FILMMAKERS
Bios
IN GOD'S NAME is produced in association with acclaimed French filmmakers and brothers Jules and Gedeon Naudet.
On the day of the terrorist attacks in September 2001, the two were caught in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Jules was shooting inside when the South Tower fell. "On September 11, we faced death and thought we had lost each other," said Jules Naudet. "This harrowing experience was the first step in a journey that would take us around the world searching for answers to the meaning of life."
The brothers' quest took them to Egypt, England, India, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Russia and the Vatican, as well as Illinois and South Carolina. In regard to the 12 leaders selected for the special IN GOD'S NAME, Gedeon explained, "We chose [them] because of the vast number of believers--more than four billion--that their faiths represent....We also wanted to explore the diversity of spirituality in our world today."
The brothers' previous project, the documentary "9/11," won an Emmy for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special in 2002. Their first feature, "Hope, Gloves and Redemption," about young boxers in Spanish Harlem, took grand-jury honors in 2000 at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Born in Paris, both Jules and Gedeon are graduates of New York University's Film School.
Photos from In God's Name
Spiritual Leaders
- Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Orthodox Church
- Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi), a Hindu spiritual leader
- Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church
- The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists
- Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent Shi'ite Muslim leader
- Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran World Federation
- High Priest Michihisa Kitashirakawa, Daiguji (Shinto Priest) of the Grand Shrine of Ise
- Rabbi Yona Metzger, Chief Rabbi of Israel, Ashkenazi
- Dr. Frank Page, President of the Southern Baptist Convention
- Imam Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader
- Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the Sikhs' highest authority
- Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England