Wednesday, June 15, 2011

ART OF LIVING SCREENS ‘DISCOVER THE GIFT’








The Art of Living Foundation, Muscat screened Discover the Gift, an inspirational documentary dir-ected by Demian Lichtenstein, at City Cinema Shatti last weekend. The foundation is a volunteer-based, humanitarian and educational NGO founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. 


Demian’s body of work includes music videos for Sting and Eric Clapton. Through Discover the Gift, Demian attempts to inspire people to find their true calling.  He takes the audience on his journey of discovering his own gift, interspersed with lessons from leading speakers and icons in the worlds of self improvement and spiritual growth, including the Dalai Lama, Michael Bernard Beckwith, Sir Ken Robinson and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.  


The film talks about the gift that each individual possesses and the need for each one to discover and share it. According to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, “Life itself is a gift which is wrapped in a beautiful wrapping paper. We need to unwrap the gift that life has offered us and discover what is inside of us.” 


Speaking about the objective behind screening the film, Kamal Khimji, a teacher of the Art of Living Foundation, Muscat said, “I was very inspired by the movie. It was given as a gift to me and I wanted to share this gift with other people.” 


Damien’s picturisation is spot-on, with words of the speakers forming pictures in the background to make it easier for viewers to understand the message. Worthy of a special mention is Carlos José Alvarez and his team that created the film’s background music. It helps maintain the interest level of viewers throughout the film. 


Among the multinational audience that attended the screening was Hanan Owalweel, from Egypt, who said, “It was an amazing experience. I learned a lot from this film. It has made me realise what my role is in this life.” Adventurer Nabil al Busaidi, who also attended the screening, said, “I think we need to find out our gifts and share it a bit more.” Read More

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