7:00 PM ($15 Opening Night)
Short: Bring Me Sunshine (England, 2011) - NJ PREMIERE
It's a miserable dark morning as the bad news plays out on TBs across the world adding to the gloom. One lone uke-slinger vengtures into town ad upon seeing the townfolks' mood, grabs his ukulele and starts to sgrum... Featuring The Jive Aces, the UK's top swing and jive band. Filmmaker Alex Douglas.

Feature: Finding Joe (USA) - NJ PREMIERE
Come be inspired!! Finding Joe is an exploration of famed Mythologist Joseph Campbell’s studies and their continuing impact on our culture. Through interviews with visionaries from a variety of fields interwoven with enactments of classic tales by a sweet and motley group of kids, the film navigates the stages of what Campbell dubbed The Hero’s Journey: the challenges, the fears, the dragons, the battles, and the return home as a changed person. Rooted in deeply personal accounts and timeless stories, Finding Joe shows how Campbell’s work is relevant and essential in today’s world and how it provides a narrative for how to live a fully realized life – or as Campbell would simply state, how to “follow your bliss.”

Featuring: Deepak Chopra, Mick Fleetwood, Rashida Jones, Tony Hawk, Catherine Hardwicke, Laird Hamilton, Robert Walter (Pres. of Joseph Campbell Foundation), Akiva Goldsman, Sir Ken Robinson, Robin Sharma, Lynne Kaufman, Alan Cohen, Brian Johnson, Joseph Marshall III, Rebecca Armstrong, Chungliang Al Huang, David L. Miller, Gay Hendricks, David Loy and Norman Ollestad. Filmmaker Patrick Takaya Solomon.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

11:15 -11:45 AM
The Yoga Champions (USA, 2011) - NJ PREMIERE
($5 adults / $3 students & seniors - free for yoga class participants)
Studio owners from Colorado compete in the 2011 International yoga asana championships. The film shows what a yoga championship would be to all of those who may be initially turned off by the idea! Filmmaker Dobb Schreiber.

2:15-2:45 PM
From Bohemia's Woods and Fields
(England/Bohemia, 2011) - NJ PREMIERE
($5 adults/ $3 students & seniors)
How can an artist overcome a profound disability and find worldwide recognition? This documentary uncovers the story of Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, who wrote some of his most beautiful music following deafness. He died in a Prague mental asylum and was given a State funeral. Filmed entirely in Bohemia, with beautiful nature photography, sweeping panoramas, and native dancers. For classical music lovers and nature lovers, a must-see. Filmmaker Ian Woodward.

3:00-4:40 PM
Unmistaken Child
(Israel, some English subtitles, 2010) - NJ PREMIERE
($10 adults/ $8 students & seniors)
The Buddhist concept of reincarnation, while both mysterious and enchanting, is hard for most westerners to grasp. Unmistaken Child follows the 4-year search for the reincarnation of Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at age 84. The Dalai Lama charges the deceased monk's devoted disciple, Tenzin Zopa (who had been in his service since the age of seven), to search for his master's reincarnation. He relies on astrology, dreams and other signs to locate the child, knowing that if he succeeds, he must also convince the boy's parents to release their child into his care.

The shy Tenzin sets off on this unforgettable quest on foot, mule, and even helicopter, through breathtaking landscapes and remote traditional Tibetan villages. Along the way Tenzin listens to stories about young children with special characteristics, and performs rarely seen ritualistic tests designed to determine the likelihood of reincarnation. He eventually presents the child he believes to be his reincarnated master to the Dalai Lama, who will make the final decision.

A fascinating story, beautifully filmed. Filmmaker Nati Baratz.

6:00-7:00 PM
Mystic Wisdom (USA, 2011) - NJ PREMIERE
($8 adults/ $5 students & seniors)
How many times have each of us wished for answers to life’s deep questions? Join Cheryl in experiencing a series of intimate conversations with a wise, humorous, charismatic yogic guru, Sadhguru. Embrace the possibility that to each of us is available a higher realm of reality, a peak of concsiousness, and entrée into the realm of freedom and bliss. Filmmaker Cheryl Simone. DVD copies will be available for purchase.

8:00-9:45 PM
Short: One Plastic Beach
($10 adults/ $8 students & seniors)
Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang have been collecting plastic debris off one beach in Northern California for over ten years. Each piece of plastic Richard and Judith pick up comes back to their house, where it gets cleaned, categorized and stored before being used for their art. The couple makes sculptures, prints, jewelry and installations with the plastic they find washed up, raising a deeper concern with the problem of plastic pollution in our seas. Filmmakers Erik Slatkin & Tess Thackara.

Feature: Waste Land
(2010, English & Portugese with some English subtitles)
In this powerful film, renowned artist Vik Muniz journeys to the world’s largest garbage dump in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, to work with pickers of recyclables to recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage. Director Lucy Walker (Devil’s Playground, Blindsight, Countdown to Zero) has great access to the entire process and, in the end, offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit. A hugely inspiring, wonderful film - don't miss it!

Nominated for a 2011 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Winner Audience Award for Best World Cinema Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2010. Filmmaker Lucy Walker.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

1:00-2:45 PM ($10 adults/ $8 students & seniors)
Short: Tick Tock Emporium (USA) - NJ PREMIERE
Max’s mom never has enough time for her daughter. So when Max discovers a magical pawn shop that sells Time, she thinks she has the solution to all of her problems. But when the cantankerous shop owner catches her stealing some expensive time, she finds her problems have only just begun. Followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Morgan Faust.

Beads on One String (USA) - U.S. PREMIERE
Like a road movie on the spiritual path, Beads on One String takes the viewer on an extraordinary journey across India investigating mysticism, religion, and spirituality through the eyes of 50 travelers from around the world, ages 19 to 90, joined together to retrace a pilgrimmage designed by Meher Baba, a 20th Century Indian mystic and spiritual master. Followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Sevn Wayne McCauley.

3:00-4:15 PM
Finding Seoul (USA,2011) - NJ PREMIERE
($8 adults/ $5 students & seniors)
Finding Seoul follows one individual (the filmmaker) as he attempts to find his birth family. John Sanvidge was raised in upstate New York and brought up in an Irish and Italian household with two adopted siblings. During his journey, he visits with his adoptive family to help them understand why he’s made the decision to look now and travel to Seoul, South Korea, in attempt to reconnect with a world he doesn’t understand. Followed by a Q&A with filmmaker John Sanvidge.

4:30-6:00 PM
Short: The Little Frog
An example of how the determination of one can influence others to excel. Filmmakers Sam Yousefian, Ramiro Cazaux, Jon-Pierre Dupy, and Rob Fried.

Feature: May I Be Frank (USA, 2010)
($10 adults/ $8 students & seniors)
Frank Ferrante is a 54 year old Sicilian from Brooklyn living in San Francisco. A lover of life, great food, beautiful women and a good laugh, Frank is also a drug addict, morbidly obese, pre-diabetic, and fighting Hepatitis C. He’s estranged from his daughter, single, and struggling with depression. Frank knows that life can be better than this, and is looking for a way out.

May I Be Frank documents the transformation of Frank’s life. He unknowingly stumbles into a local restaurant in San Francisco, Café Gratitude, a raw, organic and vegan café. As he becomes friends with the staff, he keeps returning to the café where he feels welcomed and free from his collapsing personal life. On one such visit, Frank is asked by Ryland, one of the servers, “What is one thing you want to do before you die?” Frank replies “I want to fall in love one more time, but no one will love me looking the way I do.”

Inspired by the possibility of helping Frank, the agreement is made that for the next 42 days, Frank will turn his life over to the three young cafe owners committed to his healing and prepared to coach him physically, emotionally and spiritually. Frank will eat only raw food, practice gratitude, visit local holistic practitioners, and get a weekly colonic. Ryland, Conor, and Cary get to support and witness Frank’s miraculous transformation. Frank gets a new body, a clearer mind, and most importantly, a soaring spirit.

May I Be Frank documents the essence of the human condition and what it truly means to fall in love again. Filmmakers Cary Mosier, Ryland Engelhart, Conor Gaffney. NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN UNDER 16.

6:15 -6:45 PM
Zen: Aqui y Ahora (Zen: Here and Now)
(Spain, English subtitles) - NJ PREMIERE
($5 adults/ $3 students & seniors)
Ana lives a normal, everyday life with one exception – she has been meditating from 6:00 to 7:00 in the morning for almost 30 years. Ana explains her devotion and the rituals of her practice (zazen). Visit Ana's private dojo (a chicken coop!) and an intensive group meditation session where she guides us through a world of tradition and wisdom. Filmmaker Elisabet Prandi.