Documentaries & Plays
Below are links to some of the best documentaries available. Click on the ones of your choice.
Breaking the Silence gives a rare inside view of an Amish church service and the inner workings of the Amish culture. From the outside the Amish all look the same, and yet each Amish person has their own story. Discover their stories. Six episodes, approximately 42 minutes each.
The Amish: An American Experience
An intimate portrait of contemporary Amish faith and life, part one of this series, The Amish: An American Experience, examines how such a closed and communal culture has thrived within one of the most open, individualistic societies on earth. What does the future hold for a community whose existence is so rooted in the past? And what does our fascination with the Amish say about deep American values?
Also, what is it like to be cut off from your faith and your family? Part two of this series, The Amish: Shunned, follows seven people who have chosen to leave their closed and tightly-knit communities for the outside world, knowing they can never return. Each has paid deeply for their decision. Estranged from loved ones, these former Amish find themselves struggling to make their way in modern America.
With a population of approximately 50,000, Hutterites are a close cousin to the Amish and Mennonites. The documentary examines an Alberta Hutterite community.
It takes a lot to leave the only life you’ve ever known—for one you’ve been told will lead you straight to hell. And with little possibility of normal contact with your family ever again, turning your back on the Amish order is an immense undertaking, and a choice that’s not made without tremendous consideration. In the new ten-part series Amish: Out of Order, follow the trials and tribulations of individuals who have made the decision to leave the Amish community behind. (Mission to Amish People is featured in two of the episodes in this ten-part series from National Geographic.)
The Ex-Amish of Maywood, Missouri
In the late 1970's, a spiritual earthquake was about to affect the oldest Amish settlement of Missouri in the small town of Bowling Green. Its tremors would be felt around the world in the Amish and Baptist faith.
