Meditate and Destroy is an 81-minute documentary about punk rock, spirituality, and inner rebellion. The film focuses on the bestselling author of Dharma Punx and Against the Stream, Noah Levine. Tattoos, motorcycles, and Buddha are featured in this hard-hitting look at how Buddhism has a place in the world of punks. This inspiring film opens our perception to the possibilities of finding new paths- even in our darkest hours.

This film provides an up-close look at how the driving forces in Noah’s life changed from violence, addiction and rebellion to taking on the role of dedicated meditation teacher and community leader - an individual whose candor inspires others to integrate Buddhist teachings of nonviolence and inner peace with a Western lifestyle.

Similar to punk culture’s non-conformist attitude, Buddhism has long been seen as a tradition that goes “against the stream”. The film’s visual aesthetic reflects this similarity. The film employs motion graphics reflecting the punk aesthetic that are complemented by an experimental movement through the various scenes exploring Noah Levine’s past and present life.

A 3-minute animated back-story (called ‘machinima’) created in the virtual world of Second Life fleshes out the cutting edge style of the film. In addition, Meditate and Destroy features an engaging punk rock soundtrack. Interviews include renowned Buddhist teachers Jack Kornfield, Stephen Levine and Ajahn Amaro.

Coming Soon to DVD - To receive additional information as it becomes available, please sign-up for our Alive Mind newsletter!

• Video Clips - Coming Soon!
• Pictures - Coming Soon!
• Filmmaker Bios - Coming Soon!
• Credits - Coming Soon!
Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Gandhi called it “Soul Force,” Dr. King called it “Love in Action,” and now, acclaimed filmmaker Velcrow Ripper is calling it “Fierce Light.” It is a universal power that radiates from every human heart, undeniably hopeful, and full of possibility. It holds us to be uncompromisingly nonviolent and drives us to the pentacle of our spiritual excellence. Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action chronicles Ripper’s journey to document examples of this sacred beacon that shines the brightest at the darkest and most dangerous times.

Haunted by the violent death of his friend and fellow media activist Brad Will, who was shot to death in Oaxaca, Mexico while videotaping protests against State Governor Ulises Ruiz, Ripper decided to travel to the scene of the tragedy to finish what Brad began. There, Ripper discovered an electrifying grass-root movement founded on the values of peace and non-violence, but fiercely determined to create a new world of justice, sustainability and global harmony. Spurred by this refreshing find, Ripper embarked on an intercontinental quest to such diverse locales as New Zealand, Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and North America in search of more stories of this growing movement.

From Montgomery, Alabama, the epicenter of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, to South Central Los Angeles, where poor farmers desperately strove to save their farms from an urban developer, to Robben Island, South Africa, where peace activist Nelson Mandela and others were imprisoned during the Apartheid era, Ripper realized that this “movement of movements” has swept the planet and astutely captured this global ideological shift on film. Other backdrops of significant spiritual activism highlighted in the documentary include the Dalit community in Pradesh, India, where Gandhi’s legacy of fighting for the rights of the Untouchables is still highly revered, and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and peace activist who was exiled from Vietnam 30 years ago finally returned home. After watching Fierce Light, audiences can find hope in this mass movement founded on the values of compassion, collaboration, and understanding and focuses on what we are trying to accomplish, as opposed to what we are trying to destroy.

The film features Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alice Walker, American Civil Rights Leader John Lewis, Buddhist peace activist and monk Thich Nhat Hanh, actor turned activist Daryl Hannah, and famed tree-sitter Julia Butterfly Hill.
 

Coming Soon to DVD - To receive additional information as it becomes available, please sign-up for our Alive Mind newsletter!

• Video Clips - Coming Soon!
• Credits - Coming Soon!
Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Arab Labor is a raucous and irreverent critically acclaimed comedy series from Israel about Amjad, a Palestinian journalist and Israeli citizen in search of his identity. His personal quest for status and success as a journalist at a Jerusalem newspaper is foiled by the humiliating searches he endures everyday when he leaves his Palestinian neighborhood to commute to his job. In the midst of a walloping identity crisis, Amjad jockeys between two cultures as he tries to polish his image for his Jewish friends and colleagues while enjoying his own down-to-earth family life. The result is a comedy series that pierces the taboos of acceptable language and humor surrounding the prickly, long-standing status quo in which Palestinian and Jewish Israelis live side by side.
 
 
 
 
 

“Meet the Palestinian Seinfeld.”
-San Francisco Chronicle

“…groundbreaking and amazing…”
-Los Angeles Times

“It will tickle your funny bone, and maybe strike a nerve.”
-The Associated Press

“…a groundbreaking TV show…”
-The Chicago Tribune

“…barges through cultural barriers…”
-The New York Times

“It’s not really an Israeli version of Jerry Seinfeld, the Jewish American actor whose mother is a Syrian-Jew (making him my favorite Arab comedian, by the way). It’s more like the 1960s and 70s American TV sitcom, All in the Family, where race and race issues were ripped apart to make a social point.”
-Jerusalem Post

• Video Clips - Coming Soon!
• Credits

Over 40 years ago, on October 9, 1967, Ernesto Che Guevara was executed by the Bolivian army, aided by the CIA. Guevara’s diary, a detailed, personal account of his futile 11-month attempt to foment revolution in Bolivia, is the basis of this moving portrait. Che’s relationship with the mysterious Tania, his betrayal by local peasants, his constant battle with asthma, and his distress at the death of his comrades is recounted. Interviews with Bolivians who met Che during these final days, coupled with narrations from Che’s actual diaries, testify to a man who embraced sacrifice for his ideals. This is an enlightening insight into the real history of a revolutionary icon.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

“…moving…”
- The New York Times

“…a revealing glimpse into the revolutionary mindset.”
- Chicago Tribune

“…a compelling portrait.”
- Seattle Weekly

“An understated, stunningly effective portrait.”
- Chicago Tribune

• Full Reviews - Coming Soon!
• Video Clips - Coming Soon!
• Credits - Coming Soon!

Death is real, it comes without warning and it cannot be escaped. An ancient source of strength and guidance, The Tibetan Book of the Dead remains an essential teaching originating in the spiritual cultures of the Himalayas. Narrated by Leonard Cohen, this enlightening two-part series explores the sacred text and boldly visualizes the afterlife according to its profound wisdom.

Part 1: A Way of Life reveals the history of The Tibetan Book of the Dead and examines its traditional use in northern India, as well as its acceptance in Western hospices. Shot over a four-month period, the film contains footage of the rites and liturgies for a deceased Ladakhi elder and includes an interview with the Dalai Lama, who shares his views on the book’s meaning and importance.

Part 2: The Great Liberation follows an old lama and his novice monk as they guide a Himalayan villager into the afterlife using readings from The Tibetan Book of the Dead. The soul’s 49-day journey towards rebirth is envisioned through actual photography of rarely seen Buddhist rituals, interwoven with groundbreaking animation by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Ishu Patel.

Special Bonus Feature: The Trap - see what happens when Buddhist teachings are applied in a Nova Scotian fishing village.

Film of Special Merit Award
International Congress on Care of the Terminally
September 17 to 21, 1994
Montréal - Canada

Special Mention
Filmfest Medianet Award
May 27 to June 30, 1994
Munich - Germany

“Leonard Cohen’s narration, it must be said straight off, was perfect. No one else
could have succeeded so brilliantly at calmly and richly presenting this series.”
- Canadian Content

“The Tibetan Book of the Dead is a marvelous documentary creation. It is excellently written, and Leonard Cohen’s narration suits the theme beautifully. The cinematography is breathtaking: snow-capped, mighty mountains pinpricked by isolated towns provide suitable images of insignificant humanity in a vast, lonely, and hostile universe. Yet this view is juxtaposed with a sensitive portrayal of Tibetan Buddhism’s central tenet: To seek truth and practice compassion is the meaning and purpose of life. The characters of the lamas — filled with joy and compassion — imbue the film with the light of their eternal hopes for the world…This is a film that demands multiple viewing…Highly recommended.”
- CM Magazine, The Manitoba Library Association

• Video Clips - Coming Soon!
• Narrator Biography
• Credits

What moves young, educated people to give up lives of material security for a spiritual quest that confronts uncertainty?

Filmed in the gorgeous countryside and ancient cities of India and Turkey, Through the Eastern Gate is a compelling documentary following the journeys of three young people who have turned their backs on the material comforts and distractions of the West to find meaning in the spiritual philosophies of the East.

Sister Yeshe Chodron’s journey leads her from Australia to the foothills of the Himalayas and life as a Buddhist nun. On a riverbank in southern India, Ronela Vainio, a native of Finland, immerses herself in tantric yoga. Lastly, Californian Aziz Abbatiello discovers his calling as a Sufi dervish in Turkey, where he prays, sings, and spins himself into spiritual ecstasy.

The idyllic settings in which these young people practice their disciplines sharply contrast the cramped landscape of the West and the often aimless lifestyle of their peers. The lives of the three spiritual novices, however, are not without challenges. They must leave their family behind and make material sacrifices. Ronela admits, “My family still wonders why I wanted to go so far away, why I don’t live like a normal human being.” In addition, attaining true spirituality requires tremendous effort and the patience to delve deep beneath the surface and not be distracted by the trappings of this world. “It’s easy to go around in circles”, says Aziz, “but to empty yourself of yourself, that’s a struggle”.

To buy the educational version, please visit the Alive Mind Education page.

• Video Clips - Coming Soon!
• Photo Gallery
• Featured Voices
• The Filmmakers
• Credits

Sacred Love-Making is the kind of film that will awaken all of your senses, challenge you, enrich your intimate understanding, increase your spontaneity, cultivate your artistry, and– without a doubt– make you a better lover.

Watch as best-selling author and relationship expert, Karinna Kittles-Karsten, introduces ancient Taoist love secrets and rituals for deeper sexual satisfaction and emotional connection as she guides you through the Sacred Love-Making experience in this exquisitely beautiful, breakthrough educational DVD.

Karinna helps two married couples, one together four years and one twenty, take their most intimate relationship experience to new levels of passion, connection, communication, pleasure, freedom and sublime union. Follow these two couples at two different stages of their relationships and discover how you and your partner can experience the sensually sublime.

• Video Clips - Coming soon
• Photo Gallery - Coming soon
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Karinna Kittles-Karsten’s Bio
• Credits

NOLLYWOOD BABYLON chronicles the wild world of “Nollywood,” a term coined in the early ‘90s to describe the world’s fastest-growing national cinema, surpassed only by its Indian counterpart. The film delves first-hand into Nigeria’s explosive homegrown movie industry, where Jesus and voodoo vie for screen time. Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, known in Lagos as “Da Governor,” is one of the most influential men in Nollywood. Undeterred by miniscule budgets, Da Governor is one of a cadre of resourceful filmmakers creating a garish, imaginative, and wildly popular form of B-movie that has frenzied fans begging for more. Among the bustling stalls of Lagos’s Idumato market, films are sold, and budding stars are born. Creating stories that explore the growing battle between traditional mysticism and modern culture, good versus evil, witchcraft and Christianity, Nollywood auteurs have mastered a down-and-dirty, straight-to-video production formula that has become the industry standard in a country plagued by poverty. This burgeoning Nigerian film industry is tapping a national identity where proud Africans are telling their own stories to a public hungry to see their lives on screen. Peppered with outrageously juicy movie clips and buoyed by a rousing score fusing Afropop and traditional sounds, NOLLYWOOD BABYLON celebrates the distinctive power of Nigerian cinema as it marvels in the magic of movies.
 

“Infectious”
-LA TIMES

“Irresistible”
-FILM THREAT

“A fantastic documentary exploring the unknown side of the cinematographic planet.”
-Twitch

“Incredible…think sex, love, betrayal, fire, brimstone, people being transformed into animals.”
-Hour

“Don’t miss it!”
-Montreal Mirror

“Cheers to the filmmakers…for going beyond a look at Lagos as the Wild West of cinema to offer unexpected insights, not always sunny, into the economic and social forces that created and continue to sustain Nollywood.”
-IFC.COM

“A stand out doc!”
-Playback

Coming Soon to DVD - To receive additional information as it becomes available, please sign-up for our Alive Mind newsletter!

• Video Clips - Coming Soon!
• Full Reviews
• Main Character Biographies
• Filmmaker Biographies
• Director’s Statement
• Nollywood Timeline
• Credits

In her debut film, director Emma Franz captures the creative odyssey of Australian drummer Simon Barker in search of his muse, Korean Shaman Kim Seok-Chul — a Grand Master in his seventies who plays with immense energy and complex technique. After hearing a rare recording of Kim Seok-Chul’s music, Barker knew right away that he was listening to one of the world’s greatest improvisers. So unique, in fact, is the artistry of the Shaman that the Korean Government bestowed upon him the honorary title “Intangible Asset Number 82,” recognizing him as the pre-eminent practitioner, Grand Master and protector of his art form. Intrigued, Barker commits to find and learn from the enigmatic master. Yet Kim Seok-Chul proves elusive, despite the fame accompanying his official honor as being South Korea’s 82nd Intangible Asset.

Despite seven years of setbacks and obstacles, and with the Shaman now in his eighties, Barker’s commitment intensifies and he returns to Korea for the seventeenth time. Imbued with a sense of destiny, the journey becomes a rite of passage as Barker experiences life-changing encounters with the engaging and exotic characters who eventually lead him to the Shaman. Intangible Asset Number 82 is a true testimony to the universal language of music and its transformative power.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Watch Online Now!

Coming Soon to DVD - To receive additional information as it becomes available, please sign-up for our Alive Mind newsletter!

• Video Clips - Coming Soon!
• The Main Characters
• Musicians Featured in the Film
• Notes on the Film
• Director’s Statement
• Credits - Coming Soon!

In a wooded glade somewhere near San Francisco, The Workshop challenges the rules of modern society by pushing all boundaries of normal convention - especially the sexual ones! A group of people agree to take part in a 10-day ‘workshop’ led by spiritual leader Paul Lowe in their search for a higher personal truth. On day one they are told to introduce themselves and meet everyone else - completely naked!

Searing emotional honesty, full nudity, experiments and sexuality and the exorcising of inner demons are the hallmarks of this groundbreaking and provocative documentary. Enlightenment achieved?…maybe. But definitely the naked truth…

“One of the most talked about films at the [2007] Tribeca Film Festival
…an extraordinarily frank and thought-provoking sexual odyssey which,
with the right exposure and a healthy pinch of salt, could be a zeitgeist,
talking-point film along the lines of What the Bleep Do We Know or Shortbus.”
-Mike Goodridge, Screen International

“The breakdown of convention is a wild ride, as Morgan chronicles love
triangles, couples struggling with monogamy and a gay man having sex with
a woman for the first time-all on camera. Jealousy, both emotional and physical,
erupts within the flock. It’s an amusing and emotional adventure in sex, love,
betrayal, fear and joy until the workshop ends.”
- Aaron Krach, Tribeca Film

• Video Clips - Coming soon
• Director’s Bio
• Director’s Statement
• Cast of Characters
• Credits