Movies Similar to A Life Apart: Hasidism in America

Fight Church(2014)

A documentary about the confluence of Christianity and mixed martial arts, including ministries which train fighters. The film follows several pastors and popular fighters in their quest to reconcile their faith with a sport that many consider violent and barbaric. Faith is tried and questions are raised. Can you really love your neighbor as yourself and then punch him in the face?

5.5

The We Should Game(2023)

Fame driven Ken Dean becomes the subject of a documentary when he attempts to start a pornography company. Following the failure of the company, Ken uses his father's religious music to start a Christian rock band but finds himself trapped in a gay conversion cult.

0.0

The Cult Next Door(2017)

A short documentary featuring a brief overview of Bill Gothard's ministries, and some of the consequences for his followers.

7.0

The Hunchback of Notre Dame(1996)

Isolated bell-ringer Quasimodo wishes to leave Notre Dame tower against the wishes of Judge Claude Frollo, his stern guardian and Paris' strait-laced Minister of Justice. His first venture to the outside world finds him Esmeralda, a kind-hearted and fearless Romani woman who openly stands up to Frollo's tyranny.

7.1

Stonehenge Empire(2014)

For centuries, Stonehenge has been cloaked in mystery. Who built it? How did they do it? Why did they do it and what is its significance? Now, a team of archaeologists takes a high-tech approach to find out, and their discoveries will exceed all expectations. Learn the full story of the world's most investigated prehistoric site, featuring a forgotten people who were meticulous planners, profound believers and true warriors. It's a 10,000-year-old tale, pieced together by state-of-the-art survey equipment and compelling archaeological evidence.

0.0

Athos(2016)

The Athos peninsula in Greece is one of Europe's last secrets. Over 2000 monks live on Athos - cut off from the outside world. Access is denied to women, tourists are not welcome. Only workers and pilgrims can obtain a visa. The "Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain" attracts people who feel like they are missing something from their modern lives. With the help of three Athos monks, "Athos - A Taste of Heaven" tells the story of the island and its inhabitants in a unique filmed diary style. The film's guiding theme is the path we as people have to find and follow - each and everyone for themselves. "First we must heal our own souls, only then we can help others", is one of Father Galaktions core messages. He lives as a hermit on the holy mountain. Not all monks, however, live as secluded and demure as Father Galaktion. The film team is also received by Father Epiphanios - a gifted and poetic cook who certainly does not disdain the pleasures of life.

7.6

Sacred(2016)

Sacred explores cultural and religious ritual as it relates to life’s cycles: birth, adolescence, marriage, aging and other key passages of life.

6.5

Where are you, Adam?(2020)

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.

9.0

Islam and the Future of Tolerance(2018)

In the thick of a controversial war of ideas, two enlightening figures, Sam Harris, an atheist and a critic of religion, and Maajid Nawaz, an Islamist-turned-liberal activist, partake in an engaging dialogue on the state of Islam, its potential reform, the militant ideology of Islamism, and where all this lays in a secular world.

7.8

Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust(2024)

A portrait of Pope Pius XII (1876-1958), head of the Catholic Church from 1939 until his death, who, during World War II, and while European Jews were being exterminated by the Nazis, was accused of keeping a disconcerting and shameful silence.

6.4

Ashes(1975)

Conversations with four people — an artist, a woman struggling with her identity as a high achiever, an actor, and a priest — exploring their inner worlds, their self-image and how they feel they fit into society.

0.0

Is Genesis History? Mountains After the Flood(2023)

In this fascinating sequel to "Is Genesis History?", watch a team of scientists discover new evidence for the global Flood. By the time the journey is over, you'll understand exactly how modern science connects to the book of Genesis.

10.0

For the Bible Tells Me So(2007)

An exploration of the intersection between religion and homosexuality in the U.S. and how the religious right has used its interpretation of the Bible to stigmatize the gay community.

7.1

God & Country: The Rise of Christian Nationalism(2024)

Examines the implications of Christian Nationalism, how it distorts not only our constitutional republic, but Christianity itself, and asks the question: What happens when a faith built on love, sacrifice, and forgiveness grows political tentacles, conflating power, money, and belief into hyper-nationalism?

6.1

Countdown to Eternity(1999)

Bible expert Bill Gallatin explores biblical prophecies from the Book of Revelation that have transpired, with a discussion of whether these events signify that we are now living in the End Times preceding the return of Jesus Christ. Gallatin touches on events such as the increasingly acute difficulties in the Middle East, numerous environmental catastrophes, earthquakes and more, explaining how they connect to scriptural writings.

10.0

Land Without God(2019)

An intimate portrait of a family coming to terms with decades of institutional abuse and the impact it has had and is still having on their lives.

7.0

Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping(2002)

Reverend Billy, a.k.a. Bill Talen, is an actor/performance artist and a leading figure within the anti-globalization movement. His work combines the ideas of social and political change with the means of theater arts to counteract our media-laden culture. The film follows the Reverend's "shopping interventions/actions" into cultural dead zones such as Starbucks, Disney and the New York University construction site at Poe House.

5.0

One of Us(2017)

Penetrating the insular world of New York's Hasidic community, focusing on three individuals driven to break away despite threats of retaliation.

6.8

Julia Sweeney - Letting Go of God(2008)

Julia Sweeney's third autobiographical monologue, Letting Go of God takes the audience through her Catholic upbringing and how personal events in her life and that of her family led her to a disbelief in a personal universal deity.

8.2

The Ornament of the World(2019)

Filmed in Cordoba, Granada, Seville, and Toledo, this documentary retraces the 800-year period in medieval Spain when Muslims, Christians, and Jews forged a common cultural identity that frequently transcended their religious differences, revealing what made this rare and fruitful collaboration possible, and what ultimately tore it apart.

7.8