This year, Emergence, in association with Resurgence, Schumacher College, Volcano and Culture Colony is making a landmark documentary series of 6 hour-long conversations with Satish Kumar, one of the greatest living teachers and visionaries of the 21st century – and we want you to help us make it happen. We are doing this.
From April 27th to May 29th 2015, we will run our very first crowdfunding campaign to enable us to create these documentaries. We’re writing to you in the hope that you will support us by helping to spread the word as widely as possible via your networks. Here’s more information –
What is Emergence?
Emergence is an arts and sustainability collective based in Wales. We make art with one agenda: to change the world for the better. Satish Kumar is one of the main inspirations behind Emergence and his philosophy and activism continue to inspire our work.
Who is Satish Kumar?
Born in 1936, Satish became a Jain Monk aged 9 and then, aged 18, joined the Gandhian non-violent, land reform movement. In 1964 his 8,000 mile, Peace Walk took him from Delhi to all the nuclear capitals of the world, without a penny in his pocket, carrying only a message of peace.
He later settled in the UK and went on to become Editor of Resurgence Magazine championing ecology, art and spirituality. He founded the world’s leading college for activists and change-makers, Schumacher College, now celebrating its 25th anniversary.
“Satish is a truly remarkable manifestation of the human spirit. Working at the juncture of curiosity and compassion, he’s inspired so many to do so much!† - Bill McKibben, 350.org
“Visionary, earthy, filled with wonder – Satish Kumar and his work holds a door of possibility towards a future worth serving.†- Jonathon Porritt, Forum for the Future
In his tireless teaching, writing and speaking over eight decades, Satish has changed countless lives. But never before has there been a record of his life and work that deeply investigates all that he stands for and advocates.
Why make a documentary series?
We live in extreme and scary times, yet we lack the political leadership we need to bring our planet back from the brink of ecological, social and economic crisis. This situation leaves many of us feeling isolated and disempowered. The message at the heart of Satish’s teaching is that individuals can and do change the world for the better. He is a living example of Gandhi’s maxim that we should “be the change we want to see in the worldâ€. At times like these, we all need to be inspired to change – and Satish is one of the most inspirational teachers the world has ever seen.
In making this series, we want to bring Satish’s words and teachings to as wide an audience as possible and, at the same time, create a legacy of his lifetime of learning for generations to come. This won’t be a hagiography, a simple glorification of a man’s life and work. We will challenge Satish to communicate his philosophy as never before through six hours of intense, enlightening and enriching conversations.
What will the series be like?
We live in the age of the sound-bite, short attention spans and ‘quick-fix’ culture. We want this series to be the opposite of that – an opportunity to spend quality time in Satish’s company. The series will present Satish in deep conversation to really draw out his ideas and stories.
To ensure rigour of debate, we have chosen as our interviewer Jane Davidson, like Satish a teacher and activist, and also former Minister for the Environment and Sustainability in Wales – the woman behind the radical One Planet One Wales initiative.
Amongst the many legacies of Jane’s time in post, Wales is now committed to sustainability as a core organizing principle – the first government in the world to take such a stance. Jane is really looking forward to the conversations with Satish, keen to find ways of drawing out his ideas and bringing them firmly into the mainstream. Jane and Satish share the same values and ideals yet approach them from very different viewpoints. These conversations are sure to be a terrific meeting of minds that will bring real insight into the huge challenges we all face – and offer practical ways to change things for the better.
You can watch a short video of Jane talking about the project here.
These six hour-long films will be filmed in summer 2015 and released as a limited edition, beautifully presented, DVD box-set in autumn 2016 – Satish’s 80th year and the 50th Anniversary of Resurgence.
How will we be funding the series?
In keeping with the spirit of Emergence, we will be raising the funds via a campaign on the crowdfunding website, Indiegogo. By supporting our campaign and investing in the project, backers will be literally pre-ordering their copy of the documentaries – either by download or the DVDs – and we’ve also put together a terrific package of benefits, including signed books, subscriptions, the chance to attend the final interview or even to become a co-producer! This is a strictly not-for-profit project. All monies raised will go into making it happen.
How can you help?
We are initially approaching a number of influencers to help us. These are people we know who are committed to social change and have wide networks of contacts. We are approaching YOU as one of our influencers who, we hope, will endorse our project by flagging it up to your friends, colleagues and networks. Of course, we also hope you will back ourcrowd funding campaign.
This email is to give you advanced notice of our campaign. We have just 33 days to raise our budget of £30,000. When the campaign goes live we will send you an email linking to our page on the Indiegogo site with all the details you’ll need to share with your networks.
We’re really excited about creating this landmark documentary series and we hope you will join us in making it a reality. OUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAGN WILL GO LIVE ON MONDAY 27TH APRIL AND WILL RUN UNTIL FRIDAY 29TH MAY. During that time it would be wonderful if you could share our campaign emails, tweets and Facebook posts with your networks andencourage them to do likewise. The more people that hear about it, the morechance we have of reaching our target and making this happen.
We will be back in touch again soon, in the meantime if you want to know more please get in touch.
Warm wishes,
Fern, Phil & Esyllt
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Murdo Macdonald