Words with Gods

The first of four installments in the groundbreaking Heartbeat of the World anthology film series. Comprised of several short films by some of the world's most exciting directors, Words with Gods follows the theme of religion - specifically as it relates to an individual's relationship with his/her god or gods...or the lack thereof. In Words with Gods, each director recounts a narrative centered around human fragility, as well as environmental and cultural crises involving specific religions with which each has a personal relationship; including early Aboriginal Spirituality, Umbanda, Buddhism, the Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism, and Atheism. An animated sequence by Mexican animator Maribel Martinez is woven through each of the film segments, with each segment narratively connected as a feature-length film.

Matanga

Carapicuíba City O Filme

Arreda Homem Que Chegou Mulher

Documentary about terreiro women in Fortaleza who occupy the highest positions in the hierarchy, subverting the patriarchal tradition of religious communities.

Exu - Além do Bem e do Mal

Encontro das Águas

This short film follows the journey of Rosane Pires and Iara Viana, during the preparations for their wedding, as well as the civil and religious ceremonies.

Preto Velho na Lagoinha

Documentary about the preparation of a popular celebration of "Dia do Preto Velho", one of the most important rituals from the Umbanda in Brazil.

Fora da Caridade Não Há Salvação

Por Trás do Congá

Desagradável

Some people seem to have come into the world to confuse, annoy, swim against the current, like the guys from Gangrena Gasosa, the first and only Sarava Metal band of the universe. "Desagradável" covers all the 23 years of the band. A special reunion of people that stirred the underground scene of 90's until today. All the legends detailed in a film that will show the most shameful chapters in history of Brazilian Rock. Jello Biafra, Jão and João Gordo, BNegão, Marcelo D2, Anjo Caldas, Dado Villa-Lobos, Rafael Ramos, Fabio from Garage, Marcos Bragatto, Tom Leão, Pedro Só, Adilson Pereira, Larry Antha and the former members (more than 15!) recalls the regrettable moments that Sarava Metal happened in their lives. Archive images, photos and videos to prove, once for all, that "Home Saint makes miracles too".

Sealed in Scars

How many marks remain on a predestined body? Born and raised in the macumba tradition of Imperatriz, the young priest Carlos Lourenço reflects on a path of pain and learning.

Ferreiros dos Orixás

SAMBANCESTRAL

ENCRUZILHADAS DO SOM

The documentary adresses the meaning of music and the musical diversity present in Umbanda (a Brazilian religion with afroindigenous roots). With interviews with four umbandistas from Fortaleza - Ceará, Crossroads of the Sound pays reverence to the enchanted dimension where the sounds cross each other to make the spirits dance.

crystallizes; resonates

A snapshot of the celebration with drums, the terecô.

Orun: O Mundo dos Orixás

Batchan

Teachings of an Issei. Advice, spirituality and challenges.

Amor de Ori

Oxum goes to the river every day to fill his jug with water. One day, a woman in red clothes crosses his path and changes her life forever.

Folha virada

The short film follows the daily lives of Pai Marcos Luciano de Oxalá and Madrinha Catingueira, LGBTQIAPN+ Umbanda leaders in Piauí. The film looks at their experiences inside and outside the terreiros, showing the tensions between gender, sexuality and religiosity. The title refers to the expression "turning the leaf", used to describe a ritual in Afro-Brazilian religious shrines in which people's sexual orientation or gender identity was "turned".

Exú Não É O Diabo

Mango Yellow

The lives of a macho butcher, his wife, a lonely waitress, a sadist and a flophouse manager intersect in Recife, Brazil.

Jawbone

A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.

Pimp

An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.

Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl

Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.

Dear Mr. Gacy

A chronicle of the interaction between college student Jason Moss and the object of his obsession, serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers

Two feuding brothers of differing political views, one a policeman, the other a martial artist, join forces to avenge the death of their father, a retired agent who was brutally murdered by the mafia.

Trafficked

In this story inspired by real characters, three girls from America, Nigeria and India are trafficked through an elaborate global network and enslaved in a Texas brothel, and must together attempt a daring escape to reclaim their freedom.

The Devil's Double

A chilling vision of the House of Saddam Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was forced to become the double of Hussein's sadistic son.

Kill Me Again

After Faye and her psychotic boyfriend, Vince, successfully rob a mob courier, Faye decides to abscond with the loot. She heads to Reno, where she hires feckless private investigator Jack Andrews to help fake her death. He pulls the scheme off and sets up Faye with a new identity, only to have her skip out on him without paying. Jack follows her to Vegas and learns he's not the only one after her. Vince has discovered that she's still alive.

El padrino: The Latin Godfather

In the streets of East Los Angeles, Manny is a formidable drug dealer. Impressed by his extravagant lifestyle and prowess, his young son, Kilo, yearns to follow in his footsteps. Kilo resolves to learn how to prosper in the drug world, and his new life as a dealer begins. In a world where a man wants everything, he may end up with nothing.

The Born Losers

A ruthless motorcycle gang rides into a California town and terrorizes its denizens.

Little Odessa

Long separated from his family, hitman Joshua returns to Brighton Beach for a contract killing for the Russian Mafia. His abusive father, Arkady, banned him from returning after Joshua committed his first murder. He takes up residence in a hotel, and soon everyone knows he has returned. He goes home to visit his dying mother, Irina, and prepares for the assassination, getting drawn back into the criminal community he left behind.

Cryptozoo

Cryptozookeepers try to capture a Baku, a dream-eating hybrid creature of legend, and start wondering if they should display these beasts or keep them hidden and unknown.

Convict

Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.

Suburbia

When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.

Boxcar Bertha

"Boxcar" Bertha Thompson, a transient woman in Arkansas during the violence-filled Depression of the early '30s, meets up with rabble-rousing union man "Big" Bill Shelly and the two team up to fight the corrupt railroad establishment.

Fanny Lye Deliver'd

On an isolated English farm in 1657, Fanny lives a quiet life with her oppressive husband John and their young son. One day their life is rocked with the arrival of young couple Thomas and Rebecca who claim to have been robbed and need a place to stay. But are these strangers really who they say they are?

The Forgiven

After the end of Apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu meets with a brutal murderer seeking redemption.

Lockdown

Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.

The Warrior

In feudal India, a warrior who renounces his role as the longtime enforcer to a local lord becomes the prey in a murderous hunt through the Himalayan mountains.