S&P Awards
The Most Spiritually Literate Films of 2005
3-Iron
A subversive and boldly creative film from Korea about a silent young man who travels light, falls in love, and turns into a liberator.
Foreign
After Innocence
An extraordinary documentary about injustices rectified and innocent men set free after years in prison.
Documentary
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
A light-hearted, playful love story set in China with a tribute to the soul-stirring powers of French literature.
Foreign
Because of Winn-Dixie
A magical story about a lonely girl whose life is transformed by a stray dog with a spiritual gift for bringing her together with just the right people.
Feature
Breakfast on Pluto
An endearing portrait of a transvestite whose playful ease in the face of harrowing experiences makes him into what the Taoist sages call a 'disciple of life'.
Feature
Brokeback Mountain
A pitch perfect drama about the heartache of two Western cowboys whose love for each other can only be expressed in secret.
Feature
Brothers
An extraordinary Danish film that explores the primal emotions of sibling rivalry and the toxins of violence released in soldiers in war zones.
Foreign
Crash
A tense film examining the racial and class divisions in American society that make every stranger into a potential enemy.
Feature
Darwin's Nightmare
A shocking and soul-shaking Austrian documentary about the dire effects of globalization upon the poor citizens of Tanzania.
Documentary
Emmanuel's Gift
An inspiring documentary about a determined young man who almost single-handedly has changed the way the disabled are treated in Ghana.
Documentary
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
An engrossing parable about power, greed, arrogance, and ethical malfeasance on a grand scale.
Documentary
Good Night, and Good Luck
A stirring tribute to television journalist Edward R. Murrow's courage and conviction in a dark period of American history.
Feature
Grizzly Man
A mesmerizing documentary by Werner Herzog about a young man obsessed with grizzly bears in the Alaskan wilderness.
Documentary
Hidden (Caché)
A sharp-edged thriller about the refusal of privileged members of the winning class to trust others or to take responsibility for their actions.
Foreign
Howl's Moving Castle
A rousing treatment of caretaking, aging, anti-war sentiments, and the bounties of the heart.
Animated
In My Country
A bold drama set in South Africa that salutes forgiveness and restorative justice as alternatives to revenge and the continuing cycle of violence.
Feature
Junebug
An endearing small film about a couple who find their new marriage tested during a visit to the groom's family in North Carolina where traditional values hold sway.
Feature
March of the Penguins
An extraordinary French documentary on the lives and habits of Emperor Penguins in Antarctica.
Documentary
Memoirs of a Geisha
A beautiful window into Japanese culture that also shows how a small act of kindness can send out many ripples, and transform another's life.
Feature
Millions
An endearing, charming, creative, and spiritually uplifting movie about miracles, money, saints, and the divine love that will not let us go.
Feature
Murderball
A rip-roaring documentary that will take you to places you have never been before and introduce you to some extraordinary quadriplegics.
Documentary
Nobody Knows
The harrowing story of four children in Tokyo who are abandoned by their mother and forced to fend for themselves over a six-month period.
Foreign
Paradise Now
This powerful film tells the desperation of Palestinians who feel that living under oppression is hell and that dying is preferable.
Foreign
Pride and Prejudice
An enchanting screen version that breathes new life into Austen's classic novel.
Feature
Saint Ralph
A heartfelt story about a teenager who proves that ordinary individuals can do extraordinary things through strong intention, fiery determination, and a little help from their friends.
Feature
Saraband
A poignant film where we watch family members bare their souls and in their faces we see intimations of the grand emotions that animate us all.
Foreign
Sunset Story
An extraordinary documentary about the friendship between two activist elders in a Los Angeles retirement community created for political progressives.
Documentary
Syriana
A complex, honest film that reveals the violence, corruption, and political chicanery involved in maintaining our addiction to fossil fuels.
Feature
The Boys of Baraka
A passionate tale that charts an experimental educational program that takes African-American boys from the ghetto streets of Baltimore to the wilderness of Kenya.
Documentary
The Constant Gardener
A gripping thriller that exposes the shadowy parameters of a war against the poor and the powerless that is animated by corporate greed and political amorality.
Feature
The Family Stone
A funny and emotionally resonant family drama about the value of seeing everyone as a work in progress.
Feature
The Interpreter
A tense thriller which salutes openness and respect for life as antidotes to the use of violence to deal with the uncertainty of our times.
Feature
The Squid and the Whale
An open, honest film that allows us to enter and freely share in the emotional upheavals of all the members of a dysfunctional family.
Feature
The Upside of Anger
An engrossing and well-acted psychodrama about the toxic side-effects of this potent and volatile emotion.
Feature
Tsotsi
A spiritually riveting film about a nasty thug in a Johannesburg shanty town whose violent and selfish life is totally transformed when he finds a baby in a car he's stolen.
Foreign
Turtles Can Fly
A mesmerizing film set in Iraq that deals with the fallout from both dictators and liberators on the torn lives of children living in refugee camps.
Foreign
Walk the Line
The story of Johnny and June Cash paying special attention to the important role that our primal emotions play in life, love, and creativity.
Feature
Wall
A scary and poignant documentary about the wall dividing Palestinians from Israelis.
Documentary
