
S.N. Goenka
In the seminar “Religion and Film” held this semester at Freie Universität Berlin, Alexandra Stellmacher will present and discuss two short documentaries on meditation courses for children. The meditation courses are conducted on a regular basis in Vipassana Centers founded by S.N. Goenka worldwide. According to the German Vipassana homepage the concern of these documentaries is to offer informative insights into the courses itself as well as into the meditation technique Anapana.
The films are comprised of sequences of interviews with the protagonists (teachers, parents, and children) and thematize the contents of the teaching as well as the practice of meditation itself. Although intended to be documentaries, a critical-objective recipient will notice their affinity to promotional films. The films aim to motivate the recipients to imitate the protagonists by active participation. This occurs not only explicitly, e.g. in the statements of the interviewed, but also implicitly by the use of certain sequences, fading, choice of colors, and background music.
Time to Breathe. Vipassana Trust (GB), 2008. (13:27 Minuten); Seeds of Awareness. Anapana Meditation for Children and Teens. Dir. Marta van Patten. California Vipassana Center, 2011. (12:41 Minuten)
Time: 6:00 pm, Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Location: FU Berlin, Fabeckstr. 23-25, 14195 Berlin, Room 0.2002
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