"Be transformed by renewal of your mind, body and heart...
Films can transform how we see one other
Children of Afghanistan
Children of Afghanistan (2001) screened at Sundance Film Fest in the GenY special showcase. It was the first collaboration among teens who were Afghan refugees and an American high-school student from the Seattle area.
It's much, much bigger than one person
A Revolution Pictures film narrated by Angela Bassett
"Remand" is a true story about an African boy, an American lawyer, and a long road to justice. "This is a transformation that the Ugandans are engaging in." - Jim Gash, Pepperdine University
Voices in Wartime
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, Seamus Heaney shared this line for the end of our film:
“History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme”
(based on Sophocles)
Art that quickens the soul
Discover exhilarating new possibilities. Inspired by the words of Martha Graham, may you also be moved to follow your heart and be ever more alive.
Pearl Diving and the Beatitudes
FORM is the art of breath and movement that is inspired by Scripture. This meditation is based on the eight blessings taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:3-10. I like to swim in the ocean (or laps in the pool, if it's too cold) and recite these passages - I find it centers me and renews my sense of love, joy and peace. May you find blessings in these passages, too.
Creating New Stories
The Calls of an Orca | Corky's Story
Corky lives at SeaWorld in San Diego and is beloved by millions of visitors each year.
Can you see her blue eye looking right into Kathryn's camera lens?
As the longest living orca in captivity she's endured a grim reality of being in a tank for more than 55 years. And yet, she is highly engaged with humans who come to her window. Staying active and playful, she loves swimming fast in the largest tank in front of the crowded stadium.
Captured and taken from her family in 1969, Corky was brought to Marineland in Palos Verdes where she lived until 1986. Kathryn first got to know Corky when she worked as a pearl diver in the adjacent tank. Between their shows, Corky would sing and call and Kathryn learned to mimic her.
Kathryn now visits Corky at SeaWorld and when she makes the calls that she remembers mimicking years earlier, Corky sings right back to her with the distinct dialect of her birth-family. Corky also will spy-hop and then come alongside for a long gaze.
It is in these still moments that Kathryn notices how Corky is sensing more than what is seen or heard. Experts at SeaWorld explain how an orca's primary sensory system is the auditory system: "It is a highly-developed system that includes biological sonar ability or echolocation. Echolocation helps killer whales determine the size, shape, structure, composition, speed, and direction of an object."
This echolocation enables the orcas to communicate and sense reality beyond what our limited human perceptions allow. On numerous occasions Kathryn has experienced how Corky somehow seems to "get" what she's feeling - especially those times of profound grief. Some believe that Corky is scanning Kathryn's heart rate variability and energetic fields - giving Corky an understanding of what's hidden within the human heart.
As we seek to better understand what Corky's needs are - along with all of the other captive cetaceans - we realize their future is completely controlled by governmental agencies and the sea parks within their jurisdiction.
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