S&P Awards
The Most Spiritually Literate Films of 2003
21 Grams
A deeply spiritual film exploring the ties that bind together a heart transplant recipient, a grieving mother, and a born-again ex-con in a riveting journey of guilt, pain, sacrifice, and redemption.
Feature
Balseros (Cuban Rafters)
An ambitious and well-realized documentary about seven Cuban dreamers who risked their lives aboard homemade rafts to make it to America to forge a new life for themselves.
Documentary
Big Fish
An unpredictable tale about a story-loving child who still enjoys exploring dreams, fantasies, and larger-than-life adventures.
Feature
Bonhoeffer
A riveting and poignant overview of the life and work of the German theologian who pointed the way forward to a bold new vision of Christianity.
Special Interest
Bruce Almighty
A cinematic parable about a selfish and obsessed television reporter whose spiritual journey opens his heart and sets him on a path of using his gifts to serve others.
Feature
Bus 174
A compelling documentary that dares to tell the truth about the tragic and dangerous consequences of one young man's poverty, exposure to violence, and brutal treatment while in prison.
Documentary
Cold Mountain
A universal quest story about the yearning for hope and home that enables two lovers to deal with the harrowing menace and senseless violence of war.
Feature
Dirty Pretty Things
A soul-stirring movie that will rock you to your foundations if you just come to it with an open heart.
Feature
Finding Nemo (3D)
A rousing computer-animated adventure, now in 3D, that celebrates youthful independence and lances the illusion that parents can make the world safe for their children.
Animated
Girl with a Pearl Earring
An artistic film par excellence that tells the story of one of Jan Vermeer's most known paintings with visual riches and creative integrity.
Feature
Holes
A dramatically inventive and emotionally satisfying film about a loser who comes out ahead.
Feature
House of Sand and Fog
An engrossing drama about the downward mobility of a recovering alcoholic and the upward mobility of a yearning Iranian immigrant.
Feature
In America
A soulful and buoyant portrait of a poverty stricken Irish family's winning battle to move beyond the wrenching and chaotic emotions of grief into a new life in Manhattan.
Feature
In This World
An incredibly moving film directed by Michael Winterbottom about two young Afghan refugees struggling to survive a harrowing overland journey to London in search of a better life.
Foreign
L'Auberge Espagnole
A captivating French film about an industrious young man's experiences abroad in Barcelona and his recognition of his various selves and his unity with others.
Foreign
Levity
A powerful and poignant drama about a repentant murderer's quest to make amends with the sister of the person he killed years ago. This fresh exploration of forgiveness touches the heart.
Feature
Lilya 4-Ever
A compelling and disturbing film about an abandoned Russian teenager who finds herself an unwilling victim in the global sex trade.
Foreign
Lost in Translation
A luscious and sensitive film about two Americans who reach out over the age barrier to connect with each other in Tokyo.
Feature
Marooned in Iraq - Gomgashtei dar Aragh
The adventures of an elderly Kurdish musician and his two grown sons on a mission of mercy in Iraq's danger zones and refugee camps.
Foreign
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
A rattling good sea saga filled with two first-class performances, a memorable portrait of friendship, and a substantive exploration of leadership.
Feature
Mondays in the Sun
A deeply ethical work that has a universal quality to its depiction of the soul-destroying capacities of unemployment.
Foreign
Monsieur Ibrahim
A spiritual adventure story about a Sufi grocer who passes on the wisdom of his path to a lonely adolescent boy filled with a yearning for something more.
Foreign
OT: Our Town
A remarkable documentary about some ghetto kids in Compton, California, who rise to the best in themselves in a rousing high school production of Thornton Wilder's famous play.
Documentary
Pieces of April
A complex story revolving around a Thanksgiving dinner that draws out our mixed feelings about families, nasty grievances, and moments of gratitude.
Feature
Seabiscuit
A robust story of an underdog horse and three nobodies who join him in a quest that turns into an adventure for the whole country.
Feature
Secondhand Lions
An extraordinary coming-of-age movie that salutes the odd ways eccentric individuals can inspire us to become all we are meant to be.
Feature
Sister Helen
A compassionate story of a tough Catholic nun working with addicts in the South Bronx who has let their suffering touch her heart.
Special Interest
Stone Reader
An extraordinary documentary that is both a lively and an illuminating tribute to the wonderful world of books.
Documentary
Swimming Pool
A mesmerizing and imaginative psychological thriller about the delights that can come when we explore aspects of ourselves that we have previously ignored or covered up.
Foreign
The Barbarian Invasions
A bracing comedy about all those bothersome outside forces that unsettle our lives along with all those blessings that open our hearts unexpectedly.
Foreign
The Fog of War
A morally thought-provoking documentary in which Robert McNamara, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, discusses the lessons of World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War.
Documentary
The Last Samurai
A remarkable and exquisitely rendered drama that mixes the raw savagery of war with magical moments of Zen peacefulness and spiritual uplift.
Feature
The Magdalene Sisters
An unflinching and compelling drama about the unjust incarceration of young women in Ireland by the Catholic Church for their so-called sexual indiscretions.
Feature
The Man on the Train (L'Homme du train)
A marvelously acted French film about two men past their prime who cross each other's paths and yearn for something completely different in their lives.
Foreign
The Station Agent
A fine and funny film that explores all the curious ways in which friendship can abound, express love, turn us around and take us to places we have never imagined.
Feature
The Yogis of Tibet: A Film for Posterity
An extraordinary film that salutes the spiritual disciplines and practices of Tibetan yogis who have mastered their minds and bodies as part of their devotion to the dharma.
Special Interest
Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion
An extraordinary and passionate documentary about the plight of the Tibetan people whose religion remains one of the wonders of the world with its wisdom on nonviolence, mind training, and compassion.
Special Interest
Together
A vibrant and touching Chinese film that tugs at the heart and convincingly conveys the challenges faced by a teenage musical prodigy from the provinces after he arrives in Beijing.
Foreign
Whale Rider
An enchanting and ultimately enthralling New Zealand movie about the struggle of one ardent and determined young Maori girl to fulfill her destiny.
Feature
Winged Migration
A glorious celebration of birds in flight, conveying the beauty and the amazing feats of strength and endurance of their long distance journeys.
Documentary
