within the mob.

My Voyage to Italy

World-renowned director Martin Scorsese narrates this journey through his favorites in Italian cinema.

The Pact

A gritty, provocative true-life story of three friends from the 'hood, Rameck Hunt, Sampson Davis, and George Jenkins, who made a pact in high school to find a way to go to college and then medical school. They not only accomplished this, but they're now spreading the word to inspire other inner-city kids to stay off of drugs, out of gangs and to take the educational route to a better life. THE PACT captures the pathos of the men's individual journeys, the integrity of their voices and the power of their rare friendship. Their stories affirm the values that ultimately sustained and drove them: courage, tenacity, and faith. And they give tribute to the life of the mind and its power to turn dreams into reality.

The Scarlet and the Black

Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His diplomatic status in a Catholic country prevents Colonel Kappler from openly arresting him, but O'Flaherty's activities become so large that the Nazi's decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican. O'Flaherty continues his work in a variety of disguises. Based on a true story. Written by John Vogel

The Science of Sleep

A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is lovestruck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.

Seduced and Abandoned

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story

For a generation, the mobs main money machine was the Teamsters Union. When Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, the fight was on to see who could follow him. Jackie Presser was the son of a long time union board member and when he retired, Jackie was elevated to one of the most powerful position in the country; President of the Teamsters Union.

Testament of Youth

Testament of Youth is a powerful story of love, war and remembrance, based on the First World War memoir by Vera Brittain, which has become the classic testimony of that war from a woman’s point of view. A searing journey from youthful hopes and dreams to the edge of despair and back again, it’s a film about young love, the futility of war and how to make sense of the darkest times.

A Time for Miracles

Elizabeth Bayley Seton, America's first native-born saint and founder of the Sisters of Charity, is the subject of this inspiring biopic. After the tragic death of her husband, Seton converts to Catholicism. Once again, she suffers terrible loss when two of her children die, but goes on to found the American Sisters of Charity and the first American Catholic schools. Seton died in 1826 and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975.

Release

A prison story. Father Jack finds love with a male guard in the prison. Some of the other inmates suspect he's been sentenced for paedophilia.

Therese: The Story of Saint Therese of Lisieux

The mesmerizing story of a young girl's romance with God. Her faith, trials, and sacrifices reveal a way of life based on love and simplicity. A contemplative film based on the true story of Saint Therese of Lisieux, the most popular saint of modern times.

Miles Between Us

A father and daughter who have been estranged by divorce for twelve years find themselves on a trip across the country that becomes a more complicated journey than they imagined. It's a story of pain, hope, healing, and redemption.

Love Pain Sevdah

Aliya must choose between love and pursuing her dreams in the U.S. Set in the beautiful backdrop of Seattle and Sarajevo, this feature highlights the struggles and triumphs of second generation immigrants.

The Grace Lee Project

Filmmaker Grace Lee leaves her Missouri home to travel the country and talk with an array of women who share her name.

Tetro

Bennie travels to Buenos Aires to find his long-missing older brother, a once-promising writer who is now a remnant of his former self. Bennie's discovery of his brother's near-finished play might hold the answer to understanding their shared past and renewing their bond.

Heart of the Country

With her husband jailed for Wall Street-based fraud, Faith has to leave behind her luxury life in New York to return home to North Carolina and the widower father and dutiful older sister she left behind. Together, they have to deal with the buried emotions of sudden death of Faith’s mother years ago, and learn to be a family again. Like the Prodigal story, Heart of the Country is a tale of a father’s unconditional love. He simply wants a relationship with his children, and once that relationship is restored, he begins to create healing for his broken daughter. Her marriage has to be rebuilt, her belief in herself, and her peace with her mother’s death all come together through the quiet, selfless guidance of her loving father. The novel, written by Rene Gutteridge from the original screenplay by filmmaker John Ward, takes us from the glamour of Manhattan to the open beauty of the fields of rural Columbus County, North Carolina as the timeless tale of the Prodigal Son is reborn!

The Two Popes

Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.

Delaware Shore

A Holocaust survivor who escapes the concentration camps finds refuge on a secluded Delaware Beach and raises her abandoned twin grandchildren.

The Big Heist

Based on the 1986 book "The Heist: How a Gang Stole $8,000,000 at Kennedy Airport and Lived to Regret It", by Ernest Volkman and John Cummings, this TV movie tells the story about the 1978 Lufthansa Heist at JFK Airport in New York - the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil. The heist was also the subject of the much better-known 1990 film "Goodfella"s, directed by Martin Scorsese. It was also the subject of another made-for-television film: "The 10 Million Dollar Getaway" from 1991.

Hoovey

The true and inspiring story of the Elliott family, who refused to surrender, instead turning to one another and their faith in the worst of circumstances, to rebuild their lives, their boy, and their dreams... together. Step by grueling step, with faith, love, and the tireless work of a mother and father to save their family, their farm, their dream, Hoovey learns to walk again. To read again. To dribble and shoot a basketball again. And yes, to dream again himself. Then stepping out in his faith, back onto the hard court, to live that dream of playing this game once more...

Leave

Henry Harper is a successful novelist who has it all. But after surviving a recent trauma he finds himself haunted by a dream that terrifies him. Convinced that the only way to understand what the dream means is to write his way through it, Henry decides to go to a remote second home to begin work on his next novel, a thriller. While on his way there he encounters a strangely familiar drifter who confronts him with information that threatens to turn everything he knows to be true, upside down. Written by producer

Ring of Fire

“Ring of Fire” recounts June’s meteoric rise to fame with The Carter Family, considered the First Family of country music, before breaking out on her own to perform, when she would become a legend in her own right. Taking a personal look at June’s first two marriages, life with her daughters and touching relationship with her son, the movie showcases her infamous courtship with Cash and June’s heroic role in saving his life during his battles with substance abuse, as well as how her unwavering faith in God, confidence and talent has taught lessons to generations.

China Girl

Teenage lovers Tony (Richard Panebianco) and Tyan-Hwa (Sari Chang) tip the balance of power in New York's Little Italy and Chinatown.

Kidnapped

The story of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, who in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents’ struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.

The 13th Day

In a world torn apart by persecution, war and oppression, 3 children were chosen to offer a message of hope to the world.Based on the memoirs of the oldest Seer, Lucia Santos, and many thousands of independent eye-witness accounts, The 13th Day dramatizes the TRUE story of three young shepherds who experienced six interactive apparitions with a “Lady from Heaven” between May and October 1917, which culminated into the final prophesized Miracle.Abducted from their homes, thrown into prison and interrogated under the threat of death in the government’s attempt to silence them, the children remained true to their story.The lady, who later revealed herself to be the Blessed Mary, gave a SECRET to the children told in three parts, from a harrowing vision of hell, to prophetic warnings of future events including the advent and timing of the Second World War, the spread of communism, and the assassination of the Pope.All three Seers have since died. Two of them have been beatified.

Pieces of Dreams

A young priest questions his faith after he falls in love with a social worker.

Shifter

A young woman struggles with the painful and gruesome side effects of an experiment with time travel gone wrong that causes her to lose control and shift through time at random.

In the Pope's Eye

The Pope is disturbed by the fact that today's youth are not as spiritually inclined as they should be, and so he decides to set up a Vatican television station and entice them back into the religion of their ancestors. In order to particularly grab the wandering flock, a priest invites the comedians from "The Other Sunday," an actual comedy program on Italian television, to perform on this new channel.

Martin Luther

A biopic of Martin Luther, covering his life between 1505 and 1530, and the birth of the Protestant Reformation movement.

Karol: A Man Who Became Pope

The life of the pope John-Paul II, from his youth as a writer, actor, and athlete in war-torn occupied Poland to his election as Pope at the age of 58.

Martin Luther

Learn how one man reluctantly took on the most powerful institution of his day and won. Martin Luther is credited with expounding a new vision of man's relationship with God and, by extension, a redefinition of man's relationship with authority. Filmed across Europe -- from the rustic rural Germany to the opulence of the Vatican City -- you'll witness the collapse of the medieval world and the birth of the modern age.

Spielberg

A documentary on the life and career of one of the most influential film directors of all time, Steven Spielberg.

Pope Joan

Based on the medieval legend of Pope Joan, who was made Pope for a brief period around 855 A.D. The movie presents her existence as fact, though it is questionable that Pope Joan really did exist, and portrays her relationships with other notables of the time.

Karol: The Pope, The Man

This highly acclaimed feature film on Pope John Paul II was filmed on location in Italy and Poland. Focusing on the papacy of John Paul and the tremendous impact he had on the Church and the world, Karol: The Pope, The Man stars actor Piotr Adamczyk in a deeply moving portrayal of the beloved pontiff. It is the powerful true story of a charismatic spiritual leader who helped bring down Communism, renewed the life of the Church, greatly impacted youth worldwide with love for Christ, and a Pope who reached out to other religions and world leaders with a message of peace and love. Also stars Raoul Bova (Saint Francis), Michele Placido (Padre Pio: Between Heaven and Earth) and Adriana Asti as Mother Teresa. The beautiful film score is by legendary film composer Ennio Morricone.

Francis of Assisi

Cavani made her first full-length feature film in 1966 with Francis of Assisi (Francesco d'Assisi). Made for television and aired in two parts, it was deeply influenced by the style of Rossellini and the atmosphere typical of the films of Pasolini. Made in a period of political unrest, it was to become a kind of manifesto of dissenting Catholicism. Starring Lou Castel, it portrays Francis of Assisi as a slightly depressed protestor and an avid, albeit mad, supporter of armed brotherhood. The ideal defender of the 1968 student movement. The film was a great success, but also triggered many negative reactions. It was called "heretical, blasphemous and offensive for the faith of the Italian people". It was the first of many polemical reactions to Cavani's work.

Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II

The eventful life of a humble Polish priest who once decried the pomp of the Catholic Church "a circus" and labeled the Pope a "prisoner of the Vatican" before ascending to the papal throne to usher Catholicism into the 21st century. Born in Poland and forced to carry on following the untimely death of his family, Karol Wojtyla endured both personal hardships and the rape of his homeland by the Third Reich to spread the word of God through the Catholic Church. Later, as Pope John Paul II, Wojtyla was beloved by millions of Catholics worldwide. From the sexual-abuse scandal that shook the American Catholic Church in the later-20th century to the murder of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and the near-fatal assassination attempt made on his own life, Pope John Paul II endured to bridge the gap between various faiths until his death resulting from Parkinson's disease in April of 2005.

Call Me Francis

Biopic about Jorge Maria Bergoglio before he became Pope Francis I.

Scorsese on Scorsese

Martin Scorsese discusses his personal background and his filmography as they relate to each other.

Long Live the New Flesh: The Films of David Cronenberg

Documentary about the career of director David Cronenberg, with clips from his films and interviews with friends, colleagues, film critics and Cronenberg himself.

Alfonso Sansone produttore per caso

After the war, almost by chance, Alfonso Sansone starts to produce documentary films and moves from Palermo to Rome, the city of film.

Blue Like Jazz

A young man must find his own way as his Southern Baptist roots don't seem to be acceptable at his new liberal arts college.

You May Kiss the Bridesmaid

Food influencer Scarlett Bailey is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime to work as a pastry chef in one of NYC's top restaurants. Her life gets put on hold when she returns to her hometown for her sister Maddie's wedding. Scarlett learns that her parents have sold the family home, a B&B, to her childhood flame Liam Perry and that Maddie has lost her wedding venue days before the nuptials. Scarlett suggests they host the event at the B&B and works with Liam to pull off the wedding of Maddie's dreams, trying to put their history behind them. As her dream job in NYC becomes a firm offer, Scarlett is forced to make a decision. She has been falling back in love with Liam and with her childhood home. With the countdown to the wedding day on, will Liam Perry get to kiss the bridesmaid?

Faith Healer

The Fantastic Francis Hardy travels the most remote corners of Wales, Scotland and Ireland attempting to heal those who wish to be healed. His wife Grace and manager Teddy complete this nomadic triptych, each with their own telling of the loss, love and struggle of life on the road with a seemingly predestined Faith Healer.

Mount Hideaway Mysteries: Heartache and Homecoming

Amy Bradford, the beautiful small town veterinarian and crime scene investigator, just lost her best friend in a car accident. It seems like the last straw in a series of pain and tragedy that has her questioning her Christian faith and her future. When she learns her friend's death was actually a murder, she must set aside her grief and find the strength to solve the crime, and thwart a cyber-attack on the secret government facility where her dad works. There's a handsome detective in town who may be her true love, or the killer.

Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood

A retrospective of the films of Britain's Hammer Studios, renowned for making stylish horror films in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Included are clips from Hammer productions and interviews with actors, actresses, directors and producers who worked on these films.

Caravans: A British Love Affair

Documentary about the love affair between the British and their caravans, which saw the country establish the world's largest caravan manufacturer and transformed the holiday habits of generations of families. In telling the intriguing story of caravanning in Britain from the 1950s through to the present day, the film reveals how caravans were once the plaything of a privileged minority, but after World War II became a firm favourite with almost a quarter of British holidaymakers.

The American Tapestry

Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing. In the last of the six films, "The American Tapestry," filmmaker Gregory Nava takes viewers on an uplifting and challenging journey through the memoirs of five immigrant families, each one on a quest for its own American Dream. Beautifully interweaving accounts from several generations, Nava composes an astonishing tapestry of personal triumphs and tragedies, as each story of courage unfolds. The American Dream is an elusive thing, and the lives of the people in Nava's film are both triumphant and tragic, teeming with optimism and sometimes despair. They expose the finest and worst in America as well as what we feel most magnificent and dreadful. They are part of the many contrasting threads that make up the American tapestry — a complex portrait of a nation at the turn of the millennium.

The Eyes of Dante

He is considered the greatest European poet of the Middle Ages and his work unfolds the whole panopticon of occidental education – theology, philosophy, sciences, politics and literature. But who has really read it, the “Divine Comedy”? Who knows more of its creator Dante Alighieri than that he had an eagle-like profile and was in love with a woman named Beatrice? 700 years after Dante’s death, the filmmaker Adolfo Conti travels through Italy with Dante’s words in mind and eyes to see the world as Dante did. As the film encounters the beauty of arts and the Tuscan landscape, the forces of nature, a dramatic life story is unfolded.

Doodlin': Impressions Of Len Lye

This documentary, made seven years after the death of legendary filmmaker and kinetic artist Len Lye, tells Lye's story: from being a young boy staring at the sun, to travels around the Pacific and life in New York. It includes excerpts from many of his films, and interviews with second wife Ann and biographer Roger Horrocks. Len Lye himself is often heard, outlining his ideas of the ‘old brain’ and how Māori and Aboriginal art influenced his work. The grandeur of his ideas are only matched by their scale, with steel sculptures designed to be "at least 20 foot high".

First Works

It's a mixed bag in the age of illuminating DVD supplements, but First Works effectively demonstrates the early promise of 13 successful filmmakers. Culled from programs originally broadcast on Showtime in 1990, this crude compilation combines student films, early professional work, and interviews with now-famous directors at various stages of commercial and artistic achievement.

The Lost Husband

Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.

Alone With Her Dreams

Set in the late 1960s, the film explores the issues of immigration, community values and family devotion through the eyes of a young girl, Lucia, who is left behind with her grandmother while her parents emigrate to France to find work. Lucia pains to be with her family as she struggles to learn her role in the tiny, traditional village under the watchful guidance of her stern grandmother.

Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale

Elle wants to be a singer/songwriter, but her dreams are cut short by the sudden death of her parents. She moves in with her adoptive uncle, who runs a small independent record label whose biggest act, Sensation, is also Elle's biggest pain.

Turnout

Set in Hoxton, East London; our story follows George and Sophie, they're saving money to go on their first holiday together, the deposit is paid, and they have two weeks left to pay the outstanding balance of £2,000. Sophie has entrusted George with her holiday savings and is keen to settle the debt with the travel agents. The only trouble is, unbeknown to Sophie, George is flat broke. In a vain attempt to raise cash, George uses Sophie's holiday money to fund an ill judged deal.

Secret Passage

Isabel and Clara are growing up in a time of terror. It is 1492, and Spain has decreed that all Jews must either convert to Catholicism, go into exile or face trial and execution. Although forcibly baptized, the sisters are chased through Christendom until they arrive in Venice. It is in this great maritime empire, where opulence rhymes with tolerance, that Isabel organizes secret passages for refugees fleeing the Inquisition while Clara falls in love with a Venetian noble, Paolo Zane. Isabel intends for her family to go to Istanbul, the only place where Jews can live freely, but Clara is reluctant to leave. She challenges Isabel's authority and is prepared to break her family ties and sacrifice her faith for love. Caught in this battle of wills is Clara's daughter, Victoria, who finds she is about to be married into the same faith that murdered her father.

The Big Dream

Italy, 1968. Aspiring actor Nicola enrolls in the police to pay for his studies, ending up undercover among college students protesting the government, the Vietnam War and the values of their parents' generation. However, he complicates his mission by falling for Laura, a bourgeois girl dreaming of a better world.

The Pope Drops In

What would you do if your business partner stole your business and your wife, and then told you he wouldn’t become a Christian unless the Pope showed up at his house and asked him? You kidnap the Pope and take him on a road trip to end all road trips, to save him and your wife.

Soft Shoes

Sheriff Pat Halahan comes into an inheritance and travels to San Francisco to collect. Faith O’Day, a cat burglar armed with pistol and flashlight breaks into his hotel room and demands that Halahan cough up his dough. Halahan sees her threat and raises her a one-dollar bet that he can return a brooch she stole earlier the same evening before its loss is discovered. Pulling off his boots to slip on his own “soft shoes,” Halahan sets off to do a little second-story work, not realizing the trouble he’s in for.

Respiri

Francis, a forty year old engineer, after a mysterious disgrace he retired to live in a village on Lake Iseo. With still little daughter occupies the former family villa, a magnificent Art Nouveau building on the lake shore. In the big house there is, however, another mysterious person, of which only perceives the echo of the respirator that keeps her alive. But other presences no less disturbing, and certainly more dangerous, they move around the villa. What happened to the man and his family? What secrets hide? Marta will know, childhood friend always in love with him, awaken Francis from the torpor in which he has fallen, and free him from the pain? And most importantly, how many succeed they gravitate around the house to escape the danger that threatens their lives? Breaths tells how the pain can profoundly transform a man crushed by memories, guilt, fears. He also wants to show the extent to which an individual is able to accept the existence paths without being a victim.

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word

Pope Francis responds to questions from around the world, discussing topics including ecology, immigration, consumerism and social justice.

The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean's "American Pie"

With a narrative running deeper than a catchy tune and cryptic verses, “American Pie” is a musical phenomenon woven deep into the history of American culture, entertaining audiences around the world for over 50 years. This documentary tells the stories of the people who were a part of this moment from the beginning, shows the point of view of a new generation of artists who are motivated by the same values and ideas that inspired the song’s creation, and highlights cultural moments in America’s history that are as relevant now as they were in 1971, when the song was released.

Milius

The life story of ‘Zen Anarchist’ filmmaker John Milius, one of the most influential storytellers of his generation.

Notes on an American Film Director at Work

Filmmaker Jonas Mekas follows his friend, film director Martin Scorsese, and his cast and crew, through various locations during the shooting of his film The Departed, released in 2006.

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