Those brave enough to drink ayahuasca will meet spirits and have visions of other worlds and realms. Peruvian shaman use this visionary plant brew as part of a dieta—a retreat in the jungle—where they receive insights on healing. Through the auspices of Peruvian shaman Don José Campos, filmmaker Michael Wiese undertakes a 10-day dieta and shares his extraordinary experience in this video diary-style documentary film.
Featuring Ven. Lama Chime Rinpoche
Produced and Edited by Michael Wiese
Music by Sarah Patterson
In this rare film appearance, Lama Chime transmits Mahamudra teachings that have been passed down in an unbroken line of oral transmissions from the 10th- century scholar Naropa. Lama Chime brings a profound understanding of how to apply this ancient wisdom to modern life in a poignant, humorous, yet vivid style.
Ven. Lama Chime Rinpoche left Tibet at about the same time as the Dalai Lama, and was one of the first reincarnate lamas to come to the West. He has lived in England since 1965 and worked for 16 years as curator of the Tibetan Language Collection at the British Library in London.
All proceeds will go to the Dharma Trust charity.
Jacques Costeau tried.
Pioneer dolphin researcher John Lilly said it couldn’t be done.
But in 1978 a ship of fools set out to swim in the open oceans with wild dolphins. Taking a cue from Aristotle, who said, ”dolphins care for man and enjoy his music”, the filmmakers played an ‘underwater piano” and for three days interacted with a school of wild dolphins.
A ”close encounters of the aquatic kind”, this classic film documents the first recorded human-wild dolphin encounter in modern times.
Featuring an appearance by Buckminister Fuller
Awards
Winner of the Cup of the Prime Minister (1979), The Milan Film Festival, “Golden Eagle” award CINE (1979)
Film Festivals
Mill Valley Film Festival, Sacramento Film Festival (opening night), Milan Film Festival
Plus special feature short: The Wonder of Dolphins
Total Running Time: 72 minutes
DVD – NTSC only
New from Michael Wiese about Bali and the Spirit World
SPECIAL PREVIEW FOR MWP FANS
Only available for purchase here.
In 1970 the young filmmaker Michael Wiese arrived in Bali and was taken to a remote village by a Balinese painting salesman. He became the first Westerner to live with the Balinese in this village participating in temple ceremonies, playing gamelan, painting, and seeing shadow plays. The longer he stayed, the more he realized that he was not really ‘seeing’ the world where the Balinese lived. In that world, the Balinese spend half their life participating in elaborate rituals and ceremonies evoking the spirits of the ancestors and honoring countless spirits deities – both gods and demons – who influence our world.
Michael wanted to learn more about these dimensions awash with spirits and powerful entities so common in Bali but unheard of in the Western world, but after 40 years and many visits, little progress was made. Then, a breakthrough occurred. Bali yielded its secrets as trance dancers, mediums, shadow masters, priests and healers revealed the spiritual practices and portals to these sacred dimensions.
The result – a filmic treasure with many never-before-seen moments that makes us question everything we know about the nature of reality, consciousness and the source of creativity and inspiration.
Interview with Michael Wiese by Geneva Anderson on ARThound . . .
Filmmaker Michael Wiese visited Bali in the 1970′s and was led to a remote village by a Balinese salesman. As he participated in elaborate ceremonies, he realized he did not really see the world as the Balinese saw it. Now, 40 years later and many visits between, his new documentary, Talking with Spirits, shows sequences that make us question everything we know about the nature of reality, consciousness, and the very sources of creativity and inspiration. Wiese’s film will be screening this Tuesday, at 2 p.m., at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco as part of their programming for Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance which runs through September 11, 2011. This weekend, I interviewed Michael Wiese who was at theAlbuquerque Film Festival, where his film had its West Coast premiere.
Talking with Sprits is billed as a documentary, which is a fairly broad category these days. What is it exactly?
Internationally respected Peruvian shaman Don José Campos introduces the practices and benefits of Ayahuasca, the psychoactive plant brew that, according to the latest finds, has been used for healing by Amazonian shamans for as long as 70,000 years. Ayahuasca is called a plant teacher because it can heal physical, psychological, and emotional blocks. Through vivid visions, Ayahuasca takes the patient to other realms and dimensions, providing profound insights into human beings’ true nature and place in the cosmos. This book also includes the last interview (and the artwork) of internationally renowned visionary painter and former shaman Pablo Amaringo.
When George Lucas created the world of Star Wars over 25 years ago, he also inspired an alternative world inhabited by the “Original” Flying Toasters, Deadly Waffle Irons and Hot Cinnamon Buns. A world called Hardware Wars.
Michael Wiese Productions, producer of the critically acclaimed, award-winning 1977 short, Hardware Wars (which Lucas calls “my favorite spoof”), is making history once again. The Original Hardware Wars DVD: The Collector’s Edition was released on April 23rd, 2002 — just in time for the release of Star Wars – Episode II (purely a coincidence).
This is the acknowledged granddaddy of all Star Wars parodies and the ONLY film to feature flying, battling steam-iron spaceships and Digi Redo 8.2 sound! It’s time you were reunited with your old friends and fiends like Fluke Starbucker, Augie Ben Doggie, Princess Anne-Droid, Ham Salad and the evil Darth Nader!
Today, the Farce is back, packed with new laughs and surprises from its creator Ernie Fosselius – a fully-loaded DVD!
One hour of hilarious material includes: