Enlighten Up!

Kate Churchill is a filmmaker and a dedicated yoga practitioner who insists that yoga can transform anyone. She decides to prove it. Her plan: select a subject, immerse him in yoga and follow him until he finds a yoga practice that transforms him. Her subject: Nick Rosen a skeptical, 29-year-old journalist living in New York City.

Intrigued by the opportunity to peek behind the curtain of an 18 billion dollar “spiritual” industry, Nick signs on to investigate yoga for 6 months. Before he can say OM, he finds himself twisted up like a pretzel, surrounded by celebrity yogis, true believers, kooks, entrepreneurs and a gentle teacher from Brazil who leads his class with his feet behind his head.

The more Nick investigates yoga the more contradictions he discovers, leading him to question whether yoga is anything more than a workout. As Nick searches for concrete facts and discards the lofty spiritual theories of his yoga teachers, he strays further from Kate’s original plan. The two find themselves lost in Northern India, embroiled in a struggle between Kate’s expectations and Nick’s overt rejection of “spirituality.”

They circle the globe talking to mystics, gurus, mad men and saints searching for the true meaning of yoga. Ultimately, both Nick and Kate end up in places they never could have imagined. They don’t find the answers to their questions, they find much more.

Featuring: B.K.S. Iyengar of Iyengar Yoga (who was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine), Pattabhi Jois of the Ashtanga Research Institute, Norman Allen of the Big Island of Hawaii, Sharon Gannon and David Life of Jivamukti Yoga, Dharma Mitra of Dharma Mitra Yoga, Diamond Dallas Page former pro wrestler turned yoga teacher, Sharath Rangaswamy (grandson of Pattabhi Jois), Dr. Madan Kataria of Laughing Yoga, Rodney Yee star yogi in Living Arts videos, Cyndi Lee of OM Yoga, Gurmukh of Golden Bridge Yoga, Alan Finger of Yogaworks, Baron Baptiste of Baptiste Power Yoga, Beryl Bender Birch of Hard and Soft Yoga and Natasha Rizopoulos of Yogaworks.

“A fast-moving, often humorous documentary about a young man's search for his "higher self" through yoga.” (Harvey S. Karten, Film Journal Int’l.)

“Enlighten Up!” explores its subject with a light touch and welcome sense of humor.” (Nathan Lee, New York Times)

“Well-crafted pic traverses the globe, interviewing a who's-who of gurus and investigating a wide range of regimens -- with Rosen as both questioner and body-contorting guinea pig.” (Ronnie Scheib, Variety)

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Five years ago Jeanne and Tom Hagerty approached me to make a movie about yoga. They had recently honeymooned in Hawaii where they met an unusual yogi, Norman Allen. That meeting not only changed their entire trip, but also sparked the idea to dig deeper into the practice of yoga and explore where it could lead someone.

16.5 million Americans practice yoga today; yoga has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Most Americans experience yoga at a local studio for a 90-minute class in any number of styles. For some people it is a workout, for others it is a spiritual path and for others it is a great business.

I wanted to capture an experience of finding an “enlightened yogi”, although I wasn’t certain what that meant. It’s a funny thing about enlightenment, if you never define it, you can spend your whole life searching for it, when it might be right in front of you.

When Nick Rosen agreed to participate, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and perhaps the same could be true for him. It was idealistic, but I really believed that with the right person, and enough time we could cut through the commercialism of the yoga industry and discover a practice or a teacher that could have a profound impact on Nick and subsequently me.

Nick and I did meet some amazing teachers, as well as some questionable ones. Significant tension unfolded between us, something I had not expected nor ever planned to include in the story. Ultimately, this search became a story about two people trying to find happiness and realizing they need to do it themselves. For me, it was a practice of letting go of my expectations, and trying, to the best of my ability, to be truthful on all fronts. These are fundamental lessons in yoga that I learned not on the mat, or in the field but in a dark edit room and in the end, Nick was my greatest teacher.

Kate Churchill
December 21, 2008