Films

The Great Hack (2019) | Directed by Karim Amer & Jehane Noujaim
Viewing facilitated by Jeff Pinnette

Data has surpassed oil as the world’s most valuable asset. It’s being weaponized to wage cultural and political warfare. People everywhere are in a battle for control of our most intimate personal details. The Great Hack uncovers the dark world of data exploitation with astounding access to the personal journeys of key players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data scandal. Amer and Noujaim encourage us to question the origin of the information we consume daily. What do we give up when we tap that phone or keyboard and share ourselves in the digital age?

Becoming Nobody (2019) | Directed by Jamie Catto
Viewing facilitated by Rocco LaPenta

Becoming Nobody represents the core arc of Ram Dass’s teachings and life: whether as Dr. Richard Alpert, the Harvard psychologist, or as Ram Dass who serves as a bridge between Eastern and Western philosophies, he has defined a generation of inner explorers and seekers of truth and wisdom. Through his turns as scion of an eminent Jewish family from Boston, Harvard psychologist, counter-culture adventurer, holy man, stroke survivor, and compassionate caregiver, Ram Dass has worn many hats on his journey. His ability to entertain and his sense of humor are abundantly evident in a conversation that brings us around to address the vast question of ultimate freedom.

Dancing in the Flames (2009) | Directed by Adam Greydon Reid
Viewing facilitated by Lois LeBlanc

Dancing in the Flames is a brilliant and intimate documentary into the life of Jungian Analyst, Marion Woodman, who is known for her groundbreaking work as a teacher and author on feminine psychology and addiction. We are taken into a metaphoric representation of the unconscious imagery that Marion discusses so passionately and, in doing so, are invited to examine our own lives. Mystic and author Andrew Harvey interviews Marion as she explains the mysteries of her soul’s journey and reveals a series of psychological ‘deaths’ and ‘rebirths’ that have formed the consciousness into which she has evolved. The film presents a philosophy of dynamic opposites, the bridging of seeming contradictions. Life and death, love and grief, courage and submission are not at loggerheads for her—they’re part of a harmonious whole. By embracing these opposites we come into the totality of human experience.

Russian Ark (2002) | Directed by Alexander Sokurov
Viewing facilitated by Cybele Brandow

Told in one fluid shot, Sokurov presents a tale which floats like a dreamlike journey through the majestic spaces of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Real and imagined characters from Russian and European history are engaged in seamless and mysterious transitions from one room to the next. The nameless protagonist, a 19th-century French diplomat, guides the audience through a lost, sumptuous dream that was the Enlightenment period. Staged among some of the greatest masterpieces of western art tradition, the film culminates in a pageant of color, motion, and music, leaving its viewers in a state somewhere between awe and somber reverie.

Journey of the Universe: Conversations (2013) | Directed by Patsy Northcutt & Adam Loften
Viewing facilitated by Thankful Butler

Journey of the Universe: Conversations is an expansive, multidisciplinary project that re-imagines the universe story and the human role in the flourishing of the Earth community. The series invites viewers to become fellow travelers on an immense journey—from the beginnings of the universe, to the origins of life, to our current emergence as a planetary presence. These conversations are designed to accompany the Journey of the Universe film (screened at the Center last year), book (Yale University Press), and curriculum.