What a magnificent, magical film! Everything about this movie is remarkable, from it’s inception to its theme, from the amazing insights given by known spiritual icons to the humble wisdom from the “man on the street interviews.” If ever there were an entry for “spiritual cinema” this is it — this film has got spirit written all over it.

Start with the idea — that a regular suburban dad, not a film producer, wakes up one morning with the notion that he should make a film — about oneness. So, instead of shaking it off as a dream-like fantasy and going about his day, he calls his best friend and his cousin (also not filmmakers) and they decide to do it. They don’t have a story, a plot, or a camera but they seem to have a powerful drive. Gradually, while waiting for their camera to arrive in the mail, they put together a concept — a list of 20 or 30 questions that they will ask the man/woman in the street. The film will be a series of interviews.

But these are not just any old questions — these are the big ones: for example, what happens after we die? What is preventing world peace? Is war justified? What is heaven? And it turns out that these are not just any old interviews either. As the project grows the creators, Ward Powers and Scott Carter, begin to get some amazing interviews with famous spiritual leaders, teachers, and authors. There are yogis, rabbis, priests, monks, swamis, sufi mystics, and more. Interviews include Robert Thurman, Thich Nhat Hanh, Ram Dass, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Deepak Chopra, Father Thomas Keating, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a tape from the Dalai Lama, and more. Call it synchronicity, call it spirit, call it chocolate pudding, but its remarkable how many doors opened everywhere for these gentlemen.

The time and heart and wisdom that shine through these interviews are magical and inspirational. However, equally remarkable is the insight and wisdom that comes from the woman next door — the cook, the clerk, the poet, and the school kids. There is some amazing stuff here — equally noteworthy and hopeful. Even the people whose viewpoints you may not agree with deserve attention and consideration for the serious thought they have put into these issues.

Perhaps the most inspiring element of this film is the common themes and solutions that came up again and again from every sect, from every spirit. That’s where the oneness comes in — over and over again you hear it: we have to stop living in fear; we have to have compassion and accept all people, for they are us. We have to overcome the dualistic thinking that makes war possible or the notion that one religion is better than another. People need to wake up and stop buying into the bread and circuses campaign of the media and the government. We need to stop living in the past or the future and start paying attention to the now — and finally, the beautiful idea that heaven is right here, right now, if we would only appreciate it.

Ask the big questions and you get really big answers! Add a healthy dose of serious thought, a collective wisdom of hundreds of years, a generous helping of goodwill and heart and you’ve got one of the best films of this type to come out in years. Thank you, Ward Powers and Scott Carter, your crew, your producers and film company, for following the dream.

For more information on this film, visit http://www.onethemovie.org/

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