Paradigm Shifts Music and Film Festival

Saturday, March 16, 2019

We had a very successful screening of Symbiotic Earth along with a panel discussion on Earth Ethics and the Climate Crisis at the beautiful historic brownstone Church of the Ascension in Greenwich Village. The event was presented by Encompass Paradigm Shifts Music and Film Festival, a program of Encompass New Opera Theatre, in association with The Church of the Ascension. The audience of over 120 people was held engaged by the film. One audience member commented during the post screening discussion that watching the film in this amazing church heightened the emotional or spiritual aspect of the film for him. Encompass Artistic Director Nancy Rhodes noted in her introduction to the panel discussion that viewing the film had moved her to tears in this viewing. Most of the audience joined us for the reception and discussion following the screening, packing into the church’s Fellowship Hall.

The panel discussion provided four different perspectives on the question of Earth Ethics and the Climate Crisis. Scientist Fritjof Capra joined us from Berkeley, CA on Zoom and Executive Director of Earth Charter International Mirian Vilela joined us from Costa Rica, also on Zoom. NYU Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences Tyler Volk and veteran journalist Bill Blakemore were there in person, and Encompass’ Artistic Director Nancy Rhodes moderated.

Special thanks to The Church of the Ascension’s Reverend Elizabeth Maxwell and Reverend Ed Chinery for hosting the event and to Encompass’ Artistic Director Nancy Rhodes for organizing and presenting the event. Thank you to the Capra Course for providing the Zoom Meeting and Sarah Weaver for technical assistance.

Here’s a sample of responses we received:

It was an honor and pleasure to be at the screening of your film, Symbiotic Earth, today, and to learn even more about the remarkable Lynn Margulis.  …You (and your musically talented wife Sheila) did a marvelous job of communicating the science, the person, the process of investigation, excitement and resistance, the revolutionary findings, the social and political establishments feeling challenged, and the urgency of new understandings in our threatened world today. … thank you again for your very important and powerful film, and for the contribution you are making to a needed conversation about how our world works, the roles and biases in science, and the brilliant work of Lynn Margulis.

With appreciation,
Ruth Richards, M.D., Ph.D.
Saybrook University

It was wonderful to experience your film on Lynn Margulis… The film took us on so many, varying journeys, and I must admit that by the end of the film I knew that it would take me awhile to process it, but the aspects of the film that I genuinely loved were the care that you took with the many interviews of Lynn’s colleagues; your respect for Lynn’s intellect and humor; and your attempt to “summarize” all that she has contributed in the form of a film. I also loved the images of the birds that you shot and incorporated within the frames of your windows.

Rebecca Allen
Visual artist

Panel Discussion: audience and Prof. Tyler Volk