The term “spiritual warrior” might seem to be an oxymoron, and yet filmmaker Velcrow Ripper sees it as a perfect distillation of belief in action.
The Toronto-based director and writer’s latest work,
Fierce Light: Where Spirit Meets Action, is all about manifesting inner convictions in the outer world through positive change. He uses the example of the saving of an urban garden in downtown Los Angeles as a metaphor for larger questions surrounding spirituality and activism. The film ran as part of this year’s
Hot Docs film festival, and is being released across theatres this Friday.
Spirituality isn’t something normally explored in mainstream films, particularly when it’s twinned with activism, and yet that’s just the unique mix that characterizes Fierce Light. The sort of spirituality Ripper explores isn’t one bound by traditional religious teachings but embraces a wider world-view that incorporates figures, stories, and moments of transcendence. Along with documenting actor
Daryl Hannah’s tree-sitting protest to save the garden, Ripper interviews a variety of activists and spiritual figures, including Buddhist teacher
Thich Nhat Hahn, civil rights figure
John Lewis, author
Alice Walker, and Toronto-based activist
Judy Rebick. He also attends rallies decrying the politically-related disappearance of thousands of Latinos, and, for balance, attends a right-wing event where he interviews creationist-spouting ministers.
This form of filmmaking –part education, part exploration, all passionate dedication –made itself known in Ripper’s previous work,
Scared Sacred which followed the filmmaker visiting the so-called “ground zeroes” of the world, and examining the twin roles of fear and hope amidst strife and suffering.
I spoke with Ripper this past winter, when he was in the middle of a busy schedule traveling with Fierce Light and visiting various film festivals. Far from being a simple-minded, peace-espousing hippie, Ripper is erudite, well-read, and worldly, thoughtful in his answers but refusing to give in to dogma or despair. His faith in humanity is unshakeable, and it shows through his works, and his words.
How did you become interested in filmmaking?I started out with a community organization on the sunshine coast. I was still in high school, and we realized video was a powerful way of getting a message out. Then an idea came, of, ‘Why don’t we, as students, run the local community cable station?’ There wasn’t one, so we went on a field trip to CRTC, and it passed, and to this day, Coast Community Cable is run by students.
After I left school, I did a couple years of college in which I took all the ‘isms’ –I wanted to specialize in generalizing. I still didn’t know what I wanted to do. I continued to make videos, and I went for a year and traveled, and in the middle of my travels, it hit me: I want to become a filmmaker.
How did your upbringing contribute to your world-view? I grew up traveling –we’d drive to Mexico, for instance. My dad worked in a job he didn’t like, but he really saved his money and spent it on trips all over whenever he could get time off. We’d always do this. I grew up a nomad.
When did your spiritual questing begin? Were you a teenager?Yes, but it wasn’t just being young that started a passionate quest for truth. I was leaving the Ba’hai faith, but I began with a human potential movement… then I dove into the Sufis, then Buddhism –all tempered with punk rock and a rock ethos of freedom and rejection of the conventional morals of a consumer society. That was the soup where things came together.
How worried were you about presenting a balanced view in Fierce Light? There is sometimes a real “them versus us” mentality when it comes to presenting spiritual ideas.Those pitfalls are common are on both sides. Spiritually-minded people and activists are in separate camps. Both can fall into the same trap of proselytizing, and being holier-than-thou. (But) no one can really judge where another person is at on this spiritual path, and what they’re doing for the planet. Maybe we’re more aware in one aspect but not another. For instance, we’re good with recycling but not aware of the fossil fuels we burn. It’s important not to fall into the path of judging others. You don’t create change by making people feel judged. If you want to change the world, start by changing yourself. You can take one hundred percent responsibility for yourself. You can model behaviour that can make a difference to people. How you live can make a much bigger difference than preaching in a certain way. It’s important to spread information and wisdom and making it clear to people.
Daryl Hannah seems to be a good example of this in your movie.Yes, Daryl is a tremendous activist. She’s going to places in the ocean which are so remote, only one percent of people will ever get to these places –maybe less –and yet they’re devastated. She’s saying the extent of devastation in oceans is vast. So, as much as we don’t want to preach, judge or shut people down, we need to get out the word that we’re living in the age of extinctions, of vast crisis, and those things will impact us all.
So how do you think films like Fierce Light will help?I think we’re seeing a shift. One of the things Fierce Light captures is a willingness to go beyond polarization. We have a wonderful example in Obama; he is really working hard to heal the split in the U.S., which has fallen into such an extreme of polarization. The idea of interconnectedness applies on so many levels. At one point in the film, I say, ‘Does that mean I’m the one who pull(s) the trigger?’ Well, yes. It’s (about) owning our collective shadow. As humans, we have to own our shadows. Until we own that, we’re not going to be full human beings. It’s the same as owning the totality of what humanity is –there is no “us and them.”
How do you see Fierce Light mobilizing people?We all, in our own lives in and in what we’re doing, can become activists. I like to take the whole word “activist” and throw it out the window. We all are, or we can be, in very small ways, putting more compassion into our lives. We can interact with others; it can be in kids changing our lives, finding methods of sustainability, or it can be in getting involved in online activism. There are so many ways to get involved, and there’s a way that fits you. You don’t have to look for another model of activism if you can find the way that fits with your own life. Everyone has a gift to offer.