True Gods

“True Gods,” directed by Warwick Thornton

“The most visually lush of the films, Thornton’s camera luxuriating in the deep russet expanses of the Outback desert, as a lone Aboriginal woman (“The Sapphires” star Miranda Tapsell) searches for a suitable spot in which to give birth.” ““ Variety When I started to look for a reason for being on the project Words with Gods I peeled back the folk tales, urban myths and legends. Deep into my dreams I looked for the great and worthy, the one who was first, the CREATOR. But there in the dark alone I found my mother, my sister, and my grandmother. This enlightenment filled me with joy. For I realized that I was surrounded by GODS, who every day created miracles. The miracle of birth. Someone who can gift life is a GOD to me. – Warwick Thornton

Followed by a conversation with Australian aboriginal representative Sonia Smallacombe and psychotherapist Joe Loizzo of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science.

Presented with the Auburn Seminary and the Nalanda Institute of Contemplative Science.

About the Speakers

Sonia Smallacombe is member of the Maramanindji people from the north of Australia. She currently works as a Social Affairs Officer with the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and is based in New York. Her main area of work is around indigenous issues and the Environment.

Joe Loizzo, M.D., Ph.D. is a contemplative psychotherapist, researcher and teacher who integrates ancient contemplative science and technology with current breakthroughs in neuroscience and optimal health. After training in psychiatry at Harvard and completing a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies at Columbia, he founded Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science, a contemplative learning community that teaches timeless tools of self-healing and interdependence for today’s complex world.

About Words with Gods

“Words with Gods” are short cinematic meditations on faith and consciousness masterminded by writer-director Guillermo Arriaga. The full omnibus will have its theatrical release later in the year. Here is a chance to see five of the short films in advance. The screening for each individual short is followed by a rich dialogue between a faith practitioner and a mind scientist.