Good News

On 25th December 2011 the Georgian Patriarch Ilia II described his 34 year-long leadership as head of the Georgian Orthodox Church as a ‘sunny night’. Beginning in 1989, and going up to the present, the film essay Sunny Night tells of political and social events since Georgian Independence. A variety of formats and sources, disparate images and voices report on protests, recommencements, uproars and wars, and religious identity that centres around the dominant religion of the nation. In the midst of the ongoing shifts and the various state of affairs, the patriarch stands out as the only constant figure. Meanwhile the sermonised religion begins to take on radical forms, going as far as priests forming front row human-chains, leading protests of several thousand orthodox believers chasing a handful of LGBT activist throughout the streets of Tbilisi in May 2013.

Traditions during Easter holidays in the remote village of Grešnica. The film was a research project of the newly opened Ethnological Museum to preserve the disappearing customs at least on film for future generations.

In its portraits of three monks, Erik Praus’s documentary captures the inimitable spiritual ambiance and mysticism of Pochayiv Lavra, an Eastern Orthodox monastery on a hill above the town of Pochayiv in western Ukraine’s Ternopil Oblast. Fathers Gabriel, Vicilentius and Nazarij have left their past traumas behind, finding peace, balance and their lives’ meaning at the monastery. Their stories are allegories of spiritualization and purification from human passions against the backdrop of the turbulent Ukrainian reality. Motivated by material need and spiritual desperation, the faithful flock to this place of pilgrimage in search of new strength and forgiveness. The film respectfully observes the monks’ everyday lives, while also noticing the opulent splendour of their surroundings. The road to faith is not a privilege of the chosen few; it is open to all who hear its “calling”.

In this film the last living witnesses of the events from Second World War are telling their stories and thus transferring silenced victim’s voices to present times.

The collection "Moscow Golden-Domed" includes documentaries from the history of the capital. "Egoriy the Brave" about the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious, whose image has adorned temples, princely and royal coats of arms, and banners of Russian troops since ancient times. The film "Reigning" tells about the appearance in Rus' in 1917, on the day of the abdication of Nicholas II, a new icon of the Reigning Mother of God. "Vratarnitsa" is a film about a chapel where Muscovites from time immemorial worshiped the icon of the Mother of God of Iberia. "The First Dean" - a story about the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Sokolniki - one of the most remarkable in Moscow. The parishioners still remember the builder and first rector of the temple, Father John Kedrov. Filmed from 1993 to 1996.

The plot of the film unfolds in the ancient monastery of Dokhiar on the west coast of Mount Athos, on the Aegean peninsula. This peninsula is given to the exclusive use of the monks of Eastern Christianity. Images of nature are woven into a virtually uninterrupted series of work and prayer, lining up in the rhythmic interrelation of man and nature. The central figure of the film was the monastery’s elder, Hegumen Gregory, whose long-term experience of spiritual nourishment rewarded him with a deep understanding of the human soul and her desire to return to the state characteristic of Adam’s human nature before the fall.

Ivan, first tsar of Russia. History will remember him as "the Terrible. Russian people love him for centuries. He liberates Russia from foreign oppressors, demands absolute obedience and loyalty in order to radically modernise Russia? Ivan IV, Grand Duke of Moscow, first Tsar of Russia by the grace of God. A madman? A sadist?

DEVOUT reveals an archaic utopia, a timeless spiritual sphere that is as beautiful and harsh as the mountain terrain of the Caucasus, tempting but unforgiving, a riddle like God and faith as mysterious as the human condition.

Exiled unjustly, convicted without trial, slandered without cause. Man of God depicts the trials and tribulations of Saint Nektarios of Aegina, as he bears the unjust hatred of his enemies while preaching the Word of God.

The last true rebellion is death to the world. To be crucified to the world and the world to us.

The Patriarchate of Moscow and the POKROB Film Studio deliver to global Orthodoxy a documentary with a total duration of five hours on the holy life and work of Saint Paisios of Mount Athos.

This is a documentary about a renowned precentor and a church composer Irina Denissova who suddenly becomes a nun in the apex of her career. At the same time, this is a film about God's love towards man. It seemed that a tragedy had occurred: a family of two prominent musicians was ruined, and Irina was abandoned by her husband while struggling with a serious disease of her son.

The film is based on the events of the 4th International Orthodox Music Festival held in Moscow in February, 1992. The Festival featured not only such famous works as Rakhmaninov's "The All Night Service" and "Liturgy" but also the first performance of the latest interpretations of ancient Russian songs and the sensational first performance of Sviridov's cycle of "spiritual songs".

"The Moscow Pilgrims" is a film that takes you on a tour of Russia’s ancient capital. The film’s main characters – father and son – are doing the most intersting sights of old Moscow, including the Simonov Monastery, the New Spassky Cloister and the Krutitsky Church located on a picturesque bank of the Moskva River. The celibate priest Ilia, the dean of the church of the Holy Mother of God father Vladimir and other priests will help the pilgrims and visitors to see the world of Moscow’s ancient holy sites: the burial-vault of the noble Romanov family, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of God recently cleared from security services, and the graves of the Kulikovo battle heroes, the monks Oslyabi and Peresvet.