Anthem is a post-industrial lamentation, structured on the single piercing scream of a young girl as she stands in the vast chamber of Union Station in Los Angeles. Viola relates this structure to the form and function of religious chants, particularly Gregorian chants (using a harmonic scale in a resonant hall) and Tantric Buddhist chants (ritual exorcism and conversation with demons). The original scream is extended in time and shifted in frequency to produce a scale of harmonic notes that comprises the soundtrack, to which Viola juxtaposes images of materialism -- industry and the worship of the body, giant oil pumps and the beating human heart, cars streaming along a freeway and blood flowing through veins, modern surgical technology and tree branches in an ancient forest. The anguished scream cuts through the corporeality of the body and contemporary culture as a living organism. For Viola, the piece is a ritual evocation of "our deepest primal fears, darkness, and the separation of body and spirit."

A document about the ritual of a religious service; faith and ecstasy as means of survival in the Puerto Rican community of the South Bronx, in New York.

Daughters of Wisdom is an intimate portrait of the nuns of Kala Rongo, a rare and exceptional Buddhist Monastery exclusively for women in remote northeastern Tibet. Here, these women are receiving unprecedented educational and religious training, and preserving their rich cultural heritage even as they slowly reshape it. Some shy, some outspoken, all committed to the often difficult life they have chosen, the nuns graciously allowed the camera a never-before-seen glimpse into their vibrant spiritual community and insight into their extraordinary lives.

Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan Buddhist monk since childhood, was arrested by the Chinese communist army in 1959. He spent the next 33 years in prison for the “crimes” of demonstrating peacefully and refusing to falsely denounce his teacher as an Indian spy. He was tortured, starved and forced to perform hard labor. He watched his nation and culture destroyed, his teachers, friends and family displaced, jailed or killed by the Chinese occupiers. Despite this, he remained unbroken, keeping the flame of his spirit ablaze.

Long suppressed by missionaries and then by Soviet anti-religious campaigns, Siberian shamanism has experienced an unprecedented revival following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the number of shamans continues to rise. But who are these new shamans? Are they tricksters, magicians, businessmen, or cultural activists? This film takes a behind-thescenes look at a Buryat shaman living on an island in Lake Baikal as he moves between intimate shamanic rituals performed for local clientele and shows performed at various resorts for Western tourists in search of “primitive” cultures.

Evangelical spot of New Tribe Mission (ntm.org): “Millions of men, women and children, tribal people all across the world, in remote, never-before reached places of the Earth, ISOLATED, with NO ACCESS of Salvation in Jesus. Living in Darkness...”

Islam stands for change. It seeks to change the individual and society, into a community: the “ummah”, an Arabic word that comes from the root "um", or "mother". This change covers every aspect of human life from personal morality ho business, economics and politics. It is only natural that Islam should be fought by those who want to keep the status quo. “On the pilgrimage (to Mecca), I had close contact with Muslims whose skin would be classified as white, but these particular Muslims didn't call themselves white. They looked upon themselves as human beings, as part of the human family and therefore they looked upon all other segments of the human family as part of that same family. So, I said that if Islam had done this, perhaps if the white men in America would study Islam, perhaps it could do the same for them”.

Motherhood on Trial looks at public reaction to the case of Susan Smith/ the young mother who confessed to drowning her two sons in a South Carolina lake after claiming they were abducted by a black man. The documentary combines multiple layers of audio and video to create a complex tapestry of sound and image that emphasizes the complexity of the issues and explores how the background/ experiences and agenda of each character influences his or her telling of the story.

“My spiritual journey had taken me from the land of Ahuramazda to the realm of Allah. I came to believe there is only one God, the God of light, goodness and joy. A God who abides not on the mountains or in the oceans, nor the cities or the sanctuaries, but in the human souls who worship there”. Aryana Farshad.