Sedona to host 4th annual Illuminate Film Festival – Verde Independent

The Illuminate Film Festival will span five days and three venues, and will present 25 of the most compelling conscious themed films of the year. There will be evening spotlights, post-screening presentations with directors and producers, Reel Healing immersions, musical performances, a virtual reality showcase, and a Healing Lounge.

Illuminate Film Festival, the premier festival dedicated to elevating and empowering humanity through transformational cinema, is holding its 4th annual event May 31 - June 4th in the spectacular red rocks of Sedona. Illuminate brings people together to experience life-altering shifts through inspirations films.

Illuminate spans five days and three venues, and will present 25 of the most compelling conscious themed films of the year. There will be evening spotlights, post-screening presentations with directors and producers, Reel Healing immersions, musical performances, a virtual reality showcase, and a Healing Lounge. The Festival opens with the free-to-the-public Launch Party and Outdoor Screening on May 31st and will throw nightly parties for passholders every night of the festival.

In addition, the Festival will host a series of film industry programs - the Conscious Film Convergence, the Conscious Cinema Summit and the Conscious Cinema Accelerator - which offer workshops, networking and mentoring for those working to elevate consciousness through filmmaking.

The Festival will present its second annual Conscious Visionary Award to conscious evolution pioneer Barbara Marx Hubbard and offer a special evening with filmmaker, author, musician and peace troubadour James Twyman. In conjunction with a spotlight world premiere of HEAL, a deeply empowering documentary about our miraculous ability to heal ourselves, special guests Joe Dispenza and Anita Moorjani will share their timeless wisdom.

This years film lineup includes a special focus on spiritual movements and the influential leaders that sparked global awakening and self-realization. Some of the films in this section include:

The Last Dalai Lama? - Director, Mickey Lemie (Ram Dass Fierce Grace) brings to the big screen a very powerful and intimate portrait of an extraordinary individual. Lemie was able to film extensively with the Dalai Lama with an intimacy only made possible by their 30-year relationship. The Dalai Lama speaks candidly about the issues that come with aging that can disquiet the mind: regrets, unfulfilled dreams, frustrations, the inevitability of death, and his next incarnation. (Southwest Premiere)

Walk With Me - With unprecedented access, Walk With Me goes deep inside a Zen Buddhist community who practice the art of mindfulness with their world-famous teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. Filmed over three years in their Plum Village monastery in rural France and on the road in the USA, this visceral film is a meditation on a community grappling with existential questions and the everyday routine of monastic life. Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch (Southwest Premiere)

Shadows of Paradise This film documents the Transcendental Meditation Movement with intimate access to two of TM s leaders iconic filmmaker David Lynch and dedicated disciple Bobby Roth. The film documents the movements metamorphosis following the death of founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Having grown up within TM, Director Sebastian Lange approaches his subject through an introspective lens, seeking to reconcile the present-day incarnation with the teachings and practices that have shaped his worldview. (Southwest Premiere)

Music and the role it has played in expanding world consciousness will be highlighted in several musical spotlight programs featuring performances, concerts and kirtans. Films include:

MANTRA Sounds into Silence shares the stories of people who are finding healing and a sense of inner peace by singing mantras together. Its a film about people reconnecting with their true selves and with others. Through encounters with a variety of characters, we discover how Deva Premal & Miten, Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Snatam Kaur and MC Yogi came to this music themselves and to the practice of Kirtan*, and how, over the years, it transformed their lives. (World Premiere)

The Golden Age is a tour de force musical film inspired by true events about subversive pop star Maya OMalley. After a string of incendiary remarks in the press, Maya gets dropped from his music label, and sets out on a spiritual pilgrimage to immerse himself in the vast teachings of Hindu mythology, in an attempt to resolve his troubled past. Set against a dreamy backdrop of his compelling songs, the film shifts between the present day, and performances and interviews from his past, as it reveals Mayas tumultuous journey towards spiritual redemption (US Premiere)

RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World will tell the story of a profound, essential, and, until now, missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence. This deeply insightful film cements how some of our most treasured artists - Charley Patton, Mildred Bailey, Link Wray, Jimi Hendrix, Jesse Ed Davis, Buffy Sainte-Marie,Robbie Robertson, Randy Castillo, and others - found their inspiration in ancient, native melodies and harmonies that were infused with a desire to resist. Youll never listen to your favorite rock and roll classics the same way again.

Major sponsors include: Natural Action Technologies, Chocolatree, Science of Mind Magazine, Collective Evolution, The Collective, Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village, Sedona Real, and The Lodge at Sedona.

ILLUMINATE Film Festival, the worlds premier film festival for conscious cinema will be held May 31-June 4, 2017 at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, the Mary D. Fisher Theater and The Collective.

Original post:
Sedona to host 4th annual Illuminate Film Festival - Verde Independent