Скачать или смотреть The Patriarch -- the most trusted man of the Caucasus (film by Benjamin Rahr)

After the fall of the USSR in 1991, Georgia—once one of the richest republics of the Soviet Union—experienced a sharp economic decline and is now among the world’s poorest countries. During the first years of independence, which were marked by civil wars and territorial disputes, the Patriarch and the Georgian Orthodox Church were instrumental in establishing peace. He is widely regarded as providing a stark contrast to the corruption rife in both the country’s political leadership and the Moscow Patriarchate.
Although normally careful to remain outside politics, he gained further respect during the 2008 Russia-Georgian War when he dismissed Moscow’s accusation of genocide in South Ossetia as a „pure lie“. He was viewed on international media visiting towns and villages under Russian siege and repatriating the bodies of fallen Georgian soldiers.
Respected far beyond the confines of Georgia orthodox community, Ilya II is an honorary member of Georgia’s National Academy of Sciences, a gifted artist and a respected social thinker. In the musical sphere, the Patriarch, a venerated composer, has established the internationally renowned Patriarch’s Choir and revived the ancient Georgian tradition of polyphonic sacral chant. Following his offer to personally baptize every child born to a family with more than one child, Georgia’s declining birthrate has reversed into a baby boom.
Ilya’s failing health raises concerns about the future of the Georgian church and the nation as a whole, with no visible successor to take over the spiritual and moral leadership of a country that borders the terrorist-ridden Republic of Chechnya and that has lost one third of its territory.

The Patriarch – the most trusted man of the Caucasus
Written & Directed by Benjamin Rahr
Co-Production: BVR Reporting & Consulting Ltd and ....
Executive Producer: Anna Franklin
Editor: Pugmen-Mikrofilm Ltd
Saffron Walden, 2013