TOP OF THE TOPS FILMS (beyond personal taste – films that I believe are important for everyone to see):
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Grigoris Grigoriou: “Bitter bread” (Πικρό ψωμί, 1951)* — poverty
Nikos Papatakis: “The Shepherds of Calamity” (Οι Βοσκοί, 1967) — society
John Cassavetes: “A Woman Under the Influence” (1974) — family
Werner Herzog: “Land of Silence and Darkness” (Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit, 1974) — isolation
David Lynch: “The Elephant Man” (1980) — discrimination
Claude Lanzmann: “Shoah” (1985) — history
Jean-Luc Godard: “Histoire(s) du cinéma” (1988-1998) — cinema

*This is the most convincing work of art I have encountered refering to poverty. As for any work, one has to see it to believe it, but unfortunately, such films are extremely hard to find. All I can do here is express my gratitude to the people who created this work and to those who made it possible for people like myself to see it. It is a great pity that such pearls for the human soul vanish into oblivion or anonymity simply because they don’t sell, or because so much is produced that they find themselves buried so far down. It is such a pity that so much money is practically wasted on the bulky production of ephemeral entertainment that is completely useless to humanity beyond the duration of its projection and that films like this are seen by only 3 (!) people when they do get projected every ten years or so. With no offence to entertainment, it is a human shame.
All I can do is hope (will prayer do anything?), that some tycoon out there will some day decide to invest a few of his / her billions in the preservation and promotion of such works. Maybe, if one of them does it and succeeds, others will follow. (Amen?)