On Meditation (2016)

Director


Main cast
David Lynch; Giancarlo Esposito; Peter Matthiessen; Russell Simmons

Genres
Documentary

Description
Peter Matthiessen, David Lynch, and Russell Simmons see among the many celebrity devotees interviewed in this case of Zen Buddhist meditation.


Similar movies

"He wrote me..." A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.
An ecological drama/documentary, filmed throughout the globe. Part thriller, part meditation on the vanishing wonders of the sub-aquatic world.
This documentary for PBS by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere, tells the story of the Buddha’s life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world’s greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha’s life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join the conversation and learn more about meditation, the history of Buddhism, and how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and mindfulness into daily life.
East meets West in the Deep South. An overcrowded maximum-security prison-the end of the line in Alabama's correctional system-is dramatically changed by the influence of an ancient meditation program. Behind high security towers and a double row of barbed wire and electrical fence dwells a host of convicts who will never see the light of day. But for some of these men, a spark is ignited when it becomes the first maximum-security prison in North America to hold an extended Vipassana retreat, an emotionally and physically demanding course of silent meditation lasting ten days. The Dhamma Brothers tells a dramatic tale of human potential and transformation as it closely follows and documents the stories of the prison inmates at Donaldson Correction Facility who enter into this arduous and intensive program. Written by Balcony Releasing
Richard Beymer first met David Lynch when Lynch cast him as Ben Horne in the series Twin Peaks. Years later, Lynch saw one of Richard's documentaries on the founder of Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and asked him to come to India to document a journey he was making tracing Maharishi's footsteps from one end of India to the other. This film is not just a record of their 10-day journey, it's also a rare and personal look at David Lynch "unplugged."
Samsara is a word that describes the ever turning wheel of life. It is a concept both intimate and vast - the perfect subject for filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, whose previous collaborations include Chronos and Baraka, and who, in the last 20 years, have travelled to over 58 countries together in the pursuit of unique imagery. Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation that will transform viewers in countries around the world as they are swept along a journey of the soul. Through powerful images pristinely photographed in 70mm and a dynamic music score, the film illuminates the links between humanity and the rest of the nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet.
Heaven Adores You is an intimate, meditative inquiry into the life and music of Elliott Smith. By threading the music of Elliott Smith through the dense, yet often isolating landscapes of the three major cities he lived in -- Portland, New York City, Los Angeles -- Heaven Adores You presents a visual journey and an earnest review of the singer's prolific songwriting and the impact it continues to have on fans, friends, and fellow musicians.
Brain scientist Professor Richard Davidson sets up his mind to conduct an unusual experiment: He will teach American war veterans and children meditation and yoga. Can veterans through meditation and yoga ease their pain and nervous system, find happiness and be more peaceful and get back to a life more like the one they had before the war?
Totally Personal creates a historical document both droll and touching out of Begovic and his family's memories, meditations, and observations. The history begins in the communist era, continues through the war that ravaged the former Yougoslavia and into today's post-war period.
A documentary feature film that ties four narratives - from China, India, Scotland, and Tunisia - together with countless insights from venerable filmmakers and ordinary moviegoers. An aspiring actress in Mumbai battles to break into Bollywood; two friends in Scotland take a mobile film festival across the highlands; a young crew in Hong Kong embarks on the shooting of its first film; a Tunisian director anxiously anticipates the premiere of his controversial film at a major festival. These stories are woven together with scenes from video stores, projection booths, studios, cinemas, and slums into a vivid meditation on the power of cinema to shape our world.
On September 19, 1973, the musician and heir to a million-dollar fortune died under the influence of drugs and alcohol near his favourite place - the Joshua Tree National Monument in the Californian desert. As the founder of the Flying Burrito Brothers, a member of the hit-making, legendary Byrds, an important influence on the Rolling Stones and the man who catapulted Emmylou Harris to fame, Gram Parsons made music history in only a few years. Friends, contemporaries and devotees of Gram Parsons talk about the importance of his work and the bizarre circumstances of his early death. Rare footage of his performances shows why Gram Parsons has become a legend. Interviewees include Gram's wife Gretchen, his sister and his daughter, Keith Richards, Emmylou Harris, Chris Hillman and "Road Manager" Phil Kaufman.
Punk rock devotees will welcome director Lech Kowalski's reflective video portrait of late bassist Dee Dee Ramone and his life as a music industry icon -- including his self-destructive bouts with heroin. The centerpiece of the hourlong documentary -- which is peppered with vintage performance clips -- is a 1991 interview with a clean Dee Dee, who talks at length about his storied career and penchant for living on the edge.
Hilarious, sad, absurd, eerie and beautiful, "FAST, CHEAP & OUT OF CONTROL" is a film like no other. Starting as a darkly funny contemplation of the Sisyphus-like nature of human striving, it ultimately becomes a profoundly moving meditation on the very nature of existence.
The Hooping Life is the first film that captures the origins and rise of modern day hula-hooping – a.k.a hooping. With an introduction and narration by hooper (of basketball and hulaalike) Shaquille O’Neal, the film illuminates eight extraordinary stories of hoop devotees who have embraced it as an art form, a teaching aid, and even an instrument of redemption. From the streets, to intimate clubs, to giant arenas, the film alternates between self-filmed video diaries, verité documentary footage, and spectacularly filmed performances. Filmed over six years, and featuring an appearance by late hoop-promoter and TV personality Art Linkletter, the film celebrates the healing power of movement and the spirit of human inventiveness.
Heal Your Self speaks to some of the greatest authorities on health today. They speak directly to the viewer, breaking down the major steps that affect your health. Topics include: food and nutrition, emotional and environmental stresses, the power of the mind, self-education, meditation, love - plus, practical steps you can take to start to restore your health. This is wall-to-wall information, that doesn't sidestep the critical issues that are necessary for you to address, to maintain or regain your health.
An intimate and moving meditation on the late musician and artist Kurt Cobain, based on more than 25 hours of previously unheard audiotaped interviews conducted with Cobain by noted music journalist Michael Azerrad for his book "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana." In the film, Kurt Cobain recounts his own life - from his childhood and adolescence to his days of musical discovery and later dealings with explosive fame - and offers often piercing insights into his life, music, and times. The conversations heard in the film have never before been made public and they reveal a highly personal portrait of an artist much discussed but not particularly well understood. Written by AJ Schnack
Maximum Tolerated Dose is the first feature-length documentary by Decipher Films. Equal parts found-footage mash-up, verité investigation, and artful meditation, the film charts the lives of both humans and non-humans who have experienced animal testing first-hand, with hauntingly honest testimony of scientists and lab technicians whose ethics demanded they choose a different path, as well as the simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking stories of animals who have seen both sides of the cage. MTD aims to re-ignite the debate about animal testing by bringing these rarely-heard perspectives to the fore.
Explosive developments - implicating both the forensics laboratory of the police department of North Carolina, and Duane Deaver, its chief - shed new light on the case of murder suspect Michael Peterson.
An intimate journey through the formative years of [Lynch’s] life. From his idyllic upbringing in small town America to the dark streets of Philadelphia, we follow Lynch as he traces the events that have helped to shape one of cinema’s most enigmatic directors. David Lynch: The Art Life infuses Lynch’s own art, music and early films, shining a light into the dark corners of his unique world, giving audiences a better understanding of the man and the artist.
Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern and producer Fred Caruso are all interviewed for this 68-minute documentary that takes a look at David Lynch's Blue Velvet
An in-depth look at artist/filmmaker David Lynch's movies, paintings, drawings, photographs, and various other works of art. Features interview footage and commentary by family members, friends, fans, and people he's worked with, as well as behind-the-scenes antics of some of his most critically praised efforts.
Starsuckers is the most controversial documentary of the year, and was released in British cinemas in November 2009 to critical acclaim. It's a darkly humourous and shocking exposé of the celebrity obsessed media, that uncovers the real reasons behind our addiction to fame and blows the lid on the corporations and individuals who profit from it.
Cinema's prodigal daughter Jennifer Lynch braves the unmapped territory of Bollywood-Hollywood movie making, where chaos is the process and filmmaking doubles as a crash course in acceptance and self-realization.
Valentino: The Last Emperor is an intimate and engaging fly-on-the- wall exploration of the singular world of one of Italy's most famous men. It is a portrait of an extraordinary partnership, the longest running in fashion, and a dramatic story about a master confronting the final act of his celebrated career.
Germany in Autumn does not have a plot per se; it mixes documentary footage, along with standard movie scenes, to give the audience the mood of Germany during the late 1970s. The movie covers the two month time period during 1977 when a businessman was kidnapped, and later murdered, by the left-wing terrorists known as the RAF-Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Faction). The businessman had been kidnapped in an effort to secure the release of the orginal leaders of the RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang. When the kidnapping effort and a plane hijacking effort failed, the three most prominent leaders of the RAF, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Enslin, and Jean-Carl Raspe, all committed suicide in prison. It has become an article of faith within the left-wing community that these three were actually murdered by the state.
Celebrity Takedown is a compilation DVD by Gorillaz, released in November 2002. The DVD compiles the videos and animatics related to the release of the band's first album, Gorillaz, as well as the related singles.
Robert Durst, scion of one of New York’s billionaire real estate families, has been accused of three murders but never convicted. Brilliant, reclusive, and the subject of relentless media scrutiny, he’s never spoken publicly—until now. During interviews with Andrew Jarecki, he reveals secrets of the case that baffled authorities for 30 years. In 2010, Jarecki made the narrative film All Good Things based on the infamous story of Robert Durst. After Durst saw the film, he contacted Jarecki wanting to tell his story. What began as a feature documentary ultimately became a six-part series as more and more of his incredible story was revealed.
This film is released as part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebration of the Rolling Stones. It tells the story of the Stones' unparalleled journey from blues obsessed teens in the early 60s to their undisputed status as rock royalty. All of the Stones have been newly interviewed and their words form the narrative arc that links together archive footage of performances, news coverage, and interviews, much of it previously unseen. Taking its title from a lyric in "Jumpin' Jack Flash," this film gives the viewer an intimate insight into exactly what it's like to be part of the Rolling Stones as they overcome denunciation, drugs, dissensions, and death to become the definitive survivors. Over a year in the making and produced with the full cooperation and involvement of the Stones, this film is and will remain the definitive story of the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band
The Captains is a feature length documentary film written and directed by William Shatner. The film follows Shatner as he interviews the other actors whom have portrayed Starship captains within the illustrious science-fiction franchise.
With exclusive access to his extraordinary unseen and unheard personal archive including hundreds of hours of audio recorded over the course of his life, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen with Brando himself as your guide, the film will fully explore the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely from Marlon's perspective, entirely in his own voice. No talking heads, no interviewees, just Brando on Brando and life.
Bob Marley's universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. Directed by Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), MARLEY is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best.
Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans interweaves stunning newly discovered footage and voice recordings with original interviews. It is the true story of how a cinema legend would risk almost everything in pursuit of his dream.
A reporter interviews fighters and promoters about Bruce Lee, intercut with footage from old Bruce Lee films and pseudo-documentary footage.
This film recounts the history and attitudes of the opposing sides of the Vietnam War using archival news footage as well as their own film and interviews. A key theme is how attitudes of American racism and self-righteousness militarism helped create and prolong this bloody conflict. The film also endeaveors to give voice to the Vietnamese people themselves as to how the war has affected them and their reasons why they fight the United States and other western powers while showing the basic humanity of the people that US propaganda tried to dismiss.
This flick interviews up and coming glam bands who made their home in the L.A. scene. Also interviewed are some of the genre's idols including Kiss, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Poison, Megadeth, Lemmy from Motorhead and of course, Ozzy. Also, spotlighted performances from bands such as Faster Pussycat, Odin, London (Nikki Sixx's old band), Seduce and Megadeth. The movie's range of topics include groupies, alcoholism, drugs, the glam image and why it attracted so many people from many walks of life. The movie's funniest (and saddest) segment includes filmmaker Penelope Spheeris's attempt to interview a W.A.S.P. guitarist in his pool, drunk as a skunk and with his MOM sitting right there!
Silence = Death is a 1990 documentary film directed, written and produced by Rosa von Praunheim. The film centers on the response of some New York City's artist to the AIDS epidemic. Interviewees includes East Village artist David Wojnarowicz, poet Allen Ginsberg, artists Keith Haring, Peter Kunz, Bern Boyle and many others. It is the first part of von Praunheim and Phil Zwickler’s trilogy about AIDS and activism it was followed by Positive (the third part, about the Aids epidemic in Germany, was never released).
Prominent Columbia University English and Comparative Literature professor Edward Said was well known in the United States for his tireless efforts to convey the plight of the Palestinian people, and in this film shot less than a year before his death resulting from incurable leukemia, the author of such books as {-Orientalism}, {-Culture and Imperialism}, and {-Power, Politics, and Culture} discusses with filmmakers his illness, his life, his education, and the continuing turmoil in Palestine. Diagnosed with the disease in 1991, Said struggled with his leukemia throughout the 1990s before refraining from interviews due to his increasingly fragile physical state. This interview was the one sole exception to his staunch "no interview" policy, and provides fascinating insight into the mind of the man who became Western society's most prominent spokesman for the Palestinian cause.
Documentary chronicaling the rise and fall of the punk movement with rare interview footage of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Also concert and news footage.
See Michael Jackson, one of the most recognizable and popular entertainers of all time, like never before in the feature-length tribute Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon. Known to millions of fans worldwide for his record-breaking albums, groundbreaking music videos, mesmerizing dance moves and humanitarian efforts, his true story has never really been told...until now. This unprecedented look into the King of Pop's fascinating life includes all-new interviews with his mother Katherine Jackson as well as siblings Tito and Rebbie Jackson, family, friends and music legends such as Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick and many more.
Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Oliver Stone interviews Russia's President Vladimir Putin about divisive issues related to US/Russia relations.
You loved the book; now see the places bestselling author Patricia Schultz captured so well. Join newlyweds Albin and Melanie Ulle as they embark on a transformational journey around the globe. Using Schultz's book as a guide, the Ulles explore the breathtaking beauty of the Himalayas, the eternal romanticism of Paris, the exotic mysteries of Peru and much more you won't want to miss.
The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened? feature film documents the process of development of the ill fated "Superman Lives" movie, that was to be directed by Tim Burton and star Nicolas Cage as the man of steel himself, Superman. The project went through years of development before the plug was pulled, and this documentary interviews the major players: Kevin Smith, Tim Burton, Jon Peters, Dan Gilroy, Colleen Atwood, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and many many more.
Lena, aged twenty, wants to know all she can about life and reality. She collects information on everyone and everything, storing her findings in an enormous archive. She experiments with relationships, political activism, and meditation. Meanwhile, the actors, director and crew are shown in a humorous parallel plot about the making of the film and their reactions to the story and each other. Nudity, explicit sex, and controversial politics kept this film from being shown in the US while its seizure by Customs was appealed.
Beverly Hills couple Barbara and Dave Whiteman are very rich but not happy Dave is a hard working business man, his wife is only interested in yoga, aerobics and other meditation classes, and he sleeps with the house maid. Their teenage son is confused about his sexuality and their daughter is suffering from eating disorders. While they are celebrating thanksgiving having plenty of food, street tramp Jerry is hungry, homeless, sleeping rough and has lost his dog. Jerry decides to end his life by drowning himself in their swimming pool. Dave rescues him and invites him to stay for a while. How does this stranger change the life style of this family?
George Bernard Shaw’s breezy, delightful dramatization of this classic fable—about a Christian slave who pulls a thorn from a lion’s paw and is spared from death in the Colosseum as a result of his kind act—was written as a meditation on modern Christian values. And Pascal’s final Shaw production plays it broadly, casting comic character actor Alan Young as the titular naïf. He’s ably supported by Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Robert Newton, and Elsa Lanchester.
This South Korean film takes place on an isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.
Just when you thought it was safe to sleep, Freddy Krueger returns in this sixth installment of the Nightmare on Elm Street films, as psychologist Maggie Burroughs, tormented by recurring nightmares, meets a patient with the same horrific dreams. Their quest for answers leads to a certain house on Elm Street -- where the nightmares become reality.
In this modern retelling of the Virgin birth, Mary is a student who plays basketball and works at her father's petrol station; Joseph is an earnest dropout who drives a cab. The angel Gabriel must school Joseph to accept Mary's pregnancy, while Mary comes to terms with God's plan through meditations that are sometimes angry and usually punctuated by elemental images of the sun, moon, clouds, flowers, and water.
A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. It is described as an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love.
When Puppy Paws (the fun-loving son of Santa Paws) gets bored, he finds Budderball on Santa's naughty list and figures he's just the dog to show him how to be an ordinary pup. When the magical Christmas Icicle starts to melt however, and the world begins to forget the true meaning of the season, it's up to Puppy Paws and his newfound Buddies to journey back to the North Pole and save Christmas.
Jean-Luc Godard's poetic meditation on war, violence and defeat. The film is structured in three parts. The three segments are "Hell", "Purgatory", and "Heaven". The first segment is a montage of war images from documentary and fictional sources. The second concerns two young Jewish women attending a European arts conference in Sarajevo. The final segment concerns the after life.
Three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.
David loves his wife, Gillian. Unfortunately, she died two years ago. David deals with his grief by continuing his romance with Gillian during walks with her "ghost" on the beach at night. While David lives in the past, other family problems crop up in the present in the real world....
A film about the life and career of the eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.
Based on the novel by the same name from Nicholas Evans, the talented Robert Redford presents this meditative family drama set in the country side. Redford not only directs but also stars in the roll of a cowboy with a magical talent for healing.
An American teenager who is obsessed with Hong Kong cinema and kung-fu classics makes an extraordinary discovery in a Chinatown pawnshop: the legendary stick weapon of the Chinese sage and warrior, the Monkey King. With the lost relic in hand, the teenager unexpectedly finds himself travelling back to ancient China to join a crew of warriors from martial arts lore on a dangerous quest to free the imprisoned Monkey King.
When a young monk is forced to leave his impoverished monastery, he relies on his extraordinary martial arts skills to survive in the outside world. In search of a mentor, he crosses paths with a Kung Fu master who is in possession of the Book of Secrets, which reveals the lost art of the deadly Ape Strike Kung Fu technique. The rare book is coveted by a sinister father and son who will go to any extremes to obtain it. The monk finds himself immersed in a deadly battle to protect both the book and his master.
Ex-gangster Tony Banks is called out of retirement by mob kingpin God to carry out a hit on fellow mobster "Blue Chips" Packard. When Banks demurs, God kidnaps his daughter Darlene on his luxury yacht.
Katelin Kingsford, an Olympic hopeful figure skater wants to train with a Russian figure skating coach. In order to go to go to the school that Natasha is at, Katelin gets a scholarship playing on the girls hockey team.
A man is convinced that a young girl is the reincarnation of his own daughter Audrey Rose, who died in a fiery car accident, along with his wife, two minutes before the girl was born.

© Valossa 2015–2024