Religion

Apr. 29, 2004

The Jesus Factor

(60 minutes) How George W. Bush's religious faith has affected his personal life and political leadership. (Web site »)

Sep. 3, 2002

Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero

(120 minutes) Ground Zero in Manhattan has become a site of pilgrimage. Thousands of people visit the site, looking for consolation as they question the events of September 11. There is a profound quiet to their meditations. Starting here, FRONTLINE sets out on a quest to find out how peoples' beliefs-and unbelief-has been challenged, and how they are coping with difficult questions of good and evil, the face of God, and the potential for darkness within religion itself. From survivors who were pulled from the wreckage of the Twin Towers to the widow of a New York City firefighter; from priests and rabbis to security guards and opera divas; from lapsed Catholics and Jews to Buddhists, Muslims, and atheists.... FRONTLINE explores and illuminates the myriad of spiritual questions that have come out of the terror, pain, and destruction at Ground Zero. (Web site »)

May. 9, 2002

Muslims

(120 minutes) The events of Sept. 11 left many Americans questioning how such atrocities could be perpetrated in the name of religion: specifically, the religion of Islam. Few Americans know much about Islam, yet it continues to be the fastest growing religion in the US today. What is Islam? What do Muslims believe in? And how does their faith shape their lives, identities and their political ideologies? FRONTLINE explores these and other questions in "Muslims," a special two-hour report that examines the fundamental tenets of Islam and the causes behind its current worldwide resurgence.Through interviews with dozens of ordinary Muslims from such diverse countries as Iran, Malaysia, Turkey, and the U.S., FRONTLINE illuminates the perspectives, conflicts, and tensions that are shaping today's Muslim world. (Web site »)

Nov. 22, 1999

Apocalypse!

(120 minutes) From Waco and Littleton to Y2K and global warming, as the millennium approaches, we are bombarded by visions of the apocalypse. From the team that created "From Jesus to Christ," this two-hour FRONTLINE special journeys back more than 2500 years to unravel the origins of the Book of Revelation and how its apocalyptic expectations have shaped our history and our world. (Web site »)

Sep. 28, 1999

John Paul II: The Millennial Pope

(150 minutes) FRONTLINE presents a comprehensive biography on the world leader who has emerged as a man at war with the twentieth century itself. In the two decades John Paul II has commanded the world stage, re-invigorating the Catholic Church in much of the world, he has defined himself by his opposition to many of the dominant secular ideologies and passions of our time: communism, feminism, capitalism and consumerism. <br><br>The program draws on hundreds of interviews--from intimates of the Pope, to those whose lives have intersected with his. Their stories are evocative of major themes in the Pope's life: the shaping influence of his youth in Poland, his remarkable relationship with Jews, his part in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, his battle with liberation theology, his repudiation of the ordination of women, and his relentless exhortation to faith. <br><br>The film is a journey through the 20th century to the sources of Pope John Paul II's character and beliefs, and a journey into the passionate reaction to him. It's a journey that says as much about us as it does about him.<br> (Web site »)

Jan. 21, 1997

Six O'Clock News

(90 minutes) FRONTLINE showcases the latest work of filmmaker Ross McElwee, producer of the widely acclaimed 'Sherman's March' and 'Time Indefinite.' In Six O'clock News,' McElwee and his camera investigate the aftermath of the life-shattering events reported every day on the evening news. Moving beyond the graphic television images of violence and natural disasters, McElwee seeks out the individuals whose lives have been inexplicably altered by hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, forest fires, and murder. The result is a thought-provoking journey across the tenuous line between order and chaos and an inquiry into how these events impact the victims' faith in God. In an introspective and sometimes humorous broadcast, McElwee explores the 'nagging metaphysical questions' behind the 'Six O'clock News.' (Web site »)

Apr. 17, 1996

Shtetl

(180 minutes) To commemorate National Holocaust Remembrance Week, FRONTLINE travels back in time to a family shtetl, a small village in Bransk, Poland, with producer Marian Marzynski. As a child, Marzynski escaped the Warsaw ghetto and was raised by Christians. The remarkable three-hour film tells the homecoming story of two elderly Polish-American Jews who return to their families' shtetl ,Bransk, where 2,500 Jews lived before most were sent to Treblinka's gas chambers. These two Americans are aided in their journey by a Polish Gentile who has restored Bransk's Jewish cemetery and researched the lives of the Jews who once lived there. The film captures these pilgrims as they face old neighbors, some who were betrayers, others who were saviors to the Jews of Bransk. (Web site »)