December 26, 2007

Very special "Aliens from Spaceship Earth" screening event this Friday

Posted by process on December 26, 2007 11:18 PM

aliens poster_ copy.jpg

If you're in town tomorrow—Friday night— please join us for a special event at The Silent Movie Theater: a film screening of the lost 70s cult treasure, Aliens from Spaceship Earth, (1977) directed by Don Como.

Narrated by Donovan, who also provides the film's soundtrack, "Aliens" is a fascinating insider's view into the guru/ yogi/cult explosion of the 60s and 70s, featuring the most popular and controversial spiritual leaders of the time, including Sai Baba, Yogi Bhahan, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Guru Maharaj Ji, Sri Sathya, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Ram Dass and Father Yod (with the Source Family!!), along with jaw-dropping footage of thousands of white, middle class young people walking across coals, participating in tantric sex rituals, being kidnapped by "deprogrammers", chanting, and devoting themselves unconditionally to their "alien" spiritual leaders.

The film also features Cybil Shepard, Martin Landau, Chicago 7 activist-turned-mystic Rennie Davis, actors Leigh Taylor Young, Linda Day George, and Raymond Bur getting starry-eyed about their gurus and God as well. Wowza!

This is one of the few films of the era to counteract the schlock and mass media sensationalism that essentially demonized a generation of truth seekers. With its sympathetic viewpoint, "Aliens" stands, decades later, as one of the more authentic documents of the era and provides insight into a countercultural manifestation that is still widely misunderstood to this day.

**NOTE: This will be the first public screening of the film in 30 years, and the director will be present after the film to answer questions along with three actual members from spiritual groups represented in the film:

Nrsimhananda Das of the Hare Krishna group
Dr. Elena Electra Michaels and David Gold of The Source Family
George Sobel, Secretary to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Transcendental Meditation)

Aliens From Spaceship Earth
Directed by Don Como, 1977, 107 min.

Friday, December 28
10 pm
The Silent Movie Theater
611 N. Fairfax
LA 90036
323.655.2510
www.silentmovietheater.com
Tickets: $10

Here's a review....
Aliens from Spaceship Earth is a "four-waller" documentary from the Chariot of the Gods school of speculative filmmaking. Are there, or have their ever been, extraterrestrials in our midst? This program speculates that there are, and that such aliens have taken distinctly human form - that of Indian yogis and gurus, including Guru Maharaj Ji, Sri Sathya, Yoga Bhahan and Father Yod. The "aliens" in question, in other words, are spiritual guides on a long, introspective trek into the self, prompted and encouraged by the counterculture and drug-fueled experimentation of the late '60s. Folk-rock singer Donovan provides the soundtrack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

And another....
If you think you are going to see flying saucers and little creatures that have been secretly living inside the earth, you will be disappointed. Aliens from Spaceship Earth is a fast-moving, spectacularly filmed feature that presents those individuals considered "alien" to the worlds daily culture. White robed leaders and their followers are candidly observed between musical interludes that inspire, colorful scenes carefully drawn to excite the viewers, and the singularly most beautiful tantra yoga scene of two nude lovers i have seen in a decade.

Don Como's film is "a spiritual odyssey," and the llyrical songs written and sung by Donovan, who also stars in the film, add great meaning to the freewheeling flow of Indian gurus, spiritual leaders, their determined followers, and the "non-aliens"... parents, political leaders, and the world's masses. Como takes no stand, pro or con, but the film is sympathetic to each group in focus.

There is something here for everyone, and many will hotly disagree with the views expressed in the picture. Parents kidnapping their own children from different sects because they believe there is no other answer, organizations and individuals demanding religious freedom whatever the cost in mental health, and successful individuals telling why they leave to seek gurus and some inner goal. The film is not perfect, almost too much is happening, but just as the subject matter gets somewhat tedious, a moment arrives that lifts the spirit, and I for one, was glad I was there.

The stars in Aliens from Spaceship Earth are actual participants seeking their own expanded direction, and this adds much to the reality of the film. What they express in words and songs is real, if "alien" to what others believe. Don Como has been true in trying to present a balanced picture of those extreme groups represented in oru daily lives by chanting white-robed fellows standing on the corner, and persistent young ladies at airports sticking flowers on men's jackets, in order to express religious freedom.

While the "aliens" seem to be quite human, one must realize that the film is dealing with close encounters of the fourth kind. An innerspace journey triggered by the drug culture and rebellion of the sixties, and the non-violent search for self, evident in the seventies. Could this be due to some influence from "higher spiritual consciousness," the film seems to ask?

"Spaceship Earth" is the coined expression of genius philospher, R. Buckminster Fuller, creator of the geodesic dome. Fuller and Como, each in their own way, say that humans must realize they are together on one gigantic spaceship, needing to overcome nationalistic barriers to solve the world's problems.

Memorable moments involve humorous sequences with Baba Ram Das, rainbows photographed around the heads of the tantra yoga lovers, and the touching interviews with concerned parents whose children have joined "alien groups."

The world's "alien" leaders are well represented in the film: Baba Muktananda, Swami Satchidananda, A.C. Bhaktivedanta, Guru Maharaj Ji, Yogi Bhajan, Sri Sathya, Sai Baba, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Father Yod, Elizabet Claire Prophet, Baba Ram Das, and well known personalities who present their views on seeking their own individuality...Rennie Davis, David Pierce, Leigh Taylor Young, Ali Wassil, Linda Day George, and Donovan. Many of these "aliens" live in the United States.

The thousands, and even millions of the followers ofthese world-wide "alien" spiritual leaders known to the public through such organizations as TM, Hare Krisna, Divine Light Mission, and Summit Light House will flock tot he theaters. but "Aliens from Spaceship Earth is a film for everyone, of every age, to see that....what might seem alien could be part of a new spiritual search for all peoples. Whether inspired by a more highly evoved race than earthlings, or from a visit millions of years ago by space aliens, I don't know: but Spaceship Earth is real, and "Aliens from Spaceship Earth" are causing great changes on our planet. Find out for Yourself.

ROBERT C.H. PARKER EDITOR OF THE TWIN CITIES MOTIVATOR PUBLISHED BY TCM ASSOCIATES A DIVISION OF PSI NEWS.

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