The Oregon-based, producer/director, whose film credits include such films as The Goodbye Girl and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure was in Cleveland January 24th and 25th at Unity of Greater Cleveland church to conduct a workshop exploring the new category of film he calls "spiritual cinema" and to promote his new book The Force Is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives which outlines this new genre.
Simon told the crowd of more than 100 that he believes the "mainstream" audience so coveted by Hollywood no longer exists. As an example, he cited the facts that although 26 movie sequels were released in 2002, overall ticket sales declined nationally for the first time since 1991.
Spiritual cinema is not traditional religious film, a la The Ten Commandments, but encompasses movies that explore humanity and our search for meaning. These films examine the nature of reality and time (The Matrix, Vanilla Sky), life in the hereafter (The Sixth Sense, Field of Dreams), and our fear of technology (Terminator). "We use film to impart cultural ideas", he said, "not simply to entertain". Simon cited three films released in 2002 as an example of an ongoing cultural shift communicated through film: The Hours, Frida and Far from Heaven. According to Simon, each celebrates the ascension of feminine energy and are harbingers of an forthcoming age where "...the debris of the old paradigm will be washed away."
The weekend's activities consisted of film screenings and discussions, including the sleeper sensation Whale Rider and Simon's own Oscar-award winning What Dreams May Come starring Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Annabella Sciorra. The audience was also treated to clips of Simon's most recent film, Indigo starring Neale Donald Walsh, author of Conversations with God books as the grandfather on the run with his gifted granddaughter. Indigo recently won the Audience Choice award at the Santa Fe Film Festival.
During the discussions, Simon candidly told of his successes and difficulties, both personal and professional. He described bankruptcies (two), a turbulent family life, and bad movies (several members of the crowd groaned when he referenced his involvement in the Madonna debacle Body of Evidence), stating that "If you are an entrepreneur...if you really are pushing the envelope...you must fail. It is unavoidable."
Simon's passion for the field has led to the creation of spiritual cinema communities in the United States and around the world. In these groups, fans view and discuss films. They also form a creative circle for aspiring filmmakers who wish to create this type of cinema. Communities already exist in a multitude of cities including Los Angeles, Santa Fe and Washington DC with more forming in Florida, Minnesota, Australia and the Philippines. In fact, a video store in Ashland, Oregon has created a spiritual cinema section. "Titles that had been gathering dust for years are suddenly flying off the shelf. It's just fantastic for our business." says Andi Black, co-owner of DJ's Video. Simon passionately told the audience of his plans for this type of film, including his intention that eventually there will be a cable channel devoted to spiritual cinema, noting ironically that "we already have a bass fishing channel."
Simon challenged the audience to view Mel Gibson's controversial The Passion of The Christ which opens Ash Wednesday. He offered no opinion on the movie, which is already garnering claims of anti-Semitism, saying that he hasn't seen it yet, but he respected the fact that Gibson made the film he believed in. He also said that the dialogue sparked by the film could be some of the most important ever had in this nation. "We speak to each other through film," states Simon, "When you are pushing the envelope you are literally out of time. And sometimes you have to put something out there that the audience will catch up with later."
from Cool Cleveland contributor Marcia Bryant
(:divend:)