Presence in Action - An Introduction to Theory U

"Presence in Action features Otto Scharmer's keynote address at the SoL Global Forum in Vienna, September, 2005."

Otto Scharmer About Presencing SoL - Society for Organizational Learning

• Posted by Frauke Godat

dropping knowledge - The Question Movie

"The original dropping knowledge promotional film, the Question Movie was first screened on their website in September 2005. Cut together from images created during dropping knowledge CEO Ralf Schmerberg’s 15-year career as a commercials director, the Question Movie is a visually poetic intoduction to the practice of questioning."

I have used this clip in workshops talking about the Art of Asking Meaningful Questions or to introduce the World Café as a method.

http://www.droppingknowledge.org/bin/media/show/2/2.page

• Posted by Frauke Godat

ONE

The universe gives unexpected help when a group of friends decide to step out of their everyday existence. Armed with a digital video camera, a list of 20 questions and a dream, they set out in search of the meaning of life. Amongst the people they encounter are: Thich Nhat Hanh, Robert Thurman, Deepak Chopra, Ram Dass, Fr Richard Rohr...

The screening I attended was followed by a discussion with an inter-faith panel including : Saeed AbdulRahim (Independent Islamic educator); Dada Jyotirupananda (UK representative of Ananda Marga ); Kripamoya Das (Krishna devotee and Baghavad Gita teacher); Alison Murdoch (Buddhist, Director of Universal Education).

ttp://www.onethemovie.org

• Posted by Maria Glauser

WHAT THE BLEEP DO WE KNOW?!

A new type of film. It is part documentary, part story, and part elaborate and inspiring visual effects and animations. The protagonist, Amanda finds herself in a fantastic Alice in Wonderland experience when her daily, uninspired life literally begins to unravel, revealing the uncertain world of the quantum field hidden behind what we consider to be our normal, waking reality. Fourteen top scientists and mystics interviewed in documentary style serve as a modern day Greek Chorus. In an artful filmic dance, their ideas are woven together as a tapestry of truth. The thoughts and words of one member of the chorus blend into those of the next, adding further emphasis to the film’s underlying concept of the interconnectedness of all things. Through the course of the film, the distinction between science and spirituality becomes increasingly blurred, since we realize that, in essence, both science and spirituality describe the same phenomena.

The film employs animation to realize the radical knowledge that modern science has unearthed in recent years. Powerful cinematic sequences explore the inner-workings of the human brain. Quirky animation introduces us to the smallest form of consciousness in the body – the cell. Dazzling visuals reinforce the film’s message in an exciting, powerful way. Done with humor, precision, and irreverence, these scenes are only part of what makes this film unique in the history of cinema, and a true box-office winner.

www.whatthebleep.com

• Posted by Busi Dlamini and Mille Bojer

A LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER

A Letter to the Prime Minister: Jo Wilding's Diary from Iraq, by Director Julia Guest (71 mins), documents Wilding's journey of witness: from the quiet brutality of the sanctions afflicting ordinary Iraqis to the siege of Fallujah, which she shared with Fallujans in April, 2004. Exclusive footage from the besieged city of Falluja creates a moving picture of the terrible impact UK & US foreign policy has had on ordinary Iraqi people, while the film itself stands as a powerful act of remembrance and questions an unjust and damaging Occupation.

After the screening there was a dialogue with the presence of an Iraqi Humanitarian aid worker who has been in some of the besieged cities in Iraq, including Falluja, that are shown in the film.

www.alettertotheprimeminister.co.uk

• Posted by Maria Glauser

MINDWALK

I felt the movie "Mindwalk", a movie by Bernd Capra was a good conversation starter. It is about systems-thinking and perception (around nature, religion, politics, gender policies, etc...) its a beautiful dialogue between a poet, a politician and a quantum physician.

• Posted by Pablo Handl

PURPOSE

I recently made use of the movie "Purpose" by Ronnie Apteker as a conversation starter. It's about the distractions and greed that keep us from fulfilling our purpose. Not the best acting, but a powerful message.

• Posted by Lesley Williams

CONTROL ROOM

Control Room is a rare film that is both timely and timeless: timeless because it explores the ancient and complex relationship between the Western and Arab worlds, timely because it reveals how satellite television has changed the way wars are reported - from news providers, driven by the patriotism of their audiences, to Army information officers, driven by military objectives. Control Room is a seminal documentary that explores how Truth is gathered, presented, and ultimately created by those who deliver it.

• Posted by Mille Boyer and Moraan Gilad

DROWN OUT

Shot over three years by Director Franny Armstrong (McLibel), Drowned Out tells the true story of one family's inspired stand against the destruction of their land, homes and culture. The 75 minute no-budget, no-electricity, no-Hindi documentary has been seen by more than 14 million people. Three choices. Move to the slums in the city, relocate to a barren resettlement site with no drinking water or stay at home and drown. The people of Jalsindhi in central India must make a decision fast. In the next few weeks their village will disappear underwater as the giant Narmada Dam fills. This film was screened in a PoC event in London, hosted by Alok Singh (alok@pioneersofchange.net)

http://www.spannerfilms.net/?lid=16

WAG THE DOG

A comedy about truth, justice and other special effects. A Hollywood producer. A Washington spin-doctor. When they get together, they can make you believe anything. When a Firefly Girl accuses the president of sexual misconduct in the Oval Office less than two weeks before the upcoming election, White House official Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) is told to bring in Conrad Bream (Robert De Niro) to fix the situation and save the president’s chances for reelection. This mysterious "fixer" fabricates a conflict with Albania in an effort to detract attention from the sex scandal, bringing in legendary Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman) to "produce" the war. When the CIA foils the initial plot, the creative team turns to a new story line, creating the saga of a U.S. soldier left behind enemy lines whom the president vows to find and return to American soil. Directed by Barry Levinson (DINER, RAIN MAN) and loosely based on Larry Beinhart's novel AMERICAN HERO, this merging of Hollywood and politics is both thought provoking and comical. The inspired casting of Hoffman as the self-absorbed producer and De Niro as the mysterious spin doctor is bolstered by a superb supporting cast that includes Denis Leary and Andrea Martin.

http://www.newline.com/sites/wagthedog/

• Posted by Maria Glauser

WORKINGMAN’S DEATH

Is heavy manual labor disappearing or is it just becoming invisible? where can we still find it in the 21st century? Workingman's death follows the trail of the heroes in the illegal mines of the Ukraine, sniffs out ghost among the sulfur workers in Indonesia, finds itself face to face with lions at a slaughterhouse in Nigeria, mingles with brothers as they cut a huge oil tanker into pieces in Pakistan, and joins Chinese steel workers in hoping for a glorious future. Meanwhile, the future is now in Germany, where a major smelting plant of bygone days has been converted into a bright and shiny leisure park.

"Work can be many things. Often it is barely visible; sometimes, difficult to explain;and in many cases, impossible to portray. Hard manual labor is visible, explainable, portrayable. This is why I often think of it as the only real work."

- Michael Glawogger

http://www.workingmansdeath.com/about_en.html

• Posted by Maria Glauser (mglauser@hotmail.com)

BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND THE ROOSTER'S CROW

In the aggressive search for the "black gold" that drives Western economies, multinational corporations are working to extract billions of dollars of oil reserves from beneath Ecuador's rainforest. Between Midnight and the Rooster's Crow investigates the operations of the EnCana Corporation, a firm that, despite proud public declarations of its social responsibility, is shown to be answerable for widespread environmental contamination and human rights violations. Filmmaker Nadja Drost follows the cross-country route of the pipeline, along the way interviewing farmers, indigenous community representatives, environmental activists and others, who recount forced relocation, imprisonment, and intimidation, including shootings and beatings by the Ecuadorian police and army who protect EnCana's pipeline.

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

THE END OF SUBURBIA

Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too has the suburban way of life become embedded in the American consciousness. Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. As we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era where global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. As scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary, World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us NOW. The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia? If Avi Lewis’ film The Take didn’t bring home the “New Impatience” enough, maybe the End of Suburbia will.

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

BEING CARIBOU

Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison set out from the remote Yukon village of Old Crow to follow the annual migration of the Porcupine Caribou Herd. For 5 months the Canadians migrated on foot with the 123,000-member herd from wintering to calving grounds in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and back again — 1500km across snow and tundra. They completed their journey on Sept. 8, 2003 and headed straight to Washington, DC to tell politicians and activists what they found—a fragile ecosystem with no chance for survival if US plans to drill for oil push ahead. A recent US House of Representatives decision postponed drilling for oil and gas in this precious environment, yet the pressure for oil consumption drives a battle for a decision of values—more oil or sacrifice nature itself.

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

DIVERSIDAD: INVESTIGATING FOOD ISSUES

On July 27th, 2003, in Vancouver, fifteen activists from across Canada got on their bicycles to undertake a journey of awareness aimed at connecting people to the food they consume. Their name: The Deconstructing Dinner Caravan (DDC). Their destination: the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 5th ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico. Inspired by their sense of urgency and wanting to fully explore food production problems that the world faces today, the makers of Diversidad followed the group as it engaged with individuals and communities that are attempting to reclaim their autonomy from the industrial food system. They encountered hundreds of people along the way, including a local farmer who became a father figure to the group, a community activist spreading a message of peace through organic food, and a Mexican indigenous farmer who introduced the DDC to ancient rituals of corn. Informative yet pointed, probing yet personal, the film explores a number of pressing issues, from exploitive agribusiness practices to the proliferation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), from the lopsided relations of First- and Third-World nations to the mass movement against the WTO and other global decision-makers that has become an integral part of our socio-cultural landscape. By exposing the problems that we face as consumers in the twenty-first century, and by tracking three individuals who are struggling to live sustainably within an unsustainable food system, Diversidad hopes to inspire its viewers to become, as one character in the film puts it, SOUL-UTIONARIES, proponents of holistic diversity and sustainable practices.

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

SCAREDSACRED

In a world teetering on the edge of self-destruction, award-winning filmmaker Velcrow Ripper sets out on a unique pilgrimage. Visiting the "Ground Zeros" of the planet, he asks if it's possible to find hope in the darkest moments of human history. Ripper travels to the minefields of Cambodia; war-torn Afghanistan; the toxic wasteland of Bhopal; post-9/11 New York; Bosnia; Hiroshima; Israel and Palestine. This powerful documentary captures his five-year odyssey to discover if humanity can transform the "scared" into the "sacred". Deep in the jungles of Cambodia, Ripper meets Aki Ra, a child soldier forced to lay landmines for the Khmer Rouge. Today Aki wanders his ravaged country with a simple wooden stick, decommissioning thousands of mines each year. In the shattered land of Afghanistan, Ripper searches for a Sufi musician who was banned from performing or even listening to music, by the reign of fundamentalism. The musician discovered a way out: he filled his house with songbirds. In each Ground Zero, he unearths unforgettable stories of survival, of ritual, resilience and recovery. ScaredSacred deftly weaves together stunning footage with haunting memories, inspirational stories, and an evocative soundscape. Featuring an engaging, first-person narrative, this film is an exquisite portrait of a search for meaning in times of turmoil, a luminous gift to a world in shadows.

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

LEADED/UNLEADED: The State Unleashed

This Indymedia Beirut production focuses on the May 2004 labour demonstrations held in some of the poorest areas of Lebanon, and violently repressed by the army. In the wake of ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri's death due to a massive bomb blast in downtown Beirut on February 14^th , 2005, there has been little focus on the perpetual economic crisis in Lebanon, where upwards of 40% of the country's population lives below the poverty line. Many link the current economic crisis to Hariri's neo-liberal economic policies in post-war Lebanon.

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

MUSIQUES REBELLES AMERICAS

From Tierra del Fuego to the Rio Grande the Americas are in turmoil, and in the midst of the social and political movements rocking the region are some amazing rebel musicians. Four of them take centre stage in the film Rebel Music Americas. Theirs is the music of the other America, the America of the South - popular, dynamic, rebellious and often… "anti-American". It's the rhythms and voices of displaced communities in Columbia, of "los piqueteros" blocking access to a refinery in Buenos Aires, of indigenous Mexicans hunted down at the US border, of peasants staging vast land occupations in Brazil Anibal and Charly, from the group Santa Revuelta, take us inside the social and monetary crisis in Argentina. They are sometimes exhausted, performing two or three times a day on picket lines, in front of huge demonstrations and at popular assemblies where thousands of people debate and vote with a show of hands as night falls. It's party music with content, and the crowds love it. Anibal, an economist by training, is never one to over simplify the crisis. Lila Downs, born of a Native (Mixteca) mother from Mexico and an American father, lends her amazing voice to stories of the border, between North and South, between hope and despair. Chico Cesar, a colourful and talented Brazilian songwriter, has taken up the cause of the landless peasants of the Movimento SemTerra, one of the largest mass organizations in the world. Combining salsa rhythms and afro-reggae beats his music unites those who desire social justice and true freedom. With the vallenato of Oyeme Chocó, we hear the sound of ordinary people singing about their own lives. Members of Afro-Colombian communities displaced for years from their homes , this group of home spun troubadours sing of the military operations that drove them off their land to make room for development projects pushed by the government and the elite. These groups will take us, in their music and through their lives, inside the major people's movements and the political and social events shaping the Americas of today.

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

RYTHM IS IT

By Enrique Sanchez and Thomas Grube. This is a beautiful documentary about a dance project in Berlin, where the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle and the choreograph Royston Maldoom take 250 average students form german lower class areas and work out a performance together. It is a wonderful example of supporting each other to let ones beauty and talent shine to the world.

• Posted by Felix Döppner

THE CORPORATION

Based on the book by Joel Bakan. This film explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Footage from pop culture, advertising, TV news, and corporate propaganda, illuminates the corporation's grip on our lives. Taking its legal status as a "person" to its logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?" Provoking, witty, sweepingly informative, The Corporation includes forty interviews with corporate insiders and critics - including Milton Friedman, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.

• Posted by Danielle Bowler

WAKING LIFE

It is like watching a moving oil painting. Guy who is not sure about rather he is dreaming or living his life and experiencing deep and wise conversations. http://www.wakinglifemovie.com/

• Posted by Julian Hewitt

BARAKA

Baraka is a stunning visual essay on the relationship between Man and the Earth, set to haunting music from around the world. Without the use of dialogue and merely relying on a series of hypnotic images, this film has a quiet eloquence about it, following in the footsteps of its predecessors, "Koyaanisquatsi" and "Powaqqatsi".

• Posted by Julian Hewitt

NO MAN'S LAND

Three soldiers caught in no man’s land between Bosnia and Serbia during height of the war in 1993; film is a comment on both simple humanity in the midst of war and of the absurdity of the situation of war and the (useless) roles of the UN and the media.

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

MELTING PLANET

A toxic comedy about global warming and human nature

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

MANUFACTURING CONSENT

Noam Chomsky, critique of the media

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

WE ARE TRAFFIC! A movie about critical mass

Chronicles the history and development of the "Critical Mass" bicycle movement, one of the most spirited and dynamic social/political movements of the apathetic 90's

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Sustainable economy and design, based on the ecological ‘cradle to cradle’ work of William McDonough and Michael Braungart

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

THE TAKE

A Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis documentary looking at a new form of ownership and worker (self-)organisation in the wake of Argentina’s financial crisis – looking at “activism” differently, raises questions about working within & without the system

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

THE GREAT WARMING

Narrated by Alanis Morrisette and Keanu Reeves, a documentary on climate change, global warming, weather patterns and sustainability

• Posted by Tatiana Glad

NEW HEROES

The New Heroes, hosted by Robert Redford, is a four-hour PBS series that travels the globe to explore the ideas and impact of "social entrepreneurs" who are making the the world a better place.

www.thenewheroes.org

• Posted by Noha