“Love Conquers all without violence. – Jack Gilroy, Veterans for Peace
“A much needed film at a time of turbulence in the world.” Jean Olewang, President & Trustee of Virgin Unite
“Rooted in Peace is a must see” – Laura Turner Seydel, Chairperson, Captain Planet Foundation
ROOTED in PEACE IS AVAILABLE ON
Deepak Chopra is an Indian American author, public speaker, alternative medicine advocate, and a prominent figure in the New Age movement. Through his books and videos, he has become one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in alternative medicine. Chopra studied medicine in India before emigrating to the United States in 1970 where he completed residencies in internal medicine and endocrinology. A licensed physician, in 1980 he became chief of staff at the New England Memorial Hospital (NEMH). He met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1985 and became involved with the Transcendental Meditation movement (TM). He resigned his position at NEMH shortly after to establish the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center. Chopra gained a following in 1993 after his interview on the The Oprah Winfrey Show regarding his books. He then left the TM movement to become the executive director of Sharp HealthCare’s Center for Mind-Body Medicine and in 1996 he co-founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. Chopra says, in combining principles from Ayurveda (Hindu traditional medicine) and mainstream medicine, his approach to health incorporates ideas about the mind-body
Donovan is a Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music (notably calypso). He has lived in Scotland, London and California, and, since at least 2008, in County Cork, Ireland, with his family.[1] Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series, Ready Steady Go!. Having signed with Pye Records in 1965, he recorded singles and two albums in the folk vein, after which he signed to CBS/Epic Records in the US – the first signing by the company’s new vice-president Clive Davis – and became more successful internationally. He began a long and successful collaboration with leading British independent record producer Mickie Most, scoring multiple hit singles and albums in the UK, US, and other countries. His most successful singles were the early UK hits “Catch the Wind”, “Colours” and “Universal Soldier” in 1965. “Sunshine Superman” topped America’sBillboard Hot 100 chart and went to number two in Britain, followed by “Mellow Yellow” at US #2 the following year, and then 1968’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man” in the Top 5 in both countries. He
Mike Love is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and activist who is a member and co-founder of the Beach Boys. For most of the Beach Boys’ career, Love has been one of the band’s lyricists, contributing to each of their studio albums. In the 1960s, Love collaborated with Brian Wilson and was a lyricist on singles including “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “California Girls”. During this period, his lyrics primarily reflected the youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance, which has been described by writers as having helped fashion pop culture’s perception of the “California Dream”. Love’s work during this period also assumed elements of melancholy with examples being “The Warmth of the Sun”—written the day of John F. Kennedy’s assassination—and “I’m Waiting for the Day” from Pet Sounds. Starting in 1968, Love became a teacher of Transcendental Meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The experience influenced his lyrics to take on themes of astrology, meditation, politics and ecology. Following this, Love’s lyrical direction shifted to attempt to recapture the band’s earlier, lighthearted sound. In the late 1970s, Love began working on solo albums, releasing his first and only in 1981: Looking
David Lynch is an American director, screenwriter, visual artist, musician, actor, and author. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed a unique cinematic style. The surreal and, in many cases, violent elements contained within his films have been known to “disturb, offend or mystify” audiences. Born to a middle-class family in Missoula, Montana, Lynch spent his childhood traveling around the United States, before going on to study painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where he first made the transition to producing short films. He moved to Los Angeles, where he produced his first motion picture, the surrealist horror film Eraserhead (1977). After Eraserhead became a cult classic on the midnight movie circuit, Lynch was employed to direct a biographical film about a deformed man, Joseph Merrick, titled The Elephant Man (1980), from which he gained mainstream success. He was then employed by the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, and proceeded to make two films: the science-fiction epic Dune (1984), which proved to be a critical and commercial failure, and then a neo-noir crime film, Blue Velvet (1986), which was critically acclaimed.
Mairead Maguire is a peace activist from Northern Ireland. She co-founded, with Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown, the Women for Peace, which later became the Community for Peace People, an organisation dedicated to encouraging a peaceful resolution of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Maguire and Williams were awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize. Maguire has also won several other awards. In recent years, she has criticised the Israeli government’s policy towards Gaza, in particular to the naval blockade. In June 2010, Maguire went on board the MV Rachel Corrie as part of a flotilla that unsuccessfully attempted to breach the blockade.
Pete Seeger was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead Belly’s “Goodnight, Irene”, which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, counterculture and environmental causes. A prolific songwriter, his best-known songs include “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” (with Joe Hickerson), “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)” (withLee Hays of the Weavers), and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” (lyrics adapted from Ecclesiastes), which have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and are sung throughout the world. “Flowers” was a hit recording for the Kingston Trio (1962); Marlene Dietrich, who recorded it in English, German and French (1962); and Johnny Rivers (1965). “If I Had a Hammer” was a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary (1962) and Trini Lopez (1963), while the Byrdshad a number one hit with “Turn! Turn! Turn!”
Ted Turner is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television. As a philanthropist, he is known for his US$1 billion gift to support the United Nations, which created the United Nations Foundation, a public charity to broaden domestic support for the UN. Turner serves as Chairman of the United Nations Foundation board of directors. Additionally, in 2001, Turner co-founded the Nuclear Threat Initiative with U.S. Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA). NTI is a non-partisan organization dedicated to reducing global reliance on, and preventing the proliferation of, nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. He currently serves as Co-Chairman on the Board of Directors. Turner’s media empire began with his father’s billboard business, Turner Outdoor Advertising, which he took over in 1963 after his father’s suicide.[3] It was worth $1 million. His purchase of an Atlanta UHF station in 1970 began the Turner Broadcasting System. CNN revolutionized news media, covering the Space Shuttle Challenger
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. He was the first black Archbishop of Cape Town and bishop of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa). Tutu’s admirers see him as a great man who, since the demise of apartheid, has been active in the defense of human rights and uses his high profile to campaign for the oppressed. He has campaigned to fight HIV/ AIDS tuberculosis, poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia and trans-phobia. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984; the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986; the Pacem in Terris Award in 1987; the Sydney Peace Prize in 1999; the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2007;[1] and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. He has also compiled several books of his speeches and sayings.
Greg Reitman is the founder of Blue Water Entertainment, Inc., an independent production company focusing on environmentally conscious entertainment. Widely regarded as Hollywood’s “Green Producer,” Greg produced the 2008 SUNDANCE Audience Award-winning feature documentary “FUEL.” He wrote, produced, and directed the feature documentary “HOLLYWOOD’S MAGICAL ISLAND- CATALINA” (PBS) and returns back on the festival circuit with his latest revolutionary feature documentary film, “ROOTED in PEACE.” He’s currently putting together a slate of motion picture films.
Greg Reitman is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with international studies at Florence University in Florence, Italy; Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan; and Tel-Aviv University in Tel-Aviv, Israel. He received a Masters Certificate in Creative Producing from The Jewish Federation Masters Program as well as from UCLA in writing, directing, marketing and distribution. He is an alumnus and member of the Hollywood Film Institute, the International Documentary Association, and an active member in the (DGA) Directors Guild of America.