November 14, 2010

Dr. Brian Thomas Swimme revealed Sunday night at Santa Sabina Retreat Center in San Rafael, California that KQED public television in San Francisco has picked up his film "Journey of the Universe" for regional airing in the fall of 2011.

  Santa Sabina Retreat House, San Rafael, California (photo by Marc Pasturel)

KQED will be the national distribution hub for airings in other regions. Here's a link to the trailer: https://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/film-trailer/

The west coat premier is tentatively scheduled for April 30, 2011 at the Delancey Street Theater in San Francisco, California. The east coast premier will be held in March 2011 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Yale is the home institute of Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker, the film's executive producer and co-writer. Swimme and Tucker both studied extensively with and were deeply influenced by ecological cultural historian Thomas Berry (1914-2009). Please confirm dates and locations as the openings get near.

Brian Thomas Swimme on location.     Mary Evelyn Tucker on location.

In the works for seven years, the film was initially inspired by Brian's viewing of Jacob Bronowski's BBC series "The Ascent of Man" (1973) in about 1977.

"Journey of the Universe" is directed by David Kennard who worked on Bronowski's "The Ascent of Man" (1973), James Burke's "Connections 1"  (1978), and Carl Sagan's famous "Cosmo" series (1980). The style of documentary film making, now so famous, was inaugurated by Kenneth Clark in his BBC series "Civilisation" (1969). The narrative of each series is deeply engaging, activating the natural part of us that loves a good adventure story. Kennard's current project, "The Journey of the Universe", is indeed the ultimate adventure story!

Its narrative arc takes us on the same journey the Universe itself has been on – from the first known moments of the Flaring Forth (aka the Big Bang) to the current moment of planetary danger and opportunity brought forth by the human family. The human phenomenon is treated as an integral part of the adventure and its unfolding. The film makers hope this will help re-orient us toward an ecological civilization.

Brian also revealed tonight that he is beginning to consider himself not merely a scientist, but a storyteller – a storyteller, fascinated from a very early age, by the story the Universe is telling to tell us about itself. With a Ph.D. in gravitational dynamics and mathematical cosmology from the University of Oregon (1978), a razor-sharp mind, great humor, humility, and grace, he is indeed a masterful teller of this adventure.

From the film's synopsis at https://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/: "Through his engaging and thoughtful observations audiences everywhere will discover the profound role we play in this intricate web of life. From the Big Bang–to the epic impact humans have on the planet today–this film is designed to inspire a new and closer relationship with Earth in a period of growing environmental and social crisis."

###