Your chance to support "Today We Have The Power"

"Today We Have The Power" is a dynamic and thought-provoking documentary by my friend and fellow monk Christopher Timm. You can click here to check out the trailer and the fundraising page to help him get his project on the move.

Click here to check out the film's website

Today We Have The Power is a feature documentary that delves beneath the mayhem and madness of the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle, examines the economic and social issues that brought people to Seattle, and then dives into the spiritual crisis at the root of the problems. The goal of this film is to facilitate conversation about the connection between activism and spirituality that many people have come to see as essential for our societies progressive evolution.

For one week in 1999 the sight of Seattle police brutally attacking ordinary American citizens that came to protest the World Trade Organization transfixed the world. The story most people remember is that a peaceful protest was disrupted by a small band of masked anarchists intent on violence, forcing the police to intervene.

Ten years later, people still don't know why unprecedented numbers of people from all walks of life came to protest the WTO. Ten years later most people still don’t know what the WTO actually is. The blasts of tear gas, rubber bullets and shattered windows may have obscured the reasons for the protests, but the reasons for the clash have not gone away: denigration of human life, species extinction, environmental destruction and social decay remain the heavy tolls we pay for the way we have gone about globalization.

Now in 2011, the Seattle protesters seem like prophets, as the effects of globalization continue to take their toll on our world. But still missing in the public discussion is the strong belief held by many that at the real problem—and the solution to it—is not an economic or political issue, but a spiritual one.

Today We Have the Power challenges us to consider the deep spiritual issues at the core of these events. The film achieves this by drawing out the spiritual angle from the people engaged on all sides of the Seattle WTO protest event, who reiterate and expand upon the eternal spiritual truth best expressed by Mahatma Gandhi: You must become the change you wish to see in the world.

The film features interviews with David Korten, Norm Stamper (former Chief of Police in Seattle), Mike Moore (former Director-General of the WTO), Vandana Siva, Jagadish Bhagavati, John Zerzan, Tom Goldtooth, Sister Catherine Pinkerton, Radhanath Swami and many more.

About the Kickstarter Funding

We are inches away from launching the film. We need this funding to do post production, including sound and color correction, as well as for graphic design work for the film and its promotional materials.

Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing fund raising platform. That means if we don't make our goal of raising 11.5k in this month we don't get anything! Anything raised beyond what we are shooting for will go to help create a buzz about the film.

So please contribute, stay tuned, and help to spread the word!

Thanks again for checking us out.

Project location: Manhattan, NY