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Women Arise to lead environmental justice initiatives

May 11, 2013 By

Idanha Films

Women lead environmental justice around the world in Arise. Exquisite cinematography and music are enhanced by Daryl Hannah’s evocative narration. These voices for change may be new to you.

Arise emphasizes women’s wisdom and spiritual connection with the Earth as they live sustainably. Mother and daughter Lori Joyce and Candice Orlando direct.

The film will be offered on DVD and streaming in the future. Contact them to host a screening.

Shared stories inspire

In this era of ecological peril, women across cultures are stepping forward. Arise finds beauty and hope even in extreme poverty. Reverent vignettes of art, scenery, music and poetry read by Hannah shine in this well edited production.

The filmmakers told The Huffington Post that they persevered for seven years to bring these important stories to the screen. Each leader displays compassion, intelligence, conviction and active commitment. Among those featured are:

Judy Nyguthi Kimamo, Project Officer, Women for Change – The Greenbelt Movement, Kenya

“Once you’ve empowered a woman, you’ve empowered a nation,” notes Judy Nyguthi Kimamo. “We all need each other.” Kimamo follows in the footsteps of Wangari Maathai, the founder of Kenya’s Greenbelt Movement. Participants draw well water, tend crops and animals, sing and dance together. Through Greenbelt’s civic and environmental education programs, they’re building food security.

Many no longer sleep hungry since they have learned to cultivate arrowroot, cassava and yams. Planting trees is a cornerstone of their work. It’s the easiest way to safeguard groundwater, prevent flooding, and grow crops.

Vandana Shiva

Vandana Shiva, Founder, Navdanya, India

One of the most eloquent voices for food democracy, physicist, activist and author Vandana Shiva founded Navdanya, a biodiversity-based organic farm, to challenge Big Agribusiness and its genetically modified seeds. She was inspired in the 1970s by the Chipko women, who hugged trees to save their forest from development and feed their families.

Women are the backbone of farming in India, says co-director Dr. Vinod Kumar Bhatt. He takes us behind the scenes at the farm’s community seed banks. Local farmers become self-sufficient by conserving and multiplying seed. “Biodiversity-based organic farming can do miracles,” says Bhatt. “It can not only increase the production but also help increase the income of small and marginal farmers.”

“Recognizing the Earth as sacred, as divine, means you first and foremost are grateful,” says Shiva. “Each time we sow a crop we know we need the cooperation of the soil as an active, intelligent, creative, sacred being to even give us the next harvest.”

Winona LaDuke

Winona LaDuke, Executive Director, Honor the Earth and White Earth Land Recovery Project, White Earth Reservation, Minnesota

Winona LaDuke, Native American environmentalist, economist and writer, leads her community in becoming healthy and self-sufficient. By preserving indigenous seed and bringing solar and wind power to White Earth, she’s fulfilling that vision. “I want to restore our food, because these foods are our medicine,” she notes. “I’m trying to relocalize and capture that local food economy.”

The Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people have lived in the region for 9,000 years. “It’s a privilege” to save wild rice from genetic modification, and to stop the damming of a local river. “I don’t consider myself an activist,” LaDuke explains, “just a responsible person.” “You need a green economy.”

Candice Orlando, Executive Director, Urbiculture Community Farms, Denver, CO

Urbiculture Community Farms is transforming empty lots, front and back yards, and school and church grounds into “food wonderlands,” says Candice Orlando. She seeks to ensure food security and to educate as community land is transformed. The food is sold through CSA (community-supported agriculture), with 30% of shares going to low income residents. Denver non-profits are also supplied with fresh food.

 

Majora Carter

Majora Carter, President, Majora Carter Group, LLC, Bronx, NY

A native of the South Bronx, Majora Carter has led revitalization projects to alleviate poverty and remediate the environment. “Communities don’t just happen. They’re made,” she says. Carter worked to establish Hunts Point Riverside Park, the borough’s first waterfront park in 60 years. Green-collar jobs have been created. A place for community celebration was born.

We can become “real heroes and players in our own lives” by remembering that the environment is ours, and we are a part of it, Carter believes.

Diverse voices presented

Also appearing in Arise are: Dana Miller, founder, Grow Local Colorado; Beverly Grant, director, Mo’Betta Greens Farmers Market, Denver; Monica Chuji, Amazonian Quechua human rights activist, Ecuador; Starhawk, author, activist and organizer for global justice; Dr. Theo Colborn, zoologist and president, Endocrine Disruption Exchange; Maggie Fox, CEO, The Climate Reality Project; Aida Shibli, Palestinian Bedouin peace activist; Jessica Posner, CEO, Shining Hope for Communities, Kenya; Bata Bhurji, administrator, Barefoot College, India.

To learn more and to get involved in environmental justice, visit Arise.

You might also enjoy: Dirt! The Movie; Women in the Dirt.

Filed Under: Activism, Character, Community, Compassion, Current Affairs, Documentary, Ecoactivism, Environment, Featured Self-Discovery, Transformation, Women Tagged With: , , , , ,

Money and Life: living the lives we were meant to live

April 21, 2013 By

Money and Life

The heart and soul of money is not far from our own in Money and Life. Director Katie Teague’s masterpiece studies money and the economy while guiding viewers on a hero’s journey towards flow and genuine abundance. You can watch it streaming and on DVD beginning May 1.

Money was created to serve us. Over time it’s been manipulated, devalued and deified. We spend our lives working for it, chasing it, wanting it.

By understanding money and participating mindfully in its exchange, we can recover deep parts of ourselves: creativity, happiness and human connection. We can live the lives we were meant to live.

All money exists as debt

Money is simply an agreement to use something (gold, wampum, spices etc.) as a medium of exchange. It lost real value when President Richard Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard in 1971.

The privately owned Federal Reserve Corporation decides how much money to print. Members meet behind closed doors with no public input or accountability. Large banks receive the cash and multiply it through a process called fractional reserve banking.

Keeping just 10 percent on reserve, banks loan out the rest at interest. They drain more out of circulation than they put in. In this game of musical chairs, there must always be losers.

Rushing towards crisis

Debt-based economics is a pyramid scheme, says Ellen Brown (Web of Debt). The economy must grow fast enough to keep debt growing. “Eventually the whole world is in debt,” she observes.

The system is unstable, filled with boom and bust cycles. We’ve had 96 banking crashes and 187 monetary crises in the last 25 years, notes Stuart Valentine, president of CenterPoint Investment Management.

“We’ve totally forgotten that we’ve invented it, that we made it up,” says Lynne Twist (The Soul of Money).

Judy Wicks

Circulation is key

“Money took over not as a means, but as a measure of wealth,” says physicist and environmental activist Vandana Shiva (Making Peace with the Earth). “Our lives have become more monetized and commodified,” says philosophy professor Jacob Needleman (Money and the Meaning of Life).

Past societies valued art, pleasure, culture, spirituality and family, notes visionary activist Jean Houston (The Possible Human). Today, money takes center stage as never before. “Money was never meant to be hoarded or amassed,” says Rabbi Steven Leder (More Money Than God). “It was meant to circulate as a way of uplifting the community.”

“Money has become a substitute for kinship, a substitute for a felt sense of reciprocity and interrelatedness,” observes clinical psychologist Aaron Kipnis (Angry Young Men). Ancient coins were forged with symbols of God and nature. When Caesar’s image replaced those symbols, money became associated with the power of the state.

Opportunity emerges

The financial crisis of 2008 presents us with a great opportunity, Shiva believes. We’ve reached the limits of a system that idolizes money while exploiting people and the natural world.

The “financialization” of the economy in the 1990’s intoxicated us with the promise of “easy money.” Binary digits speed through computer networks, distant from goods and services produced by people and nature.

Financial wealth is “nothing but a fiction,” says David Korten (Agenda for a New Economy). Our economy is “turning the living wealth of people, community and nature into financial wealth.”

Orland Bishop

Measuring real wealth

We created GDP (Gross Domestic Product) after the Depression and World War II to measure well-being. GDP reflects the dollar amount of goods and services produced nationally. “The faster we take useful resources out of the environment, run them through the economy and dispose of them as toxic waste into our air, water and soils, we count that as progress,” Korten notes.

A truer measure of progress is how economic activity improves our quality of life. “The crisis today stems from the fact that there’s almost nothing left to convert into the realm of goods and services,” says Charles Eisenstein (Sacred Economics).

“Planet Finance now is getting bigger than Planet Earth,” says Rebecca Adamson, a Cherokee who advocates nationally for local tribal issues.

Signs of revival

An efficient financial system “should be run like a public utility,” notes futurist and evolutionary economist Hazel Henderson (Ethical Markets). “Any financial system that is using up more than 10% of a country’s GDP is inherently out of control … becoming a cancer on the real economy.”

Adamson buys locally. When shopping outside the community, she looks at corporate behavior and values. Socially responsible investing is now a $3 trillion marketplace, says Valentine.

Charles Eisenstein

Forging equitable, sustainable, beautiful

At its most moving, Money and Life shares personal stories. Scott Morris graduated from college with $50K in student loans. His monthly payment equaled his monthly living expenses. He faced a choice: live or pay the debt.

Determined to do meaningful work, Morris founded myLocal Cooperative. Its HERO Rewards program and Merit social purpose currency are helping communities build real wealth and sustainability.

Judy Wicks (Good Morning, Beautiful Business) radically redefined growth when she founded the White Dog Café in Philadelphia. “How is my business going to affect my community, customers, staff and nature,” she asked. “We can grow by raising consciousness … increasing our knowledge … deepening our relationships … being healthier, increasing our well-being, having more fun.”

From heedless growth to inner growth

The Fed shifted emphasis towards capital (finance and banking) and away from labor (working people) in the 1980s, says national journalist William Greider (Come Home, America). Regulation and policy changes propelled corporations to focus on one goal: maximize profits. A robust economy, Greider explains, allows wages to rise and spread prosperity broadly.

A democratic, “trickle up” economy powered by people is emerging, scholars say. To participate, we must ask: What do I care about? What kind of work do I want to do? How do I spend, save and use money?

Thousands of global, local and regional currency systems are being developed. They are designed to work alongside national money, bringing diversity to our “monetary ecology.”

Society speaks

Humanity is coming of age in today’s economic crises, says Eisenstein. “What we’ve done is we’ve created scarcity. The money system creates artificial scarcity where there need be none. For example, there’s nothing more abundant on Earth than water,” he notes. Many factors, including its association with money, have contributed to making water scarce.

Scarcity leads to hoarding. “It’s an addiction,” says John Perkins (Confessions of an Economic Hitman). Sociology professor Juliet Schor (Plenitude) sees the Occupy Movement as a “long awaited response to a period of financial shenanigans. Financial malfeasance and criminal activity captured government, and crashed our economy.”

David Korten

Walking her talk

Money and Life is a thoughtful, comprehensive film that exposes the myth of lack. Everyone who wants to transform their relationship with money and life should see it. Animation and archival footage infuse this serious subject with light-heartedness.

Trained in depth and developmental psychology, Teague left her counseling practice to make this film. She felt driven to create, to move “from division to rediscovering the undivided,” she told GAIAFIELD Radio.

Embarking on a “divine scavenger hunt beyond trust,” she had no background in finance. “Receive what is given,” was her guidance. Teague trusts that Money and Life “will find the eyes and ears that are waiting for it.”

To learn more and to get involved, visit their website.  ★★★★★

If you like Money and Life, you might enjoy:  Living Without Money; The Money Fix.

Filed Under: Activism, Community, Compassion, Current Affairs, Documentary, Featured Self-Discovery, New Economy, Transformation, True Stories Tagged With: , ,

Marie-Rose Phan-le: Talking Story director bridges ancient and modern healing

March 20, 2013 By

Marie-Rose Phan-le

Director Marie-Rose Phan-le is determined to preserve the world’s healing and spiritual traditions. In Talking Story, she meets traditional healers and documents their practices. Journeying through the ancient cultures of Hawaii, Peru, Nepal, Vietnam, India and China, the filmmaker discovers her own calling to heal.

How has your life changed since you made Talking Story?

It’s been a promise fulfilled and a dream realized to have finished this film.  It took me 11 years to complete, so there were definitely moments when I questioned my motivations, my calling to do this project, and whether or not I was the appropriate steward for the stories, spiritual wisdom, and healing transmissions I was given and entrusted with.  Being able to share these gifts with others has been overwhelmingly powerful and joyful.  And, I’ve seen the benefit or the efficiency of sharing from the one-to-many (sharing the film and doing Q&A afterward to groups) vs just the one-to-one paradigm of working with single clients.

 

How do you combine ancient and modern traditions in your healing practice today?

I see my role as a bridge person, so being able to show people how to apply ancient wisdom to their day-to-day lives is a challenge I embrace.  I may give someone a ritual I’ve been taught and at the same time advise them to see a surgeon.  I may perform a clearing ceremony and at the same time suggest that the person refrain from using their credit card so much.  I think we have to be able to have reverence for the mystical, while at the same time, be able to manage the mundane.  A friend of mine said it best, “Forget spiritual…let’s start with functional.” 

In one scene in Talking Story, you are “possessed” by an Oracle. Has this happened to you since?

Ooh, spoiler alert!!! It has happened a few times, but I did make a request of my Guides to make it so there is more of a seamless experience.  I don’t like just handing over the keys to my car, but I’m glad to give rides to those who are of the highest consciousness. 

 

Please tell us about the latest from your non-profit, the Healing Planet Project.

TALKING STORY is our pilot project, but we hope to sponsor other media projects that promote the preservation and celebration of the Art of Healing.  We are currently looking for support to screen TALKING STORY in as many different places as possible and to help us to develop a TV series or Web Series. The most important thing we want to emphasize is that the preservation of the world’s healing practices and spiritual traditions is not because we want to be nice guys and help those cultures over there, but rather because these are all part of our collective pharmacopeia and we should all be concerned with what is available or what is disappearing from our medicine cabinet.

 

What can you share with us about your new book?

The book is in progress and can be an accompaniment to the film or can stand alone.  Writing the book allows me to delve deeper into my experiences and I have the luxury of being able to comment in hindsight, whereas the film is a snapshot of a certain time in my life.

Congratulations and thank you again! Thank you for supporting our film and including us in your Moviespirit.org community.

To sponsor a screening of Talking Story, contact the director. Read the Moviespirit review.

Filed Under: Interviews: Directors, Native & Life Wisdom, Transformation, True Stories, Women Tagged With: , , , ,

Connected: Tiffany Shlain explores love, death and technology

March 9, 2013 By

Paladin

Love and technology can help us solve world problems in Connected. With intellect, wit and a daughter’s heart, director Tiffany Shlain asks: Is it time to declare our interdependence?

Shlain develops the ideas of her late father, Dr. Leonard Shlain. Following its Sundance premiere, Connected is now widely available.

“Everything is so intertwined”

Shlain and her team created this bold, lively film as her father battled cancer. Becoming a mother, she worried about the world her daughters will inherit.

Art director Stefan Nadelman’s archival and contemporary footage meet music, animation and narration. The effect is fresh, striking and profound.

An intense dance of images and ideas, Connected conjures deep awareness. Thought-provoking and vivid, it imbues visual memoir with what Buddhists call Metta, loving kindness. Hearing Shlain’s story, we’re encouraged to create new stories both personal and collective.

Leonard Shlain once visited Tiffany’s third grade class. Amidst squeals, he displayed a real human brain. “The left brain breaks things down and creates order,” he explained. “The right brain recognizes patterns and processes emotions.” Afterwards, he took them out for ice cream.

“Iconic revolution” balances left, right brains

The advent of literacy overstimulated our left brains, Leonard Shlain wrote in The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. In turn, patriarchal systems have flourished. “Progress” has caused pollution, economic inequality and lack of affordable healthcare.

Before he died, Dr. Shlain saw an “iconic revolution” in the proliferation of visual media. Our right hemispheres are being reactivated. Women will assume stronger roles in a more egalitarian and just world, he believed.

Stefan Nadelman / Paladin

Think interdependently, connect deeply

Shlain urges us to see the big picture in a world where problems are often studied in isolation. On the Internet, we use both sides of our brains. Every click, search, tweet and text prompts the release of oxytocin, a hormone that creates empathy, trust and cooperation.

“The important thing becomes how we focus to prioritize our attention,” Shlain notes. This means connecting mindfully, living life fully, and knowing when to spend time away from technology.

Participation goes global

“We’re at the beginning of a participatory revolution,” she asserts. Connected is a groundbreaking film that sees humanity’s problems in perspective and points a way forward.

Shlain also directs the Let it Ripple film series. She founded The Webby Awards to honor excellence on the Internet.  (★★★★★)

To learn more and to take part, please visit Connected; GoodGuide; B Corporations; Center for Ecoliteracy; 11th Hour Project and CommonSense Media.

If you like Connected, you might enjoy:  Growthbusters; The Economics of Happiness; Queen of the Sun.

 

Connected   2011  /  PG  /    1 hour,  20 min

Cast Overview:   Peter Coyote, Tiffany Shlain, Ken Goldberg, Leonard Shlain

Director:  Tiffany Shlain

Genre:  Documentary

 

Filed Under: Community, Compassion, Current Affairs, Documentary, Featured Self-Discovery, Learn & Grow, Transformation Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Silver Linings Playbook: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper redefine “normal”

January 20, 2013 By

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper cope with mental and emotional illness in Silver Linings Playbook. David O. Russell’s off-kilter, romantic dramedy beautifully captures their struggle and growth.

Tiffany (Best Actress Lawrence) is a young widow battling anxiety and depression. Pat (Cooper) is a bipolar former teacher with a failed marriage. He moves in with his parents after his release from a mental hospital.

Excelsior!

Negativity is Pat’s nemesis. He yearns for happy endings. Excelsior, the Latin word for “ever upward,” becomes his mantra. Cooper’s engaging character swings from glee to angst to mania. Pat fills his notebook with strategies to cope and succeed.

Lawrence is outspoken as the vulnerable Tiffany. Her life seems to be a mess. Dancing in the converted garage/studio where she lives, she’s free to be herself.

Both Pat and Tiffany are determined to find happiness. You might say they have “poor social skills.” With refreshing honesty and open hearts, they are deeply moving.

Winning is relative

Tiffany enlists Pat as her dance partner in a competition which they have no chance of winning. Lawrence embodies Tiffany’s love of dance and self-expression with spunky grace. Physical exercise helps many to manage anxiety and depression. Pat learns discipline and focus during their rehearsals.

Cheering them on are Pat’s dad (Robert De Niro), an obsessive compulsive gambler seeking a football buddy, and his salt-of-the-earth mom (Jacki Weaver). Pat’s middle-of-the-night rants test the Solitanos’ patience.

Chris Tucker stands out as Danny, Pat’s offbeat friend from the hospital. Anupam Kher plays the understanding Dr. Patel.

Screenplay sizzles

Russell’s outstanding screenplay is based on Matthew Quick’s novel Silver Linings Playbook. I wanted to stand up and cheer when Tiffany tells her “perfect” sister Veronica (Julia Stiles): “You love it when I have problems. Then you can be the good one!” John Ortiz plays Pat’s friend Ronnie, Veronica’s husband.

De Niro brings it as Mr. Solitano breaks down, confessing that he just wants to spend more time with his troubled son. Father and son learn to become more caring, loving men.

We’re all in this together

Tiffany finds peace by loving and forgiving herself, even her “crazy, sad shit.” She must accept that Pat may or may not be ready to fall in love again.

If Pat can forgive and let go of ex-wife Nikki (Brea Bee), the object of his obsession, he’ll be able to receive much more in life. He learns to embrace joy and pain.

Silver Linings Playbook beautifully captures the personal challenges of mental and emotional illness. The characters learn that “we’re all in this together” as they complement each others’ strengths and weaknesses.

Healing means living from the heart where there are no stereotypes. Pat and Tiffany learn to accept themselves and live authentically.

Silver Linings Playbook / Take Action

You can learn more and take action to support healing, gratitude, love, mental/emotional health and awakening via these resources:  Bernie Siegel, M.D.; Deepak Chopra, M.D.; Dr. Wayne W. Dyer; Project Forgive; The Cure Is; OWNTV Super Soul Sunday; CoreLight.

If you like Silver Linings Playbook, you might enjoy:  Winter’s Bone; X-Men: First Class; Limitless; The Cure Is.

 

Silver Linings Playbook   2012  /  R /  2 hours

Cast Overview: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Brea Bee, Anupam Kher, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham, Julia Stiles

Director:  David O. Russell

Genre:  Romantic Dramedy

 

 

Filed Under: Awaken, Character, Community, Compassion, Current Affairs, Forgiveness, Heal, Top Films, Transformation Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Chasing Ice: climate change recorded in Balog’s Extreme Ice Survey

January 12, 2013 By

“The story is in the ice.” Chasing Ice documents James Balog’s Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) with haunting images of day-to-day climate change in glacial regions. Jeff Orlowski is director and cinematographer.

Chasing Ice takes you to Greenland, Iceland, Switzerland and Alaska. Balog’s time-lapse photos are combined with beautiful footage, music and scientific observations. Balog rappels down sheer ice cliffs and wades barefoot on icy shores, determined to capture what’s happening.

A nature photographer and geologist, he speaks to audiences worldwide. Balog himself was a climate change skeptic 30 years ago.

Cameras don’t lie

You’ll see a glacial chunk the size of lower Manhattan break off. Crashing into the ocean, it turns bottom side up. This “calving” is a natural process. The problem is that glaciers are thinning and receding too. Climate change is causing extreme weather worldwide, scientists agree.

The cameras don’t lie. “I never imagined that you could see glaciers this big disappearing in such a short time,” Balog worries.

Climate change in action

Ice is “sculptural, architectural, insanely, ridiculously beautiful,” Balog says. It’s a simple, moving metaphor that can reach almost everyone, he believes. “We have a problem of perception,” he adds. “Time is running out.”

Balog and his assistants set up camera posts. Returning each year, they are struck by rapid change. Equipment malfunctions. Balog stands weeping near a broken camera. He wants to preserve history. Most of all, he wants to show his own daughters that he did something during this crisis.

Our lives depend on nature

Balog’s knee problems finally make it impossible to hike in some locations. Videographers carry out the most difficult treks.

“You can’t divorce civilization from nature,” Balog says. “We totally depend on it.” Chasing Ice won the Audience Award at SXSW 2012, and a Sundance Award for Excellence in Cinematography.

Chasing Ice: Take Action

To learn more and take action on climate change, visit Chasing Ice;  350.org (@350 on Twitter) and the Sierra Club’s Climate Comes Home page.

If you like Chasing Ice, you might enjoy:  The Cove; WHY in the World Are They Spraying?

 

Chasing Ice   2013  / PG-13  /  1 hour, 15 min

Cast Overview:  James Balog, Jeff Orlowski, Tad Pfeffer, Louie Psihoyos, Svavar Jonatansson, Adam LeWinter, Jason Box

Director:  Jeff Orlowski

Genre:  Documentary

Filed Under: Activism, Awaken, Current Affairs, Documentary, Environment, Featured Self-Discovery, Transformation, True Stories Tagged With: , , , ,

Promised Land: devil’s bargain troubles fracking exec

January 7, 2013 By

Promised Land shows the human side of fracking for rural residents and corporate reps offering a devil’s bargain. Gus Van Sant directs this poignant drama about personal struggle and true abundance.

Fracking is a process of hydraulic fracturing in shale deposits. Toxic chemicals are injected into the earth in order to extract natural gas.

Fracking has devastating human and environmental impacts, as eloquently shown in Josh Fox’s documentary Gasland. Reports of poisoned water supplies, and livestock illness and deaths associated with fracking are not covered by the U.S. mainstream media.

“I’m not a bad guy”

Promised Land shows the inner struggles of Global sales exec Steve Butler (Matt Damon) and co-worker Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand). Soliciting new drilling sites is “just a job” for Sue, a worried mom who travels frequently. She connects with her son via Skype.

Steve is haunted by childhood memories of poverty. He promotes fracking as a miracle for struggling agricultural areas. “We’ve been fracking for 50 years,” he assures the dairy farmers of McKinley in western Pennsylvania.

Steve and Sue dress like the locals. Promising a better life for their children, they guarantee unlikely millions, provided the farmers sign a contract. Splashing cold water on his face in several scenes, Steve is beginning to wake up.

Plot twist opens your eyes

Steve can’t look down on rural folk any longer when he realizes he is them. Their goodness restores his spirit. Fracking would turn idyllic, rolling fields into scorched earth.

Hal Holbrook is stellar as Frank Yates, a high school science teacher old enough to recognize that community is real wealth. “Where would we go?” he asks Steve.

John Krasinski fascinates as Dustin Noble, a smug, charismatic environmentalist. Krasinski and Damon wrote the screenplay. Promised Land’s plot twist shows just how far Big Energy goes for short-term profit. Tragically for all of us, Big Gas, Coal and Oil avoid meaningful investment in free and renewable energy technologies that can stop environmental destruction.

Good neighbors act

Residents welcome the visitors with genuine warmth. General store owner Rob (Titus Welliver) helps Steve and Sue set up a county fair, even though he opposes fracking. Alice (Rosemarie DeWitt) is a teacher who returned to McKinley to save her family farm.

Damon and DeWitt achieve a sweet chemistry. Van Sant elicits excellent performances throughout. Cinematographer Linus Sandren enriches the film with aerial and panoramic shots.

Promised Land / Take Action

Information and ways to take action on fracking and sustainable energy alternatives can be found at TEDX.org; Gaslandthemovie.com; NoFrackOhio.com;  foodandwaterwatch.org; saferchemicals.org; Earth Justice; Thrive Movement – Advocate for Renewable and “Free” Energy.

On Twitter, check out @FrackAction, @billmckibben, @aafracking, @thrivemovement, @gaslandmovie, @Occupy_Pipeline, @ICFrackOff and @OccupyLoveFilm.

If you like Promised Land, you might enjoy:  The Last Mountain.

 

Promised Land   2013  /  R /  1 hour, 46 min

Cast Overview: Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand, Rosemarie DeWitt, Scoot McNairy, Titus Welliver, Hal Holbrook

Director:  Gus Van Sant

Genre:  Drama

Filed Under: Awaken, Change of heart, Community, Current Affairs, Nature and Science, Transformation Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

9:11: Press for Truth: Jersey Girls ask tough questions

December 29, 2012 By

Questions persist in 9/11: Press for Truth, a disturbing and thoroughly researched inquiry into the tragedy. Ray Nowosielski directs. You can watch the film at WanttoKnow.info, and purchase the DVD.

While the major media failed to investigate the causes of the September 11 attacks, four 9/11 widows (dubbed “The Jersey Girls”) and other survivors sought the truth. Patty Casazza, Mindy Kleinberg, Lorie Van Auken and Kristen Breitweiser are interviewed.

Major scandal ignored

“This is a scandal of tremendous proportions,” says Paul Thompson, author of The Terror Timeline who created the Complete 9/11 Timeline. “There’s a strange lack of interest of people both on the Left and on the Right. Nobody seems to want to uncover the truth and just follow leads,” he adds.

“Yes they lied. They all lied,” asserts Casazza, who lost her husband John that day. Their families wanted the widows to grieve quietly. Still they persisted. “Part of our healing process is finding out what happened,” she adds.

Independent Commission hampered

The Jersey Girls prevailed when the Bush administration established a 9/11 Independent Commission. The White House undermined the commission’s work by allowing only two members access to relevant materials. “It’s a scam. It’s absolutely disgusting,” said commission member Max Clelland. “This is important.”

Why did U.S. military defenses fail to stop any of the hijacked airplanes? (“That’s almost two hours where planes are flying around the skies of the United States with no military response,” Van Auken observes).

Why did President George Bush and his security detail delay their response? Why were no detainees ever charged with any terrorist act? Why did the steel structures of the World Trade Center crumble in seconds? Why did World Trade Center Building 7 collapse hours later? It had not been struck by any airplane.

A “failure of imagination”

Archival footage shows conflicting statements from President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice.

Why did the White House say it had “no warning” of terrorist attacks, and later claim that the threats were “not specific”? (In the Presidential Daily Briefing of August 6, 2001, Bush received a document entitled, “Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US”). Other warnings were received from Great Britain and other countries. Why did the government fail to act?

Only about 30% of the Family Steering Committee’s questions were answered in the 9/11 Independent Commission’s published findings. The commission blamed a “failure of imagination” for the attacks.

False flag operation?

Thompson asks whether al Qaeda was used as a tool by the U.S. government. Public information shows that the U.S. allowed Osama Bin Laden, his family members and al Qaeda leadership to escape from Afghanistan into Pakistan. Thompson’s research suggests that Mohammad Atta received funds from a paymaster with ties to Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence.

False flag operations are “covert military or paramilitary operations designed to deceive in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities,” according to Wikipedia. The film never uses this term, but asserts that the government knew of terrorist threats prior to 9/11 and failed to act on them.

Tough questions unasked, unanswered

Former ABC News producer and writer Rebecca Abrahams asserts that news reporting was compromised after 9/11. Corporate personnel made editorial decisions and did not air certain stories, she reveals. Former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather says that reporters did not want to be called unpatriotic. “It’s that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions.”

9/11: Press for Truth is the most objective and watchable 9/11 documentary that I have seen. A detailed, technical film called 9/11 Explosive Evidence features Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth. Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 connects 9/11 with government deception and warmaking. It is cinematically beautiful and shocking.

At www.wanttoknow.info you can find a comprehensive 9/11 Information Center. 911TruthNews.com reports that Van Auken and Breitweiser continue as social activists.

If you like 9/11: Press for Truth, you might enjoy:  Ethos; Thrive.

 

 9/11: Press for Truth  /   2006  /  NR  /  1 hour, 24 min

Cast Overview:  Kristen Breitweiser, Patty Casazza, Monica Gabrielle, Mindy Kleinberg, Bob McIlvaine, Michael Pritchard (Narrator), Sally Regenhard, Paul Thompson, Lorie Van Auken

Director:  Ray Nowosielski

Genres:  Documentary

 

Filed Under: Activism, Character, Community, Current Affairs, Documentary, Learn & Grow, Transformation, True Stories Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Life of Pi: Ang Lee directs life and death adventure drama

December 15, 2012 By

A teen faces life and death floating on remote waters with a Bengal tiger. Life of Pi is Ang Lee’s masterpiece about the dark night of the soul and remembering who we are. The dramatic adventure is based on Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi.

Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) loses everything after a horrific shipwreck in the Pacific Ocean. He and his family were traveling from India to Canada with their zoo animals.

Unable to save them, Pi escapes. Soon he discovers that hyenas, orangutans and a zebra have boarded the life boat. Finally, the majestic tiger Richard Parker appears.

Reflecting on his past

“The Gods were my superheroes growing up,” Pi recalls. As his family converts to Christianity, he remains close to Hindu, Christian and Muslim gods. He loves Rama, Vishnu, Hanuman, Christ and Allah. Nonsense, his father scolds. Pi must choose only one God.

The boy also loves animals. He is drawn to the cage of Richard Parker. “Animals have souls,” he tells his alarmed father. “I have seen it in their eyes.”

Surviving hell and heaven

Sharma’s performance is genuinely thrilling as Pi scrambles to survive daily. He keeps a journal. He learns how to co-exist with the hungry tiger. When they grow gaunt and desperate, Pi shouts at the God who has forgotten them.

Miracles occur. They are besieged by a school of flying fish that provides food. Pi discovers an island. After a brief stay, they must flee from new dangers.

Best drama of the year

The depth and realism of these 3D scenes make the tale irresistible. Hundreds of artists created the special effects. Although the script falls flat in the prologue and epilogue, Life of Pi is a feast for the eyes and soul.

Among many exquisite images are the sinking freighter; a humpback whale leaping high over the tiny boat; and phosphorescent jellyfish illumining the deep blue ocean. A real tiger appears in some shots. Artists’ renditions of Richard Parker bring him to life. The wild, voracious animal shares an uneasy truce with Pi.

Acting, cinematography are a hit

Sharma gives a can’t-look-away performance as Pi confronts his own shadow. The stellar supporting cast includes Irrfan Khan as the adult Pi; Adil Hussain and Tabu as his parents, and Gérard Depardieu as a rowdy cook. Cinematographer Claudio Miranda films gorgeous scenes in Pondicherry, India; Canada and Taiwan. Composer Mychael Danna’s score is graceful and exotic.

Pi follows his dharma (duty) by leaving India with his family. He develops the courage and strength of Hanuman. Like Rama, he survives harsh tests and is rewarded. Like Christ and Allah, he remembers who he is. Even in pain and loss, Pi deepens his love and reverence for all beings.

“Faith is a house with many rooms,” the hero observes.

If you like Life of Pi, you might enjoy: The Tree of Life; Cast Away.

 

Life of Pi  /   2012  /  PG  /  2 hours, 6 min

Cast Overview:  Suraj Sharma, Ayush Tandon, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Adil Hussain, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu

Director: Ang Lee

Genres:  Adventure, Drama

Filed Under: Awaken, Character, Heal, Inspiration, Learn & Grow, Spirituality, Top Films, Transformation Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 25 Films: Countdown to 2012 and Beyond

December 7, 2012 By

Moviespirit presents the Top 25 Films: Countdown to 2012 and Beyond. Historic, worldwide shifts are here.

Upheaval, promise, scholarly vision and compassion shine in these outstanding films. They provide a wealth of ideas, knowledge and inspiration to help you make sense of massive world changes.

 

Occupy Love  ~~~  Watch now.  Read more.

A sacred world works for everybody. Find out how the Gift Economy is replacing the Money Economy in Occupy Love, the documentary and inter-media project of filmmaker Velcrow Ripper. “Everybody wants to live a life of meaning,” says Charles Eisenstein. “Only joint creativity and gifts create intimacy and connection.”

Great wealth can’t replace community. In a love-based economy, more for you is more for me. Naomi Klein, Judy Rebick, Bill McKibben and other prominent figures speak. Yet this beautiful and dynamic film centers on the people. Love is the movement. Each one of us is a gift.

Occupy Love is Moviespirit’s Top Film of 2012.

 

Thrive ~~~ Watch now.   Read more.

Everyone can thrive if we take part in personal, social and global change. Following the money, Foster Gamble and Kimberly Carter Gamble analyze the causes of world scarcity and suffering. Steve Gagne directs. For every elite banker in the U.S. there are a million citizens, says Gamble.

Impressively researched and organized, the film’s model for change  integrates progressive, conservative and libertarian ideas. Reform of current systems, enhancement of individual rights, and voluntary cooperation are key. Technologies for free, unlimited, clean energy already exist. “Goodbye Exxon Mobil, goodbye oil, goodbye coal,” says Steven Greer of The Disclosure Project. Check out the Thrive Movement for a wealth of resources and ways to get involved.

 

Dalai Lama Renaissance ~~~ Watch.   Read more.

World leaders and activists meet with His Holiness the 14thDalai Lama to tackle world problems like poverty and resource depletion. Khashyar Darvich directs.

Egos clash and divisions arise as the group seeks “a new and higher level of truth.” When the Dalai Lama leads the group in a one-minute meditation, each one experiences being compassion.

As they reconcile, genuine personal transformations are captured on film. Among the luminaries are quantum physicists Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami (What the Bleep Do We Know); Dr. Michael Beckwith (The Secret); national radio host Thom Hartmann; conscious evolution author Barbara Marx Hubbard; revolutionary social scientist Jean Houston; and author and environmental activist Vandana Shiva (The Corporation).

 

The Road to Q’ero: A Journey Home ~~~ Watch now - Password: qeroayni13

Read more.

Honoring the Earth can save humanity. A gentle message of fierce love, this documentary is directed by Iva Peele, Jack Peele and Beth Bornstein Dunnington.

A small group of family and friends climbs the Andes to reach Q’ero with their guide, shaman Lorenzo Ccapa Apaza. They participate in never-before filmed rituals, or karpays. The karpays release “heavy energies” and increase understanding. They later discover that don Lorenzo is initiating them to share this knowledge with the West. An era of new consciousness, or pachacuti, can begin if humans are willing to create it.

In a sustainable, just and peaceful world, the Eagle (science, industry and “male” energies) will live in harmony with the Condor (the heart, intuition and “female” energies). Economist, shaman and author John Perkins explains that every indigenous culture is predicting this era of potentially “extreme, radical, beautiful change.”

 

2012: The Odyssey ~~~ Watch.   Read more.

Sharron Rose travels across America to ask scholars and visionaries about humanity’s 2012 evolutionary turning point. “People are truly ready for a change, for an end to the suffering,” Gregg Braden notes. As we make “life-affirming or life-denying choices, we’ll either experience the rapture or the ascension.” We can align with these new energies “by living lives consciously with intent, by being kind to one another, by acts of kindness.”

Braden does not believe we will experience the “apocalypse” that some predict. Rose investigates mystical signs and wonders, visiting an indigo child and touring the Georgia Guidestones. Jose Arguelles, Alberto Villoldo, Jay Weidner and others share insights.

 

Timewave 2013: The Future is Now ~~~ Watch.   Read more.

We can master time in a world without limits in part two of Sharron Rose’s documentary 2012: The Odyssey. The director visits the Q’ero, shamans and healers descended from the ancient Incans. Living in the present moment, the Q’ero do not own televisions, computers or cell phones. With clear perception, they are able to see past and present. Shamans Don Umberto Sonco and Dona Bernadina Sonco perform a Despacho ceremony to release negativity and change the future.

Disasters will affect many areas of the world, says Don Umberto. “We must make our prayers to the feminine, to the Mother. We must come back to the ways of the feminine, of stewardship, of protection. The United States has a great power, it has great brilliance, great resources. It is up to the United States to take leadership in the world.”

Rose interviews Alberto Villoldo, Jean Houston, John Major Jenkins and others.

2012: Time for Change ~~~ Watch.   Read more.

Daniel Pinchbeck sees an empowered “global tribe” replacing poor, suffering masses. The founder of the Evolver social movement and editorial director of Reality Sandwich interviews scholars and leaders around the world.  Joao Amorim directs.

“It’s going to be up to individuals and then communities to make a profound shift,” Pinchbeck explains.  Animation describes spiritual practices, sacred activism and new technologies. Learn  about functional design, habitat restoration, ecological detoxification, intentional community, aquaponic agriculture, open source currency and diverse currency tools. Hot button issues like water and soil scarcity are detailed. This film is based on his book 2012: The Return to Quetzalcoatl.

 

2012 The Mayan Word ~~~ Watch now.   Read more.

Contemporary Mayans speak out about their lives and the Mayan 2012 prophecies.  Melissa Gunasena directs. The documentary raises awareness about contemporary Mayan economic and political struggles. They speak out in activist marches and sacred ceremonies.

“Neoliberalism wants us to disappear,” says Silvia Cime Mex of the Chichen Itza Artisan Collective, Mexico. “They want our culture to remain, but without us.” Activism becomes an outgrowth of love for Mother Earth. Cosmic vision, spirituality and politics are all necessary to prepare for the changes of 2012.

“The Mayans didn’t speak about the end of the world. They spoke about the end of a cycle,” says Efrain of the Collective. “What’s most important is the moment where we can make a change in the human system, in the mind and in the heart.”

3 Magic Words ~~~ Watch now.   Read more.

It’s time to wake up to our divinity in this enlightening film featuring authors, artists, scientists, philosophers and children. Michael Perlin directs.

The illusion that we’re separate has prompted great destruction, says Neale Donald Walsch, author of Conversations With God. “That single shift of perception – separate or all one – changes everything. It changes our beliefs, which alters our behaviors, which creates an extraordinary new reality.”

We are all one, according to modern physics. “By harming nature, by harming the planet and the ecosystem, we’re harming ourselves,” says Dolores Canon, author, publisher and past life therapist. The fastest way to undo separation is to “see others as being Divine and whole and perfect,” according to Gary Renard, author of The Disappearance of the Universe and speaker on A Course in Miracles. 

 

Hungry for Change ~~~ Watch now.   Read more.

Our health is directly related to our diet and lifestyle. Love and plant nutrition send your body the right signals for safe, effective weight loss. James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch direct this bold sequel to Food Matters.

The nutritionists-turned-filmmakers interview doctors, nutritionists and authors who have reversed cancer, obesity and more. Find out why diets don’t work. Learn how food additives are engineered for addiction.

“The best strategy we’ve got is, add in the good stuff,” says nutritionist and raw foods expert David Wolfe. “Inevitably, you’re going to feel so much better eating the good stuff that the choice for the bad stuff is no longer valid.” “If we had a rampant epidemic of self-love then our health care costs would go down dramatically,” says Dr. Christiane Northrup, author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom.

 

The Cure Is ~~~  Read more.

Beliefs and lifestyles – not genetics – boost our health. Top doctors, authors and people who beat terminal disease are featured. David Scharps directs.

The Cure Is melds science and spirituality in a clear, accessible way. The speakers are excellent.

“When you love your life and body, miraculous things happen,” says author Dr. Bernie Siegel. Probably less than 5 percent of disease is genetic, says Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., cell biologist and author. We have the power to change how we live and think. Dr. Joel Fuhrman, author of the bestseller Eat to Live tells why natural plant foods boost health.

Dakota 38 ~~~ Watch now.   Read more.

Representatives of the Dakota ride their horses each December from Crow Creek, SD to Mankato, MN. The 330 mile journey commemorates the hanging of 38 ancestors in Mankato in 1862. It was the largest mass execution ever recorded in U.S. history. Silas Hagerty directs this tale of reconciliation.

Peace and harmony begin within. Dakota 38 documents the 2008 ride. When Europeans settled in what is now the United States, they forced millions of indigenous people onto reservations. Mutual violence erupted. The riders experience visions and ancient memories.

“I love you very much,” says Jim Miller, spiritual leader and Vietnam veteran. “We can’t blame the wasichus [white men] anymore. We’re doing it to ourselves. We’re selling drugs. We’re killing our own people. That’s what this ride is about, is healing.”

 

Genetic Roulette ~~~ Watch now.   Read more.

Americans have been eating genetically modified (GM) food since 1996, risking their health in a giant human experiment. Jeffrey Smith directs this clear, compelling case about GM food dangers. Scientists, doctors, activists and parents speak out.

Genetic engineering transfers genes between species. This creates DNA mutations which “can produce new allergens, toxins and carcinogens.” Find out which nine U.S. foods are genetically engineered. Learn why eating organic, whole foods is best for your health and the health of the planet.

Inflammation triggered by inserted genes may promote digestive disorders, allergies, kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune and thyroid disease. There have been no long-term, controlled human studies on how GM foods affect health. Smith is executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology.

 

WHY in the World Are They Spraying? ~~~ Watch now.   Read more.

Geoengineering controls the weather as jets spray heavy metals across our skies. Government and private investors pay for it. It’s been happening since the mid-1970s. Michael J. Murphy’s important documentary reveals the links between geoengineering and disease, crop failure, weather extremes and global warming.

Former government experts, a meteorologist, scholars and geoengineers reveal what’s going on. Murphy takes you behind the scenes at scientific conferences. Controlling the weather “enables certain individuals to consolidate an enormous amount of both monetary and political power,” Murphy warns.

“If you control the weather, you’re going to control the planet. It’s that simple,” says meteorologist Scott Stevens.

Growthbusters ~~~ Watch.  Read more.

Dave Gardner is a GrowthBuster. His mission is to warn us that our growth addiction is dangerous. Reckless growth is liquidating the Earth’s resources, stealing from future generations, and enslaving us. This jaunty, thoughtful film will challenge your views.

“We no longer find ourselves growing happier as our economy grows, or even as our individual prosperity grows,” explains Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org and author of Deep Economy and the End of Nature.

Growth can mean leading a satisfying, creative life. Farmers’ markets, co-ops and local businesses are thriving. Job sharing can raise our standard of living. Wise population planning is urgently needed. A post-growth world will honor family, friends, community, volunteering and lifelong education.

 

Ethos  ~~~ Watch.   Read more.

We don’t live in a true democracy, says this study of elite power and public manipulation in America. Ethos is dedicated to progressive historian Howard Zinn. Pete McGain directs.

Real power resides in the hands of a wealthy few, says Noam Chomsky, M.I.T. professor and author. Many live paycheck to paycheck while elite bankers make billions. The Federal Reserve, which controls our money supply, is owned by a private banking cartel.

Find out how the U.S. media has been compromised by an “Iron Triangle” of big business, political and military interests. Discover how basic American freedoms have been compromised since 9/11. Woody Harrelson hosts.

 

The Forgotten Bomb ~~~ Watch.   Read more.

Isn’t it time we had a peace culture? Stuart Overbey and Bud Ryan direct this bold call for nuclear sanity. Ryan shares his 20-year quest to raise awareness.

Facts about leaking plutonium, broken arrows and nuclear weapons accidents are revealed. The U.S. has spent over $7 trillion on nuclear weapons defense. Thousands of U.S. and Russian weapons remain on alert, years after the Cold War. There were 23,000 nuclear weapons in nine nations when this film was made. Only one nation, South Africa, has dismantled all of its nuclear weapons.

Mutually assured destruction (MAD) is alive and well. “It’s a very unstable situation. I think it’s outrageous that it still exists. It’s senseless,” says former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Schultz. We must pay attention to this proliferation.

Samsara ~~~ Watch now. Read more.

Samsara could be exactly how God sees the world. Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson direct this visually stunning sequel to their film Baraka. Landscapes, individuals and cultures are photographed on 70mm film. Startling, awe-inspiring and disturbing images are set to evocative music. No words are spoken. Samsara sweeps across 25 countries.

The film presents all humanity as a whole. It revels in our intrinsic worth and highest aspirations. It exposes our cruelty and ignorance. The word “samsara” means “continuous flow,” and refers to the cycle of death and rebirth in Eastern philosophies.  ”Baraka” can mean “a blessing from God” such as spiritual wisdom or divine presence.

 

The Collective Evolution ~~~ Watch now.

We are here to play, learn and grow. We are beautiful souls empowered to create and evolve. This film from the Collective Evolution team boldly asserts the basics of human nature, experience and transformation. Five social structures ripe for change are examined: finance, education, religion, entertainment/ media, and health/ food.  Filled with ideas and hope, The Collective Evolution says that we can and must bring about world change together, connected through love.

 

The Collective Evolution II: The Human Experience ~~~ Watch now.  Read more.

True peace in a world without limits is unfolding, says Franco diNicola, a member of the Collective Evolution team. This documentary about our evolution into enlightenment is filled with narration, interviews and beautiful visuals. The world is now shifting into an economy of sharing rather than ownership. We experience and choose collectively. As one of us becomes more conscious, we all do. Who are we? Why are we here? Get ready to look behind the curtain.

 

The Money Fix ~~~ Watch now.   Read more.

Money is a scam. It’s credit, numbers on a screen, an agreement, an idea. Economic scholars dissect the money system. Alan Rosenblith directs.

Local currencies will help us stop worrying and allowing money to rule our lives. Congress gave The Federal Reserve a monopoly over issuing the national money supply in 1913. The Federal Reserve is neither federal nor a reserve. It’s a private, profit-making corporation.

Our money beliefs have been influenced by “50 years of very intense propaganda, indoctrination,” says activist MIT professor Noam Chomsky. We believe that there’s not enough to go around, and some people will always be left out, says Lynne Twist, author of The Soul of Money. The money system artificially creates scarcity, says author Riane Eisler.

This Sacred Earth: The 2012 Phenomenon ~~~ Watch.  Read more.

Live with intention and reverence. Embrace change. The new Golden Age will make our world seem like Neanderthal times. Mind-to-mind, heart-to-heart communication and synchronicity will reign, notes Alberto Villoldo. “What we focus on expands,” according to Billie Dean, shaman, author and co-director of this film.

Living simply means living with less. Grow a garden and share with others, suggests Australian author and “white witch” Lucy Cavendish. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to fall back in love with this planet, our home, to fall back in love with each other,” she adds. Shamans and scholars share their wisdom, demonstrating how to live in harmony with the Earth and others.

 

Economics of Happiness ~~~ Watch.   Read more.

Go local to solve environmental, economic and human problems. Filmmaker Helena Norberg-Hodge impeccably documents how globalization wastes resources, destroys livelihoods and accelerates climate change.

Globalization promotes insecurity and unhappiness. This isn’t “progress.” Governments must re-evaluate what they regulate, tax and subsidize. Wasteful and inefficient practices, government hand-outs to big business, and false accounting must end.

Brilliant solutions are examined. For example, the Genuine Progress Index (GPI) measures human, community and natural wealth in addition to produced, material wealth. Leaders and thinkers from around the world speak out.

 

An Inconvenient Truth ~~~ Watch now.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Vice President Al Gore’s classic documentary aims to educate citizens about global warming with his comprehensive slide show. Gore reveals his love for the Earth as he urges everyone to live sustainably. The film won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Davis Guggenheim directs.

Gore eloquently raised international public awareness about climate change while sparking controversy from vested interests and climate change deniers. Filled with scientific and personal observations, An Inconvenient Truth has been used in school science curricula. Gore wrote a detailed book by the same name.

 

Road to Peace ~~~ Watch.   Read more.

The Dalai Lama promotes a new era of dialogue in The Road to Peace. A living incarnation of the Buddha of Compassion, he meets with many around the world. Reminded of their own Divine nature, his followers burst into smiles and tears. See rare, behind the scenes footage of His Holiness.

“If we combine our knowledge, skills and expertise with our will power and determination, then no matter what problems we face, we can solve those problems forever,” he assures us. The Dalai Lama resigned as political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration in 2011. China first invaded Tibet in 1949. Most Tibetans do not seek independence from China, but a genuine autonomy within it that protects their religion and culture.

Filed Under: Activism, Awaken, Documentary, Ecoactivism, Environment, Top Films, Transformation Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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