The documentary "Meditation, Creativity and Peace", whose premiere drew an unexpectedly large crowd in Los Angeles, chronicles David Lynch’s 16-country tour of European and Middle Eastern film schools, when he addressed tens of thousands of students about his creative process, filmmaking, and his 40-year practice of the Transcendental Meditation program.

Celebrities join forces to bring TM to 1 million at-risk youth
by Mario Orsatti at www.tm.org/blog
May 2013

David Lynch and Russell Brand joined forces to help bring the Transcendental Meditation technique to one million at-risk youth during the premiere of “Meditation, Creativity and Peace” at the Billy Wilder Theatre, Hammer Museum, in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 2. The documentary chronicles Lynch’s 16-country tour of European and Middle Eastern film schools in 2007 when he addressed tens of thousands of students about his creative process, filmmaking, and his 40-year practice of the Transcendental Meditation program.

“Proceeds from the global distribution of the documentary will be used to help students in the US and worldwide overcome traumatic stress, improve learning ability, and raise performance through Transcendental Meditation,” said Lynch. Brand, a four-year meditator, said that TM had helped him overcome his decades-long addiction to drugs and alcohol. “I have become a better human being through this meditation,” Brand said.

Lynch and Brand were joined onstage after the film by Bob Roth, executive director of the David Lynch Foundation*, for a 20-minute question-and-answer session. Roth said 250,000 students have already learned to meditate, and that the Foundation is expanding its support to veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress, and to women and girls who have survived domestic abuse.

The Billy Wilder Theatre holds nearly 300 people, however more than 1,000 people unexpectedly showed up at the box office. Film buffs who were denied access to the theatre viewed the documentary in an overflow hall at the museum and on big outdoor screens hastily mounted in the museum courtyard. Other high-profile David Lynch Foundation supporters include Dr. Mehmet Oz, Ellen DeGeneres, Jerry Seinfeld, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hugh Jackman, Katy Perry, Martin Scorsese, Naomi Watts, and Laura Dern.

A trailer of this new documentary, Meditation, Creativity and Peace can be seen online.

If you would like to arrange for your college or group to sponsor a showing of this documentary film, contact the David Lynch Foundation.

*The David Lynch Foundation has provided scholarships for meditation instruction for nearly 200,000 inner-city school students, veterans with post-traumatic stress, incarcerated adults and teens, and homeless adults and children throughout the United States, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

© Copyright 2013 Maharishi Foundation USA