Bengaluru: The inaugural World Culture Film Festival organized by The Art of Living got underway in Los Angeles. The four-day festival showcased films “that inspire, educate, and celebrate diverse cultures.”
“Films have such a deep impact on people and their minds. Can we make this a tool to uplift the human consciousness?” the global humanitarian and spiritual leader, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar asked in his address at the WCFF opening, “Can we make movies a medium to bring more happiness to people, create more belongingness among people?”
Gurudev also spoke about negative role models created through cinema in the form of violent or aggressive heroism. “Every child wants to be a hero. But is the role model in the story serving the purpose of uplifting the human mind? We need to think about this. And so I’m glad that so many of you from the entertainment industry — producers, actors, and directors — are here. And you are able to see this vision, and thinking on the lines of what you can do to impact the world consciousness in a way to bring it together in love and compassion.”
WCFF opened with the Oscar-shortlisted dramedy The Monk and the Gun, directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji. The Bhutanese filmmaker — whose film ‘Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom’ earned a 2022 Academy Award nomination for Best International Film — also did a Q&A with the audience following The Monk and the Gun screening.
The idea for the unique film festival was born at the grand World Culture Festival that drew an estimated 1 million people from all over the world to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC last year, showcasing the raw power of love, diversity and brotherhood. The event witnessed the presence of dignitaries including former UN Secretary-General H.E. Ban Ki-Moon, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Sen. Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, and Japan’s former First Lady Akie Abe, widow of the late former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe.
The film festival closes with Wim Wenders’ Oscar-nominated Perfect Days, a drama about Hirayama (Koji Yakusho), a man who cleans Tokyo’s public toilets, renowned for their immaculate appearance. The film talks about the spiritual goodness of enjoying the simple things in life.