Alive Mind Education offers documentary programming of intellectual distinction to the educational market. Our content specialty is centered in the humanities with a focus on the transformations of culture. From the BBC series The Atheism Tapes to Donna Read's definitive Women & Spirituality trilogy, the Alive Mind Educational collection is an eclectic but critically acclaimed library covering topics from American History to Women's Studies. "Our goal is to provide intellectually distinguished work from leading filmmakers - media content that stimulates discussion and provokes viewers to think outside the box. Our titles engage the power of humanist values in illuminating and entertaining ways," explains president, Richard Lorber.

Our award-winning programs are now available for colleges, universities, libraries and organizations to purchase for use in an institutional setting or for non-theatrical screenings. All purchases of our films grant public performance rights.

The Altered Consciousness Collection Hofmann’s Potion, FLicKeR, Hippie Masala box set of award-winning documentaries explores the frontiers of human consciousness and the iconic pioneers who opened the doors of perception. From early LSD research and hypnotic “dream machines” to the transformational powers of Eastern spirituality, The Altered Consciousness Collection reveals the sub-culture of enlightenment seekers who influenced a generation.

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In these off-the-record interviews, six of today’s leading men of letters and science: biologist and New York Times best-selling author Richard Dawkins; philosophers Daniel Dennett and Colin McGinn; distinguished playwright Arthur Miller; theologian Denys Turner and Nobel Prize winning physicist Steven Weinberg, discuss why they are atheists and why non theism is one of today's most controversial issues.

The Atheism Tapes is an invaluable teaching resource that presents a wide range of perspectives, from science to literature to theology. Questions such as, "Can science answer all questions?" to the influence of anti semitism in America, this series will challenge students and provoke discussion.

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Beyond Belief is a film about two women and their journey from grief to empowerment as they voyage from the suburbs of Boston to the villages of Afghanistan. Susan Retik and Patti Quigley lost their husbands on 9/11. Over the course of two years, filmmaker Beth Murphy shows how these two widows moved beyond their personal grief, struggled to raise their families and cope with their personal loss and became international ambassadors of peace. From the ruins of the World Trade Center to Kabul and back, Beyond Belief is a journey of personal strength, international reconciliation and a testament to the vision that peace can be forged... one woman at a time.

Gysin was fascinated by identity. He saw himself as incarnating the 10th-century King of Assassins, trained in counter-espionage during WWII, and wrote and rewrote his name in countless permutations, as if to make it disappear - in the process, inventing the cut-up technique that his lifelong friend, Beat novelist Burroughs, would make famous. Featuring greats like Burroughs (in archival footage), singer Marianne Faithfull, singer/artist Genesis P-Orridge of Psychic TV, poet John Giorno, punk rocker Iggy Pop, filmmaker Kenneth Anger and artist/turntablist DJ Spooky, FLicKeR is a hypnotic documentary.

Taking the dream machine as the basis of its explorations, FLicKeR asks crucial questions about the nature of art and consciousness, and imagines humanity liberated to explore its creativity in complete freedom.

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There are crimes so unspeakably horrendous they seem unforgivable. And yet, some people do manage to forgive. Forgiveness: Stories for Our Time focuses on four individuals who have lived through events so painful and horrific they are unimaginable to most of us.

Lesley Parrott's young daughter was stalked, raped and strangled. Anne Marie Hagan's father was murdered by the next-door neighbour. Alan McBride's wife and eight others were killed in an IRA bombing in Belfast. Reverend Julie Nicholson's daughter was killed on the London underground in an al Queda bombing in 2004. Through heartfelt interviews, archival footage and images shot by acclaimed cinematographer John Walker, filmmaker Johanna Lunn tells the stories of these individuals as they absorb, cope with and attempt to move beyond brutal events in their lives.

In a world wracked by increasing violence and horror, Forgiveness: Stories for Our Time brings hope that there are other possibilities beyond blind revenge - and that in forgiving others we can set ourselves free. This program is an excellent resource for grief counseling groups, psychology courses and religion.

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Since its overwhelming success on Broadway forty years ago, HAIR has inspired generations with its messages of love, non-violence and liberation. Full of the music of HAIR, this documentary reveals the continuing relevance of the show and presents its still-radical point of view. In preparation for its fortieth anniversary, author Jim Rado rehearses a troupe of young performers for a new production. Their vibrant energy brings HAIR’s fantastic score to life once again. A wealth of archival footage covers US and international productions as well as conveying a portrait of an era, a generation and its politics.

With the US mired in a prolonged war in Iraq and military involvement looming elsewhere, HAIR continues to inspire a new generation with its cry for peace and love.

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In the 1960s and 1970s thousands of hippies journeyed East to India in the search of enlightenment, free drugs or a 'pure' life. Indian peasants assumed that a severe drought in the West was the reason for their migration. India's holy men saw it, more accurately, as a search for spirituality. Most moved back to their home countries after a few months or years; some stayed for good. They all shared a profound need for personal freedom, as well as a love of drugs and/or spirituality.

Robert from Holland, a gifted painter, lives with a wife and young children. Meera, a recluse, seeks enlightenment on her own, while Cesare, an Italian expatriate, strives for spiritual liberation through back-breaking yoga. Hanspeter, a man originally from Switzerland, runs a small farm in the Himalayas. Erica and Gillian, South African twins, sew hippie handicrafts by day and party tirelessly at night.

All, in the end, embraced this land of ancient traditions and transcendent pleasures as their own. Hippie Masala is a fascinating chronicle about aging flower children who, after fleeing Western civilization, found a new way of life in India.

While researchers were establishing the medical benefits of LSD, others - like author Aldous Huxley - promoted the drug as a powerful tool for mental exploration and self-understanding. At Harvard, Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner and Ram Dass (then known as Richard Alpert) became popular heroes after the university canceled their research project into psychedelics.

Featuring interviews with the pioneers of LSD, Hofmann's Potion is a comprehensive chronicle of the LSD's history, from its discovery by Alfred Hofmann to its prohibition in 1973. With its thoughtful interviews, beautiful music and stunning cinematography, this informative program provides a history of a chemical that changed a culture.

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The cabaret duo KIKI & HERB began performing in the 1980's as a reaction to the AIDS crisis, an epidemic which at its height killed many gay intellectuals and artists. This live performance at the NYC Knitting Factory captures the scathing wit and talent of one of America's cutting-edge theater performances.

Students of culture, gender and theater studies will find an indispensible resource for the theater as a form of political and social commentary.

Living Goddess is a journey into the small Himalayan kingdom of Nepal rooted in religious and political tradition facing the challenges of modernization and political reform. The film's backdrop is one of turbulence - during the day riot police confront Maoist protesters who demand the resignation of the King while in the palace courtyard devotees jostle to touch the feet of the living goddess, Sajani, believing it will bring them good luck.

The film juxtaposes the call for political reform against intimate footage of Sajani going to school, playing hide and seek, collapsing in giggles in front of the camera along with religious ceremonies full of pomp and circumstance. The film is a powerful portrait of a young girl venerated as a goddess growing up in a country on the verge of civil war.

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Sex and power drive the action of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, the classic problem play where every character has to justify their own private morality. Updated for modern times and set in the contemporary British army, this is a world where discipline and authority have broken down, corruption is rife and everyone is preparing to be judged.

Thoughtfully written and beautifully shot, Measure for Measure is Shakespeare at his best updated for the younger generation.

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“Both as a lesson in law and as an entertaining personality profile, Pledge of Allegiance Blues is highly recommended." Three and a half stars -Video Librarian

Pledge of Allegiance Blues documents the journey of Rev. Dr. Michael Newdow, the blues-singing California physician and his battle to protect the separation between church and state, a battle that took him all the way to the United States Supreme Court where he defended the landmark "under God" lawsuit. From the controversy over the Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama State Courthouse to a historical analysis about the intertwining of religion and government in American history, Pledge of Allegiance Blues is a smart and funny examination of the often tense relationship between church and state. With toe-tapping musical numbers by Newdow, a cast of characters including attorney Alan Dershowitz, publisher Larry Flynt, and radio talk-show host Sandy Rios, this critically acclaimed documentary provides a contemporary and provocative look at one man’s campaign to defend his constitutional rights.

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Protagonist is a riveting documentary that explores the psychological transformation of the modern character. Inspired by the works of the fifth century Greek playwright Euripides, Academy Award® winning director Jessica Yu weaves together the stories of four men consumed by personal odysseys - a notorious former German terrorist, an evangelical minister who comes out of the closet, a bank robber turned journalist, and a Kung Fu fanatic who becomes a stay-at-home dad and author.

The four stories in Protagonist are told in parallel threads and structured like a multi-layered Greek drama. The film uses quotes from Euripides plays as thematic chapter headings, providing a provocative common link between our contemporary stories and lending them a timeless quality. Wooden rod puppets, modeled after ancient Greek theater masks and designed by Janie Geiser, stage both the play excerpts and scenes from our subjects' pasts.

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Secrets of the Soul takes an all encompassing look at the universal belief in the soul. Whether Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Native American, all religions claim a divine and eternal essence, a spirit that survives after the physical body dies. From the older tradition of the Native American Vision Quest to mediums who claim to be able to communicate with the dead, this two-hour special explores the beliefs and rituals of the faithful as well as the latest scientific research that investigates the soul’s very existence.

Secrets of the Soul provides a provocative overview of man’s various attempts to answer the age-old question: what happens to our souls when we die? Do we go to heaven… or hell? Are our souls ‘recycled’? Is our next life determined by our actions in this life? Or do we simply cease to exist, Ashes to ashes, dust to dust? Secrets of the Soul explores all of these questions, asking priests, imams, scientists and skeptics about their beliefs.

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Signs Out of Time weaves together interviews, archival footage, photographs, and narration to portray the scope of Marija Gimbutas's life and work. Using animation, artifacts, archival interview footage of Marija, comments from her supporters and critics, this biographical documentary explores her ground-breaking studies, excavations and publications, the depth and breadth of her scholarship, and the controversy around her theories concerning matriarchies and herstory.

Additional never before released interviews include: Carol Christ, Naomi Goldenberg, Riane Eisler, Mara Lynn Keller, Elinor Gadon, Vicki Noble, Joan Marler, Miriam Robbins Dexter, Deena Metzger, Cristina Biaggi, Brian Swimme, Ralph Metzner, Ernestine Elster, Richard Buchen, Patricia Reis, James Herrod, Meg Conkley, Ruth Tringham and Colin Renfrew.

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After the fall of Communism, the plight of the Proletariat is rarely discussed. WORKINGMAN’S DEATH is an unflinching portrait of the state of manual labor in the 21st century.

This award-winning documentary reveals the invisible face of workers from around the world. In the Ukraine, a group of men spend long days crawling through cramped shafts of illegal coal mines in order to scrape together enough coal to buy vodka. Sulfur gatherers in Indonesia brave the smoky heat of an active volcano and the treacherous trip back down while Western tourists snap pictures of the stunning landscape. Knee-deep blood, scorching fire and acrid smoke are routine for workers at a crowded open-air slaughterhouse in Nigeria. Pashtun immigrants in Pakistan use little more than their bare hands to dismantle an abandoned oil tanker for scrap metal and live in shanty towns constructed from the scrap. Steelworkers in China fear they could be a dying breed as capitalism erodes the foundation of communist ideology in the world’s fastest growing nation.

Today’s manual laborers are no longer celebrated with hymns of praise. WORKINGMAN’S DEATH provides a rare glimpse into the harsh treatment faced by manual labor around the world.

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