Following up his portraits of Hitler in Moloch (1999) and Lenin in Taurus (2001), Alexander Sokurov’s film is a mesmerizing tour of Emperor Hirohito’s final days in power during the waning moments of WWII.

Hirohito (Issei Ogata) wanders through his palace in a child-like state of denial. He spends his time studying marine biology and paging through a photo album of Hollywood stars. Hirohito’s patient chamberlain (Shiro Sano) encourages his isolation through banal daily rituals, which include “time for private thought.” But reality soon intrudes, as American soldiers overrun his manicured gardens and nightmare visions of Hiroshima invade his dreams. No longer a God among men, Hirohito is forced to kowtow to General MacArthur (Robert Dawson), who softly pushes the terms of the occupation and, even more dramatically, for the renunciation of Hirohito’s divinity.

One of the best movies released in 2009 (NY Times), The Sun is an elegantly constructed meditation on absolute power and how it dissipates the man who wields it.

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Grade Level: College and University
Subjects: Power, Politics, Culture, Asian Studies, History
Copyright: © Alive Mind Education 2010
Set: DVD Only
Total Running Time: 110 minute

Educational Prices:
Educational with Public Performance Rights: $129.00

 
 
 
For public exhibition inquiries please contact us for more details!

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A State of Mind follows two North Korean schoolgirls and their families in the lead up to the “Mass Games” — the biggest and most elaborate human performance on earth — and in the process reveals more of North Korea than ever before.

Following on from the 2002 award winning documentary The Game of Their Lives, VeryMuchSo productions was granted permission from the North Korean film authorities to make a second documentary: an observational film following two young gymnasts, 13 year old Pak Hyon Sun and 11 year old Kim Song Yun, and their families for over eight months in the lead up to the Mass Games — involving a cast of thousands in a choreographed socialist realism spectacular — the biggest and most elaborate human performance on earth.

A State of Mind provides a rare glimpse into what is one of the world’s least known societies. North Korea is sealed off from outside influences. It borders China and Russia to the north, and to the south there is a 4km wide impenetrable border with South Korea. The country follows its own communist ideals, a strict philosophy known as the Juche Idea wrapped around the worship of the Kim dynasty – Kim Il Sung, their Eternal President who died in 1994 but remains Head of State, and his son and successor, Kim Jong Il, known as the General.

The crew began filming in February 2003 with unique access to the two families’ day to day life from home, at work in the city and countryside — a remarkable insight into a part of North Korean society never before allowed. As their Korean minder explained “you have to understand, no one has ever been allowed to see, let alone film, what you are witnessing.”

Western eyes, for the very first time, have a unique insight into North Korean society, its people, its way of life, and its total devotion to their leader and ruler, Kim Jong Il.

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A State of Mind Product Information

Grade Level: College and University
Subjects: Asian Studies, North Korea, Sociology
Copyright: © Alive Mind Education 2010
Set: DVD Only
Total Running Time: 94 minutes + extras

Educational Prices:

Educational with Public Performance Rights: $179.00

 
 
 
 
For public exhibition inquiries please contact us for more details!

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“93 unblinking minutes of insight into the lives and minds of the people living in North Korea. One of the last locked-down communist dictatorships.”
-The Los Angeles Times

“The Mass Games are performed for the sole satisfaction of Kim Jong-Il, North Korea’s generalissimo. A Stalin with less self-doubt, Kim gave Gordon and Co. what the director called “unparalleled cooperation” to make a movie about the games, apparently believing, in his arrogance, that they actually would. What Gordon created instead - with the extraordinary cinematography of Nick Bennett, and the first-rate editing of Peter Haddon - is a portrait of the power of power.”
- New York Newsday

Alexander Sokurov continues his brilliant investigation into the lives of dictators with the “engrossing, supremely assured” (Village Voice) The Sun. He has followed up his portrait of Hitler in Moloch (1999) and Lenin in Taurus (2001) with this mesmerizing tour of Emperor Hirohito’s final days in power during the waning days of WWII.

Hirohito, played by Issei Ogata (Yi Yi) with “an impish wit” (Variety), wanders through his palace in a child-like state of denial. He spends his time studying marine biology and paging through a photo album of Hollywood stars. His patient chamberlain (Shiro Sano) encourages his isolation through banal daily rituals, which include “time for private thought.” But reality soon invades, as American soldiers overrun his manicured gardens and nightmare visions of Hiroshima invade his dreams. No longer a God among men, he is forced to kowtow to General MacArthur (Robert Dawson), who softly pushes the terms of the occupation and, even more dramatically, for the renunciation of his divinity.

One of the best of 2009 (NY Times), The Sun is an elegantly constructed meditation on absolute power and how it dissipates the man who wields it.
“fascinating…terrific.”
-The New York Times

“It is the profoundest and aesthetically most satisfying of his excursions into biography, films in which his preoccupation with dreams serves what may be his real interest: history.”
–Daniel Mendelsohn, New York Review of Books

“…staggering and brilliant.”
-TimeOut NY

“One of the best films of the year.”
-Art Forum

“…engrossing, supremely assured…”
-Village Voice

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The Sun Product Information

Grade Level: College and University
Subjects: Culture, History
Copyright: © Alive Mind Education 2010
Set: DVD Only
Total Running Time: 115 minutes

Educational Prices:

Educational with Public Performance Rights: $249.00
 
 
 
Educational without Public Performance Rights: $129.00
 
 
 

Note: Please contact info@alivemindeducation.com or call us at 800-562-3330 if you need further assistance.

 
 
 
 
For public exhibition inquiries please contact us for more details!

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An entertaining and provocative look at Hollywood’s depiction of Native Americans, Reel Injun journeys through a century of cinema to set the record straight. Traveling through the heartland of the U.S., to the Black Hills and Monument Valley, Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond examines how the myth of the movie “Injun” has influenced the world’s understanding – and misunderstanding – of Natives.

With clips from hundreds of classic and recent films, it is a remarkable feat of historical research, documenting the shift from nuanced silent-era heroes to the Western’s “noble savage” stereotype, leading up to the bourgeoning Native independent scene of Smoke Signals and The Fast Runner.

Containing candid interviews with celebrated directors, writers, actors and activists, including Clint Eastwood, Robbie Robertson, Sacheen Littlefeather, John Trudell, and Russell Means, Reel Injun is an insightful and essential compendium for understanding the racial politics of Hollywood and the continuing artistic vibrancy of Native peoples.
 
 
 

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Reel Injun Product Information
 
Grade Level: College and University
Subjects: Culture, Cinema Studies, Anthroplogy, Sociology, American History, Native American Studies
Copyright: © Alive Mind Education 2010
Set: DVD Only
Total Running Time: 85 minutes

Educational Prices:

Educational with Public Performance Rights: $249.00
 

 
Educational without Public Performance Rights: $129.00

 

For public exhibition inquiries please contact us for more details!
 

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Spiritual Revolution captures the spiritual revival that is exploding across the United States today. Rooted in eastern traditions, specifically the practice of meditation, the new spirituality is transforming traditional western faith practices. Eminent spiritual leaders, Zen masters, yogis, scholars and scientists explore the new role of meditation in traditional faith practices; the power of meditation to affect the brain on the molecular level; and its potential as a remedy for those with ADD. Emerging new gender paradigms based on equality are also presented.

This documentary chronicles the American discovery of eastern traditions in the 60s and how today’s younger generation is embracing the concept of ‘mindfulness.’ Spiritual Revolution is an eye-opening film that will have you looking at spirituality, and the world, from an entirely new perspective.

Includes interviews with: Ronald Alexander Ph.D., Amma, Brother Atmananda, Dr. Mani Bhaumik, Pamela Bothwell ,Daniel Brown, Ph.D., Edward Espe Brown, Master Charles Cannon, Orlando Cepeda, Swami Chetanananda, Firenze Crawford, Bhagavan Das, Nirantara Dasa, Professor Diana L. Eck, Mark Epstein, M.D., Debbie Ford, Paul Fulton, Ed.D., Trudy Goodman, Ed.M., LMFT, Susan Kaiser Greenland, Professor Thomas Groome, Steven Halpern, Venerable Miao Hsi, Venerable Bhikshuni Tenzin Kacho, Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Ph.D., Jack Kornfield, Sara Lazar, Ph.D., Professor John Makransky, Ivette Malendez, M.S.W., Sakyong, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche, Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao, Bhante Walpola Piyananda, Steve Ross, Steven S. Sadleir, Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., Ronald Siegel, Psy.D., Ibian Soto, Jeffrey Thompson, D.C., Anam Thubten Rinpoche, Professor Robert A.F. Thurman, Venerable Bardor Tulku Rinpoche, Chakrapani Ullal, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Shinzen Young, Kathryn Harrold, Alan Swyer, Daniel David, Gene Lushtak and Peri Doslu

 
 
Spiritual Revolution Product Information
 
Grade Level: Grades 10-12, College and University
Subjects: Culture, Religion, Spirituality
Copyright: © 2008 East Meets West Productions. All rights reserved.
Set: DVD Only
Total Running Time: 123 minutes
Educational Prices: (includes Public Performance Rights)
 
 

• College / University: $249.00


• Library / High School: $129.00

For public exhibition inquiries please contact us for more details!
 

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If you don’t believe in God, but want to, where do you begin? Simon Cole sets out across America in search of a connection with God that has perplexed and eluded him throughout his life in the new documentary film So Help Me God.

In Religulous, Bill Maher embarked on a satirical quest to find God while mocking the beliefs of the religious. In So Help Me God, Simon Cole chronicles his odyssey across the nation asking Christians, Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Amish, Jews, Sikhs, Mormons, Buddhists and fellow free thinkers quite simply, “Who is God?” Cole’s sincerity instantly puts his subjects at ease as they share cherished stories and beliefs from virtually every religious tradition in the country. A humble supplicant in search of God, or at least insights about Him, Cole visits communities from the Pentecostal deep south to the Hasidic enclaves of Brooklyn to the gay Catholic congregations of the West Coast. This powerful documentary is more than one man’s quest to connect with God, it is a collage of the contemporary American religious experience that concludes with a personal revelation.
 

 

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So Help Me God Product Information
 
Grade Level: Grades 10-12, College and University
Subjects: Culture and Society, Science and Religion
Copyright: © 2008 Three Brothers Productions INC. All rights reserved.
Set: DVD Only
Total Running Time: 52 minutes
UPC Number: 0-9824268-0-1
Catalog Number: ALV-DV-39
Educational Prices:

 
Educational with Public Performance Rights: $249.00
 
 

Educational without Public Performance Rights: $129.00
 
 

Note: Please contact info@alivemindeducation.com or call us at 800-562-3330 if you need further assistance.

 

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Video Librarian Review
January/February 2010
In Religulous, comedian Bill Maher traveled around America to draw believers into conversations that would reveal the foolishness of much, if not all, organized religion. So Help Me God covers a similar journey, but filmmaker Simon Cole is a successful businessman and a nonbeliever who genuinely seeks spiritual fulfillment, looking for God while talking to members of different religious groups. Cole begins his quest with a gag that might put people off (the one about asking a telephone operator for the deity’s phone number), but once on the road, his attitude becomes more serious as he engages with Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists, Amish, Mormons, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Sikhs—as well as self-professed “free thinkers.” The range of opinion is naturally wide, with some interviewees rigidly doctrinaire and others extraordinarily broad-minded; and since most are ordinary folk rather than religious scholars, their words don’t necessarily carry denominational authority. But whatever camp they fall into, Cole treats them with respect, and they respond to his gentle probing with observations that are revealing and often gently humorous as well. The result is a film that, while focusing on Cole’s spiritual search, ably portrays the diversity of religious experience in the U.S. Recommended. 3 Stars.
 

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In the state of Judea in southern Africa, violence, poverty and sectarianism are endemic. The neighbouring Alliance has invaded to restore ‘peace’ at gunpoint. Bloody street battles accompany the neighbouring dictatorship’s incursion into its weaker satellite. Promises of a transition to open democratic rule accompany summary executions and brutal massacres. As the civil war reaches a new level, a divine child is born to a lowly couple. As he grows and witnesses the inhumanity of the world he lives in, his angelic guardians offer him an escape to the heavens. He refuses. This is his world and he must try to save it from the work of evil men and from the darkness working through them. As an adult, he travels to the capital, gathering followers from the armed factions of rebels that crisscross the land. He demands that his followers give up their guns and confront their corrupt rulers with a vision of non-violent protest and solidarity. Inevitably, he attracts the attention of the Judean tribal leaders who have struck a power-sharing deal with the aloof Governor Pilate. The Son of Man must be brought down and destroyed. It should be another simple ‘disappearance’ like any other…

 
 

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Son of Man Product Information
 

Additional Information

• Cast
• Credits

 

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Reviews

Son of Man review
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert, January 23, 2006 
 
The South African film renaissance continues with one of the most extraordinary and powerful films at Sundance, “Son of Man.” This is the story of Jesus, told in episodes from the New Testament, but set in present-day Africa. This is a Jesus (Andile Kosi) who says the same sorts of things he says in the Bible, is not “updated” except in some of his terms of reference, and yet sends an unmistakable message: If Jesus were alive today, he would be singled out as a dangerous political leader, just as he was the first time around.
 
The movie has relatively little spoken dialogue, but a great deal of music, that joyous full-throated South African music that combines great technical skill with great heart. Some of the best moments belong to a chorus, singing the praises of the lord. Others belong to an actress named Pauline Malefane, who plays Mary, and sings in celebration after being told she will be the mother of Jesus.
 
She’s told by an angel; the angels in the movie are small African boys with a few feathers attached here and there, looking on with concern. Jesus’s disciplines include a few women along with the men this time, and they follow him through the townships of Cape Town as he preaches non-violence. Television news tells of occupying forces and uprisings, the modern version of the Roman concern with the Jews. Judas spies on Jesus with a video camera. The secret of the movie is that it doesn’t strain to draw parallels with current world events – because it doesn’t have to.
 
The movie was directed by Mark Dornford-May, but it is an improvisational collaboration of the Dimpho Di Kopane Theater company, which also created Dornford-May’s great “U-Carmen” (2005), a version of Bizet’s opera sung entirely in Khosa. That, too, starred Pauline Malefane, a trained opera singer.
 

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“More moving than the Last temptation of Christ and smarter than Mel Gibson’s Passion”
- Seattle Weekly

“Vivid, thrilling, awe-inspiring”
- Telegraph

“Son of Man could hardly
be bettered”
- Variety

Filmmaker John Walter artfully captures Meryl Streep groping for – and then seizing – the character in her unforgettable portrayal of Mother Courage in Tony Kushner’s adaptation of the Bertolt Brecht masterpiece Mother Courage and Her Children, which was presented by The Public Theater/NY Shakespeare Festival in Central Park in the summer of 2006. As Manohla Dargis in the Times observed, “filmmaker John Walter jumps from art to history and politics and back again, from the theater of the streets to the theater of the stage, without pause. That makes the movie… tough to summarize, which is part of its appeal.” Though this film could easily have been crafted into a star vehicle for Streep and Kevin Kline, Walter instead digs deeply into Brecht’s motives and politics, unearthing the playwright’s famed and famously clever testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee – the day after which he fled from the United States. THEATER OF WAR is about theater and war, capitalism and Marxism, the postwar anti-Communist hysteria of the 1950s, and one literary genius’s ability to make art from them all.
 
 

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Theater of War Product Information
 

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Additional Information
 

• Video Clips - Coming Soon!
• Full Reviews - Coming Soon!
• Director’s Interview - Coming Soon!
• Credits - Coming Soon!

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Reviews

“For those interested in the continuing relevance of theater in a society dominated by
momentary electronic impulses, in the responsibility of artists in wartime and in the
greatest anti-capitalist, anti-government, antiwar and anti-romantic playwright of the 20th
century, Walter’s cool, capable, stimulating exploration is a must.”
-Salon.com

“In his inspired, inspiring essayistic documentary Theater of War, [John
Walter] jumps from art to history and politics and back again, from the theater of the
streets to the theater of the stage, without pause. That makes the movie, which follows a
Public Theater production in Central Park of Bertolt Brecht’s epic play Mother Courage
and Her Children, tough to summarize, which is part of its appeal”
-The New York Times

“…living philosophy…What is the value of art in times of strife? Should people be sitting in the theater or rioting in the streets? Walter’s film reminds us that once there was a man whose work made no distinction between the two.”
-Boston Globe
 
“If you’re interested in world theater or the work ethic of arguably the greatest actor of her generation, see Theater of War…. a must-see event for theater-lovers and Streep watchers alike. Don’t miss it.”
-Boston Herald
 

“THEATER OF WAR is more than a backstage pass. It’s an engrossing and fiercely
intelligent look at war and capitalism, and their regrettable dependence on one another.
But even more, it’s about the power—if not responsibility—of art and artists to cast a
light on that which we prefer not to see.”
-Sky Sitney

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In 1949, Bertolt Brecht, one of the most accomplished playwrights of the 20th century, was invited to East Berlin to stage one of his plays. Brecht had left Germany in 1933 and lived in several European countries before finally settling in the United States in 1941. He continued to write plays, even though he did not know if he would live to see his plays performed for German audiences ever again, and also worked as a screenwriter. He left the U.S. the day after he was compelled to testify at a House Un-American Activities Committee hearing on Communism in the motion picture industry. His first production in postwar Germany was Mutter Courage und Ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and her Children), starring his wife Helene Weigel. Set during the Thirty Years War, the play had obvious echoes for a German audience that had just endured World War II. In 2006, as the U.S. fought in Iraq, the Public Theatre in New York City commissioned a new English adaptation of Brecht’s play by Tony Kushner for a production starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.

Theater of War shows scenes in rehearsal from the production and interviews Streep, Kushner, and other involved in it. Their thoughts on Brecht and the meaning of the play are supplemented by recollections of Carl Weber, a Stanford University professor who worked as an assistant director to Brecht, and Brecht’s daughter Barbara. We also get to hear from Brecht himself, in audio clips as he directs one of his plays, and in film of his testimony before HUAC. Weber says in the video that Brecht’s testimony can be seen as a Brechtian comedy. Pretending not to be fluent in English (although he was), Brecht’s performance during the testimony shows what a good actor he was, Weber says.

Brecht is famous for his concept of “epic theatre,” where the actors step outside the character to comment on the action of the play as they perform it. As is mentioned in the video, Brecht wanted audiences to have an emotional reaction and think at the same time. The scenes from the play shown in the video and the commentary demonstrate this. It makes one wish the entire production had been recorded and released for viewing. But the video does give us a taste of it, and is recommended for all colleges and universities with theater programs and larger public libraries.

-Educational Media Reviews Online

 

Mona’s wedding day may be the saddest of her life. Once she crosses the border between Israel, where she lives with her family in a Druze enclave, and Syria, where her new husband is waiting, she will never be allowed to visit her family in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Syrian Bride is a poignant portrait of family life and gender relations in a region divided by political and military borders where all relationships are defined by ethnic identity.

 
 
 

 

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Syrian Bride Product Information
 
Grade Level: College and University
Subjects: Women’s Studies, International Women’s Issues, Middle Eastern Studies
Copyright: © 2004 Eran Riklis Productions Ltd, MACT Productions, Neue Impuls, ARTE France Cinema. All rights reserved.
Languages: Arabic, Hebrew, English, Russian, French with English Subtitles
Set: DVD Only
Total Running Time: 97 minutes + extra bonus features
ISBN-10: 1-4172-0087-1
Educational Prices: (includes Public Performance Rights)
 

• College / University: $249.00


 

• Library / High School: $129.00


 
Note: If you are unable to pay via PayPal, please contact info@alivemindeducation.com or call us at 212-398-3112 to order this title.

For public exhibition inquiries please contact us for more details!

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Reviews

“Immensely memorable…sensitive and thoughtful…tragic and darkly comic.”
-New York Daily News

“4 1/2 Stars!”
-Newsday

“Affecting, compelling and downright moving.”
-Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Narrated by Leonard Cohen, this two-part series explores ancient teachings on death and dying and boldly visualizes the afterlife according to Tibetan philosophy. A Way of Life documents the book’s acceptance and use in Europe and North America. Included is remarkable footage of the rites and liturgies surrounding and following the death of a Ladakhi elder as well as the views of the Dalai Lama on life and death. The Great Liberation observes an old Buddhist lama and a 13-year-old novice monk as they guide a deceased person into the afterlife. The passage of the soul is visualized with animation blended into actual location shooting. An additional short documentary, The Trap, explores Buddhist concepts of mutual respect, tolerance and cycles in the daily life of a North Atlantic fishing village.
 
 
 
 

 

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Tibetan Book of the Dead Product Information
 
Grade Level: College and University
Subjects: Religion & Spirituality, Eastern Teachings & Thought
Copyright: © 1994 National Film Board of Canada. All Rights Reserved.
Set: DVD Only
Total Running Time: 90 minutes with 20 minutes bonus footage

Educational Prices:
Educational with Public Performance Rights: $249.00
 
 
Educational without Public Performance Rights: $129.00
 
 
 

Note: If you are unable to pay via PayPal, please contact info@alivemindeducation.com or call us at 212-398-3112 to order this title.

For public exhibition inquiries please contact us for more details!

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