Unbound joy

The film Finding Happiness takes the viewer on a journey of living in peace and harmony in a community called Ananda.

A still from Finding Happiness

‘Are you spiritual? If not, you must visit our Anand Ashram in California. It was founded by people who wished to live life in serenity, detached from the crazy world,” says Shivani Anand, who has served their cause for over 45 years as an active member and meditation teacher, and co-produced the film Finding Happiness, which traces the journey of a fictional journalist through the inner circles of the Anand Ashram community.
Swami Kriyananda, who founded the ashram in Gurgaon in 1969, with an aim to initiate people to practising simplicity via spirituality, has written the film, that released in the US earlier this year and was released in Pune on April 25. Anand says, “Finding Happiness happened accidentally. What began as a series of unscripted interviews with Swami Kriyananda and his followers, developed into this refreshingly original film.”
The film also marks producer Roberto Bessi’s (CEO of Empire Studio) foray into the spiritual documentary genre. Bessi roped in his long time associate, writer-director Nicolaou of Terrorvision and Subspecies fame, who got attached to the project at the inception stage. Nicolaou also co-wrote the script and conducted interviews with Kriyananda and his followers, spending much time at the ashram.
The plot is a blend of fact and fiction and revolves around journalist Juliet Palmer, played by Elizabeth Rohm, who is sent to the ashram in California by her boss to interview Kriyananda. Palmer walks in as a skeptic and walks out spiritually transformed. “Through out the shoot, Elizabeth engaged in conversations with Swami Kriyananda and the members of the ashram. She was very active and professional during the shoot,” says Anand, adding, “The unscripted responses constitute a major part of the script.”
The film has the warmth of the last words of Swami Kriyananda, who passed away a day after watching the pre-final and final cut of the movie. “I think it is perfect; the master was pleased,” Anand says.

Ashwin KV Namboodiri

Women jurist dominate the Cannes Film Festival

New Zealand director Jane Campion will head a jury of five women and four men for this year’s Cannes international film festival – its first majority female judging panel since 2009.
The world’s most prestigious international film festival, which made the announcement last week, has often been criticised for giving short shrift to women in cinema. Campion is the only female director ever to win the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, which she secured with her 1993 film The Piano. Joining her will be American director Sofia Coppola and actresses Carole Bouquet from France, Leila Hatami of Iran and South Korea’s Jeon Do-yeon. Also on the panel will be American actor Willem Dafoe, Mexican actor and director Garcia Bernal, Chinese director Jia Zhanke and Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn.
Two of the 18 feature-length films in competition this year were made by women — Japanese director Naomi Kawase’s Still the Water and Italian director Alice Rohrwacher’s Le Meraviglie.

Reuters

Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher lead cast of new Star Wars film

Harrison Ford will lead returning and rising stars, including Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis and Oscar Isaac, for the anticipated new Star Wars: Episode VII film, Walt Disney Co and Lucasfilm revealed.
Ford, Fisher and Hamill, who were rumoured to be returning to director J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the franchise, will be joined by the series’ original stars Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Kenny Baker (R2-D2).
Ford played Han Solo, Fisher played Princess Leia and Hamill was Luke Skywalker in the original films, but it is not known if they will reprise their roles or have different characters in the new film. Joining the franchise alongside Lord of the Rings star Serkis and Inside Llewyn Davis actor Isaac will be Swedish actor Max Von Sydow, Girls star Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson and newcomers John Boyega and Daisy Ridley.
“It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud,” Abrams said in a statement.
Disney purchased Star Wars creator George Lucas’ Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4.05 billion and announced three new films in the franchise. Episode VII is scheduled for release on December 18, 2015. Reuters

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