English
Portugese
German
French
Spanish 
Italian 
Japanese
Arts & Culture
PARADIGMS FILM FESTIVAL >> Cinema at the edge.
The Liminal Village presents the first edition of the Paradigms Film Festival.
Charting new horizons in the realm of eye opening cinema, the Paradigms Film Festival 08 will explore the concepts of liminality and transformation. Broadly focusing on themes of globalization, cultural evolution, environmental awareness, spirituality and sustainable futures, Paradigms aims to inspire new perspectives.
Showing full length movies, documentaries, shorts, web flicks, trailers and other audio/visual presentations, the Paradigms Film Festival offers a metamedia environment lasting deep into the night.
The Paradigms film program will be based primarily within the Liminal Village venue but will also extend to other areas of the Boom Festival site. Stay tuned to the Boom's Daily Dragon newspaper for screenings in the Theatroom, Eco-Center and the Divineflower Healing zone.
** Paradigms Opening Night **
There will also be 2 initial nights of film screenings in Idanha a Nova on August 8th. and 9th. prior to Boom. The opening of the Paradigms program is in conjunction with the festival's art and photography exhibit at the Centro Cultural Raiano.
Click here for more details:
http://www.cm-idanhanova.pt/cultura/centro_cult_raiano/centro_cult_raiano.html
Confirmed films to date include;
1 Giant Leap: What About Me? - Duncan Bridgeman and Jamie Catto
2008
1 Giant Leap, the concept band and media project which brought us the double Grammy nominated Unity Through Diversity, returns with a brand new and unique music, TV and film project What About Me?.
Featuring one of the most exquisite collections of collaborators seen on a music project which includes everyone from Noam Chomsky to Will Young, Faithless front man Maxi Jazz to Tim Robbins and Billy Connolly to REM’s Michael Stipe, What About Me? is the culmination of four years work by Duncan Bridgeman and Jamie Catto, the founding member of Faithless.
Following on from the success of their first critically acclaimed film and album, the pair travelled the globe stopping off at 50 different locations to collect words of wisdom and musical jewels from the various participants. They then lovingly pieced them together into the TV and Film mosaic that is What About Me?.
‘What About Me?’ fuses opinions and insights, both alarming and inspirational, from 50 global locations - hundreds of interviews with writers, market-sellers, brain surgeons, criminals, grave diggers and gurus, some famous, most unknown…as the artists and singers express from their deepest truths the universal themes of Love, Pain, Surrender, and Grace in the most wide-reaching and diverse musical, philosophical and spiritual collaboration ever created.
Featuring: Noam Chomsky, Tim Robbins, Bob Geldof, Tom Robbins, Eckhart Tolle, Billy Connolly, Stephen Fry, DBC Pierre, Neale Donald Walsh, Ram Dass
MUSIC: Michael Stipe, KD Lang, Alanis Morrisette, Daniel Lanois, Maxi Jazz, Oumou Sangare, Baaba Maal, Rokia Traore, Lila Downs, Zap Mama, Speech, Mahotella Queens, Michael Franti, Stewart Copeland…
Entheo:genesis - Awakening the Divine Within - Rod Mann, Kevin Kohley & Nikos Katsaounis
2007
Entheo:Genesis Awakening the Divine Within is a feature length documentary which invites the viewer to rediscover an enchanted cosmos in the modern world by awakening to the divine within.
The film examines the re-emergence of archaic
techniques of ecstacy in the modern world by weaving a
synthesis of ecological and evolutionary
awareness,electronic dance culture, and the current
pharmacological re-evaluation of entheogenic
compounds. Within a narrative framework that imagines
consciousness itself to be evolving, Entheo:Genesis
documents the emergence of techno-shamanism in the
post-modern world that frames the following questions:
How can a renewal of ancient initiatory rites of
passage alleviate our ecological crisis? What do
trance dancing and festivals celebrating unbridled
artistic expression speak to in our collective psyche?
How do we re-invent ourselves in a disenchanted world
from which God has long ago withdrawn? Entheogen
invites the viewer to consider that the answers to
these questions lie within the consciousness of each
and every human being, and are accessible if only we
give ourselves permission to awaken to the divine
within.
Stan Grof, Marilyn Schlitz, Ralph Metzner, Alex Grey, Terrence McKenna, John Markoff, Daniel Pinchbeck, and Kat Harrison among others, postulate how the disenchantment of the modern world may be remedied by summoning the courage to take the next leap in the evolution of planetary consciousness.
Becoming Transhuman - Mark Pesce
2001
Becoming Transhuman is a feature-length meditation of the implications of our sudden and collective rise into "hyperempowerment". Now that each of us will soon have their own personal "nuclear option", what is the path forward? Can our species survive translation to a new level of being? In three sections, Becoming Transhuman weaves a tale both scientific and metaphysical, tying the most distant past to our immediate future.
Baraka - Ron Fricke / Magidson Films
1994
'Baraka': an ancient Sufi word, translated as a blessing, or as the essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds....
BARAKA, with stunning visuals, and an incredible soundtrack, is a legendary classic that never disappoints. Filmed in 152 locations throughout 24 countries across 6 continents, Baraka is evidence of a huge global project fuelled by a personal passion for the world and visual art. In capturing the planet's glories and violent calamities, Baraka tells the spellbinding story of human's diversity and its impact on the world. This is a film that transcends geographical and language barriers to inspire audiences around the world
Humanity Ascending: A New Way Through Together - Quantum Productions
2008
Humanity Ascending is a groundbreaking documentary series featuring author, futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard. In this transformational series each DVD presents vital elements to awaken the codes for our own conscious evolution and offers direction, meaning and a vision toward our birth as a new humanity.
OUR STORY: The Untold History of Humanity As Seen Through Evolutionary Eyes, the first DVD in the Humanity Ascending Series, spans the history of the evolutionary journey of our species from the big bang to current times, where we find ourselves precariously standing at the edge of conscious evolution or self-destruction. Our story is seen through evolutionary eyes as the unfoldment of a fourteen billion year journey of transformation, now pressing us forward to give birth within ourselves to a universal human and a universal humanity capable of coevolving with nature and cocreating with spirit. Our storyteller, Barbara Marx Hubbard, provides the unique perspective of viewing our history through what she terms as “evolutionary eyes” as the unfoldment of a fourteen billion year journey of transformation that is now pressing us forward to give birth to a new, never before seen, universal humanity. This compelling vision of hope sees us at an evolutionary edge where the old world is dying and the new world is being born.
Ibogaine - Rite Of Passage - Ben De Loenen
2005
‘Ibogaine – Rite of Passage’ is a documentary about the use of the substance Ibogaine for the treatment of addiction.
Ibogaine is a substance that is derived from an African plant which is used during initiations of the Bwiti culture in Gabon. In the Sixties the anti-addictive properties were discovered by Howard Lotsof, who was an American heroin addict at the time. Shortly after his discovery, Ibogaine became illegal in the US. Ibogaine is surrounded by controversy and the pharmaceutical companies show no interest in this substance. Is it because of economical reasons or its hallucinogenic effects?
This revealing documentary shows the different aspects of this special substance by means of personal experiences and explanations of ex-addicts, treatment providers
and ‘experts’.
Dances Of Ecstasy - Michelle Mahrer and Nicola Ma
2003
Dances of Ecstasy is a cutting edge DVD that explores ecstatic rituals experienced through rhythm, dance and music. Throughout history these states of ecstasy were a way of connecting with divine origins. The drive for spiritual renewal as a reaction against a world obsessed with technology and consumerism has inspired a return to indigenous and mystical traditions. People are turning to ecstatic practices for pleasure, transformation and healing. The experience of ecstasy is universal and transcends cultural and religious boundaries. This DVD reveals how the search for ecstasy is very much alive today in many traditional and contemporary communities around the world.
Hofmann's Potion - Connie Littlefield
2002
Long before Timothy Leary urged a generation to "tune in, turn on and drop out," D-lysergic acid diethylamide (or LSD) was being used by researchers to understand the human mind.
Discovered in 1943 by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, LSD was hailed as a powerful tool to treat alcoholism and drug addiction and to provide a window into schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. Much of that pioneering research was done by the team of Humphry Osmond, Abram Hoffer and Duncan Blewett, all working in Saskatchewan.
While researchers were establishing the medical benefits of LSD, others - like author Aldous Huxley - promoted the drug as a powerful tool for mental exploration and self-understanding. At Harvard, Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner and Ram Dass (then known as Richard Alpert) became popular heroes after the university cancelled their research project into psychedelics.
Featuring interviews with many LSD pioneers, Hofmann's Potion is much more than a simple chronicle of the drug's early days. With its thoughtful interviews, beautiful music and stunning cinematography, it is an invitation to look at LSD - and our world - with a more open, compassionate mind.
Zeitgeist - Peter Joseph
2007
Zeitgeist was created in the hope that it will inspire
people to start looking at the world from a more
critical perspective, and to relay the understanding
that very often things are not what the population at
large think they are. The true understanding of
events, both historical and modern, are crucial to the
development, awareness and spirituality of the human
condition. Zeitgeist is an exposé on the social
fallacies that currently plague this fundamental
progress by way of critically analyzing common
political, religious and economic understandings which
most have assumed to be true.
Philosopher's Stone - Christian Walzer and Frank Droll (The LightRiders)
2008
The Philosopher’s Stone: Albert Hofmann - 100 Years Old is a unique documentary of the international symposium – 'The Spirit of Basel: LSD - Problem Child and Wonder Drug' which took place in 2006 in Basel, Switzerland on the occasion of Dr. Albert Hofmann's 100th birthday.
This energizing documentary includes lectures presented by Albert Hofmann, Ralph Metzner, Alex Grey, Martin A. Lee and many more. These lectures describe and discuss the multilayered topic of LSD. The film is also framed by concert recordings of Saturday night's symposium event consisting of the following bands: Akasha Project (e.g. debut performance of the sound recording of the LSD-25-molecule), Star Sounds Orchestra and Guru Guru. Additional highlights exhibit exclusive interviews of two German artists Thomas D (musician) and Wolfgang Maria Ohlhuser (painter).
Postmodern Times - Joao Amorim & Nikos Katsaounis in association with Curious Pictures
2008
High-level animation supports cutting-edge thought with the debut of Postmodern Times, a series of shorts, or “info-snacks,” premiering on the Iclips Network, produced in association with Curious Pictures. PostModernTimes promotes a new understanding of our world, highlighting practical tools and visionary techniques for a sustainable future – think “The Simpsons” meets Buckminster Fuller and Aldous Huxley.
The first release, “Consciousness is the Key”, mixes the talents of four underground hip hop artists – Naada, Propaganda Anonymous, 2HL, and iLL SpoKKinN – and producer euphAmism in an animated music video that packs lyrical and graphical punch in a call for global awakening. “Consciousness is the Key” is accompanied by the re-release of “Toward 2012”, PostModernTimes initial episode, a hit on YouTube and CurrentTV. “Toward 2012” dramatizes the controversial ideas of PostModernTimes co-founder Daniel Pinchbeck, bestselling author of “2012 : The Return of Quetzalcoatl” (Tarcher/Penguin, 2006).
New releases every twenty days will cover topics from sustainability to alternative energy, psychic research to ayahuasca shamanism. Upcoming webisodes will feature: Kevin Danaher (co-founder of Global Exchange, executive producer of www.Greenfestivals.org), James O'Dea (President of The Institute of Noetic Science), Rick Strassman (author of "DMT the spirit molecule"), Rick Doblin (president of MAPS), Maria Alice Campos, (member of the Thirteen Grandmother Council, representative of the Santo Daime church of Brazil) and many others. Using a signature style, PostModern Times combines expert commentary with fast-paced cartoons in an inspiring and entertaining call to action.
The PostModernTimes team is uniquely suited for this project. Director Joao Amorim’s credits include the animation for the just-released documentary “Chicago 10,” which opened Sundance, and Ferrets for Freedom, a political viral video with over 160.000 hits on YouTube . Emmy award winner Nikos Katsaounis produced and co-directed the hit underground feature, “Entheo:genesis: Awakening the Divine within”, on non-ordinary states of consciousness and trance culture. Editor Felipe Barbosa’s short, “Salt Kiss”, was an official Sundance selection and has won awards at over ten festivals worldwide. Author Daniel Pinchbeck appeared on “The Colbert Report”, was profiled in “Rolling Stone”, and is recognized as a leading thinker in counterculture circles. PostModern Times is produced in association with Curious Pictures, the largest animation studio in New York, and a leader in the field for the past fifteen years.
Kairos -The Meeting of Time and Destiny - Steve Roach
2006
KAIROS is a dynamic flow of visual wonder worlds created by five master light, film, and digital artists in collaboration with Steve Roach. Drawing from a spectrum of visual techniques -- luminous organic analog light forms, dramatic Earth cinematography, cell-like computer animation -- micro and macro worlds join in a mind-expanding symbiotic flow between sound and visuals. Creation of the visuals evolved alongside the music over several years.
The music, shaped to the images, was created in the studio with the dynamic understanding that comes from taking it "out there" on the edge in the live setting. Much of the soundtrack was created directly for KAIROS, along with a merging of elements drawn from Steve's recent and future releases.
The culmination is an essential representation of the mythic import found in Steve's music and the visual core it stimulates. It is, both musically and visually, a pinnacle moment of shapeshifting sound and visionary-inducing works. Anyone who witnessed Steve's concerts this millenium will know what's in store. Featuring visuals from Lynn Augstein, Steve Lazur, Steven Rooke, John Vega, and John Wadsworth, with hybrid visual creation and final editing by Roger King.
The Spirit Molecule - Mitch Schultz , Andrew Lee & Rick Strassman MD
2008
THE SPIRIT MOLECULE investigates dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a naturally occurring psychoactive compound, which exists in the human brain as well as in numerous species of plants and animals. The feature-length documentary traces Dr. Rick Strassman's government sanctioned human DMT research and its many trials, tribulations, achievements, and inconceivable realizations. This includes looking deeper into the intense psychedelic experience that DMT causes when consumed, and examining DMT’s scientific, spiritual, and cultural relevance. Ultimately, THE SPIRIT MOLECULE explores the connections between cutting-edge neuroscience, quantum physics, and human spirituality.
Story Of Stuff - Annie Leonard/Free Range Studios
2008
The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns, with a special focus on the United States. All the stuff in our lives, beginning from the extraction of the resources to make it, through its production, sale, use and disposal, affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues and calls for all of us to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something. It'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
Throughout the film, activist Annie Leonard, the film’s narrator and an expert on the materials economy, examines the social, environmental and global costs of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. Her illustration of a culture driven by stuff allows her to isolate the moment in history where she says the trend of consumption mania began. The “Story of Stuff” examines how economic policies of the post-World War II era ushered in notions of consumerism — and how those notions are still driving much of the U.S. and global economies today.
The film features Leonard delivering a rapid-fire, often humorous and always engaging story about “all our stuff — where it comes from and where it goes when we throw it away.” Written by Leonard, the film was produced by Free Range Studios, the makers of other socially-minded, web-based films such as “The Meatrix” and “Grocery Store Wars.”
The Solar Power Village and the Idea of the Global Campus - Nigel Dickinson
Energy autonomy or self-sufficiency represents the most important generic term in the presently unfolding solar era. Regionally used energies, produced from selfsufficient resources, not only allow the liberation from heteronomy especially to the poorest and most sun-intensive areas of the world, but also serve the development of autonomous inter-linked structures right down to village level.
Juergen Kleinwaechter, physicist and inventor from Loerrach/Germany, has developed a variety of solar systems and components which he has assembled to form an integral, multi-functional overall system the Solar Power Village. This system, a symbiosis for plant growth and solar energy production, is designed in such a way to be able to be constructed almost entirely in the user-countries.
In the peace research centre Tamera, in Portugal, the first 1:1 prototype model of Juergen Kleinwaechter's technology in combination with the social knowledge of Tamera is being developed. This pioneering synergy between technology, nature and human being is a vital element in any strategic proposals towards a global culture of peace.
This documentary film gives an introduction into the vision and technological potential of Juergen Kleinwaechter's designs and a brief overview of the thoughts and ideas proposed by the founders of Tamera, Dieter Duhm and Sabine Lichtenfels.
Arambol Experience - Marie Borsch
2006
At the height of rock utopia in the 1960s, love children from San Francisco through New York to London set out to create a holistic environment influenced by groups like Soft Machine and Pink Floyd. Psychedelic utopia was an experimental guerrilla that took in everything from sex through politics, music, art, comic strips and the alternative press to animation. When the hippies said, We all want to change the world, music was just one of the means to their end. But the 1980s put the screws on, mainstream became the main man and the golden boys were born. In this charged atmosphere and its natural extension in the 2000s, it is now frowned upon to hop off the matrix, to take a different view. In a highly informed society that quickly subdues protest movements, you can no longer hope to gain approval for another lifestyle, a marginal way of thinking. Or can you?
Turning their backs on the dictates of the industrial world and the illusion of cushy consumerism, musicians from all four corners of the globe have pitched up in Arambol. This village in the north of Goa is spearheading a psychedelic revival in the Indian province.
Arambol is like the organic cousin of the famous urban temporary autonomous zone. Its refugees have escaped city stress to live there where beautiful is natural and you can play music without any limits or pigeonholing. They have turned their backs on the rat race, learned to enjoy life again and have a hedonistic sense of nothing to lose underpinned by their rejection of the objective tyranny of tomorrow. This environment obviously generates its own reference points and a different use of time ? Real pitfalls for someone out to make something lasting! You had to have the capacity to get the best from this decidedly different set-up without caricaturing or desecrating it. You had to have the instinct to make a musical jigsaw puzzle out of it. And you quite simply had to have the courage of your convictions. Because if you want to take on this haven where partying and the offbeat are king, you have to be prepared to take the plunge yourself.
Chris, executive producer (Scorpion, Street Fighters, Atoll, etc.), Marie Borsch, director and singer (ex YASSASSIN) and Dume (OTISTO23) engineer-programmer went to capture the atmosphere of this hotbed of musical in a unique DVD and double CD format. They set up a local studio with Fabrizio, guitarist and long-time resident of Goa. Over a three-year period, they invited local musicians (Western and otherwise) to create a collective work combining different influences: psychedelic, pop, trance, breakbeat, acoustic ballads, Indian, you name it.
www.myspace.com/arambolexperience
Illuminated - Illuminated Productions Inc.
2007
Illuminated is a new animated series being created by Josh Shore (Guerrilla News Network : http://gnn.tv), Anson Vogt (Podcollective.com, Phong.com), Brooke Burgess (Broken Saints : http://brokensaints.com), Andrew Jones ( ConceptArt.org ) and Xavi ( Pod Collective : http://myspace.com/artbyxavi ).
Set in the not-too-distant future, planet Earth is being ravaged by rampant environmental change and collapsing economies, as widespread social movements triggered by online interaction are reshaping the face of world politics. Saturated by media, people have lost their ability to dream and plug into a sophisticated communication system each night called the DreamField, which gives them access to a virtual dream-state, networked with the rest of the world. Online, dreams have become just another kind of media, and a group of dreamstars have emerged as the culture's new celebrities. Coming from an established political family, Aya is one of the most popular dreamstars, and millions plug into her dreams every night to experience her adventures through a hyper-dimensional vide-game reality, live as they sleep.
The series charts Aya's coming of age as she travels with her guru, Shen, on a transformational journey to visit the most spiritually charged places on Earth - re-connecting with the wisdom-keepers of the planet and re-learning the ancient spiritual traditions to evolve her consciousness and fight to restore humanity's ability to dream."
The Synergy Project - Gungho Media Collective
2007
The Synergy Project is a magical indoor festival in London combining musicians, Djs, Vjs, performers, and artists from all corners of creativity, joined by various proactive NGO's and charities with the expressed aim to make a difference.
The Synergy Project strives to create an optimistic approach in raising awareness on the many crucial issues affecting our world today. The events gather some of the UK's leading creative multimedia organizations joined by international NGO?s such as Oxfam, Survival, Speak, Ecoshelter, WDM, Down2Earth, Greenpeace, Campaign Against Climate Change to provide just the right mix of open hearted enjoyment and meaningful reflection for a new direction.
www.myspace.com/thesynergyproject
The Production of Meaning - Adbusters
Here is the challenge of media democracy: to change the way information flows, the way we interact with the mass media, the way meaning is produced in our society. This DVD - a collection of television spots and video clips produced over the years by regular culture jammers - is proof that anyone can seize the media reins and begin producing real meaning.
The Sacred Balance: The Fire of Creation - Kensington Communications / Sacred Balance Productions
2002
Based on the best-selling book, The Sacred Balance is a four-part documentary series hosted by David Suzuki.
Filmed on five continents, this ground-breaking series celebrates a new scientific world-view, an inclusive vision of nature in which we human beings are intimately connected to all life processes on Earth.
With Suzuki as our guide, we visit the best minds of the age. Philosophers, scholars, priests, and shamans all share their visions and perspectives of the universe. Scientists such as E.O.Wilson, Ary Goldberger, Brian Goodwin, Wade Davis, Stephen Lansing, Elaine Ingham and James Lovelock reveal the meaning behind their perceptions and discoveries. We hear astonishing tales of the world's infinite complexity. Through many knowledgeable eyes, guided by many wise hearts, we are reminded of who we are: creatures of the Earth, biological beings totally dependent upon the planet's life support systems.
Episode 3 - The Fire of Creation
This is the way the cosmos began: in a single moment matter coalesced, and the stars turned on. All life on Earth is forged in the furnace of the sun and human beings are its children, accumulating cosmic energies, transforming them into matter.
www.kensingtontv.com
www.sacredbalance.com
Crossing The Event Horizon: Rise To The Equation - Nassim Haramein & The Resonance Project Foundation
2007
Haramein draws upon his research on planetary and
hyperdimensional physics to help viewers understand the fundamental
structure and model of the universe and our existence in it. He leads
viewers in a discussion about the history of the evolution of
humanity--pointing out inconsistencies in the concepts of physics and
the alterations necessary to produce a true Unification view--one that
unifies the four forces of nature, biological evolution, and
consciousness. His presentation is geared to a layman’s understanding
of the fundamental nature of the universe and creation. He also
demonstrates parallels between this all-encompassing theory and ancient
codes left in documents and colossal monuments around the world.
We Feed The World - Erwin Wagenhofer & Helmut Grasser
2005
Close to a billion of the nearly seven billion people on Earth are starving today. But the food we are currently producing could feed 12 billion people. This is a film about food and globalization, fishermen and farmers, the flow of goods and cash flow -- a film about scarcity amid plenty.
Why doesn't a tomato taste like a tomato today? How does one explain that 200 million people in India, supplier of 80% of Switzerland's wheat, suffer from malnutrition? Why are thousands of acres of the Amazon being cleared to grow soybeans? Is water something to which the public has a basic right or, as the CEO of the world's largest food company Nestlé suggests, a foodstuff with a market value?
These distressing questions are addressed as filmmaker Erwin Wagenhofer travels from Austria to Brazil, France to Romania to interview Jean Ziegler, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, CEOs and directors of the world's largest food companies, agronomists, biologists, fishermen, farmers and farmworkers.
On a daily basis, in Vienna alone, enough left-over bread to supply a small city is destroyed. The planet has enough production power to feed everyone, but 800 million people suffer from hunger. What does world hunger have to do with us?
http://www.we-feed-the-world.at/en/
Tribulation 99 - Craig Baldwin
1991
Unrelentingly lurid and equally hilarious, TRIBULATION 99: ALIEN ANOMALIES UNDER AMERICA might be an X-ray of a rabid slacker's seething brain. This 48-min. "pseudo-pseudo-documentary" is a skewed history of US intervention in Latin America AND a hysterical satire of conspiracy theory.
With a sci-fi plot suggesting that current unrest can be blamed on space aliens who live under atomic test sites, the film illustrates its argument with images culled from newsreels, horror flicks, and everything in between.
The film may induce in some the symptoms of information overload, brought on by the flashing graphics, manic gestures, and cheesy special effects.
http://www.othercinemadvd.com/trib.html
Musical Brotherhoods from the Trans-Saharan Highway - Hisham Mayet
2005
Filmed in 2005 by Hisham Mayet predominately at the Jemaa Al Fna in Marrakesh Morocco, 'Musical Brotherhoods of the Trans-Saharan Highway' captures an assortment of spectacular musical dramas presented live and unfiltered on the home turf of the world's most dynamic string and drum specialists performing and manifesting the ecstatic truth. Ancient mystical brotherhoods have been flourishing for centuries in and around the cities of Marrakesh and Essaouira in Morocco where the trade caravans have gathered from their long journeys across the Trans-Saharan Highway. This is some of the last great street music on Earth. A must see for string aficionados looking for inspiration as electric ouds, banjos, mandolins and the Gnawa sentir peel flesh from bone right before your eyes!
E-Gaia's Climate Change AV Set - Mayra Vivo
2008
A journey through vision and sound exploring one of the most important threats to the human species: climate change. From desertification to flooding, from fires to polar melt, the different angles of this problem and their connection to capitalism will be explored. This this audio-visual performance by e-gaia.net includes shocking statistics pointing out to the hurdles but definitely sees light at the end of the tunnel.
Other Worlds: A Journey Into The Heart of Shipibo Shamanism - Jan Kounen
2007
"Questembetsa" is a Shipibo-Conibo Shaman, who enabled Jan Kounen to experience Shamanism from the inside.? There are 45 000 Shipibo Conibos living together along the Amazon River in Peru. Questembetsa is the spiritual guide of all Shipibo Conibos. He is the Master Shaman who trains all of his people?s Shamans. Questembetsa enabled us to film a summer solstice ceremony, which lasted for three days and three nights. This traditional celebration has never been recorded on film, and justly so. It has not occurred for 70 years and has obviously been seen by very few 'non-Indians.' Using night-vision cameras, we were able to immortalize these unique moments.
The Buckminster Fuller Challenge 2008 - Joao Amorim
2008
Bucky had it right. You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
(III) - Jeronimo
2008
(|||) is an ethnographic documentary focusing on the spirituality and mysticism of electronic music culture and its devoted followers. The film describes the relationship between music and consciousness, the metaphysics of mythology, and a spiritual experience found by so many on the dance floor. Through this investigation, the film creates an ethnography of the culture that has emerged from all of these transformative experiences and reveals how the historical cultures of ancient indigenous people's have been co-opted by rave culture's neo-primitive beliefs which coincide with Earth's alignment with the center of the galaxy on December 21, 2012, investigating why the culture is preparing for a massive synchronized party on that date.
Earth Pilgrims - Echan Deravy
2008
Earth Pilgrims is the first in a series of feature length documentary films, following the journeys of the Scottish adventurer and writer Echan Deravy. It follows his quest around the world to understand the deeper meaning of inner pilgrimage, and how that idea currently applies to all of us in our daily lives as crew, not passengers on this turbulent ship called planet Earth.
The film journeys westwards from his long pilgrimage in Japan, to Iona in Scotland and then to England's beacon of ecospiritual learning at Schumacher College through to Israel's Dead Sea and Galilee. It then moves on to North America and throughout the journeys records meetings with insightful individuals and luminaries. They share their perspectives on the perilous state of humanity's existence on this planet, and how we might sanely navigate through the potentially challenging days ahead.
This journey climaxes in Peru, where Echan and his film team join 30,000 Quechua Indians in their pilgrimage to the mountain spirit, El Señor Qoyllur Rit'i, at 5,000 meters in the scintillating light of the Andes. An epiphany of colour and celebration there inspire all of us to remember the power that comes from the ancient art of peregrination.
Featured guests: Ecospiritual pilgrim Satish Kumar, explorer and anthropologist Wade Davis, bestselling author Graham Hancock, 13th century poet of the Sufi heart, Rumi through Coleman Barks, photographer and anthropologist of sacred sites Martin Gray, vedic chanter and entheogenic healer Paul Temple, and with the archival film participation of the now deceased saint of the American highways, Peace Pilgrim. A movie for all those who feel the quickening pulse of an evolutionary future.