Examined Life
filmswelike presents
EXAMINED LIFE
A film by Astra Taylor
A Thoughtful Way to Begin the New Year
Opens in Toronto at The Royal – Friday, January 23, 2009
Thurs Dec 18, 2008: An intimate, engaging conversation with some of the greatest minds of our era, Examined Life conveys the wonderment and curiosity that drive philosophical thought. This feature length documentary also introduces the world's most formidable thinkers and some of the most compelling theoretical debates taking place today.
A film by Astra Taylor
A Thoughtful Way to Begin the New Year
Opens in Toronto at The Royal – Friday, January 23, 2009
Thurs Dec 18, 2008: An intimate, engaging conversation with some of the greatest minds of our era, Examined Life conveys the wonderment and curiosity that drive philosophical thought. This feature length documentary also introduces the world's most formidable thinkers and some of the most compelling theoretical debates taking place today.
Examined Life pulls philosophy out of academic journals and classrooms, and puts it back on the streets.
Philosopher’s have long done their best thinking when directly engaging with the outside world, not in isolation from it. Socrates roved the Athenian agora, courting trouble with the authorities. Rousseau immortalized his rambles through nature on the printed page. Nietzsche once said that only ideas conceived while walking have any value.
In Examined Life, filmmaker Astra Taylor, named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces To Watch” (Zizek!) accompanies some of today’s most influential thinkers on a series of unique excursions through places and spaces that hold particular resonance for them and their ideas.
Peter Singer’s thoughts on the ethics of consumption are amplified against the backdrop of Fifth Avenue’s posh boutiques. Michael Hardt ponders the nature of revolution while surrounded by symbols of wealth and leisure. Juditih Butler and a friend stroll through San Francisco’s Mission District questioning our culture’s fixation on individualism.
And while driving through Manhattan, Cornel West – perhaps America’s best-known public intellectual – compares philosophy to jazz and blues, reminding us how intense and invigorating a life of the mind can be.
Offering privileged moments with great thinkers from fields ranging from moral philosophy to cultural theory, Examined Life reveals philosophy’s power to transform the way we see the world around us and imagine our place in it.
Examined Life features the “rock star philosophers” of our time, including Cornel West, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Hardt, Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor.
Examined Life is co-produced by the NFB and Sphinx Productions, whose award-winning theatrical documentaries include Imagine the Sound (Best Documentary, Chicago Film Festival), Comic Book Confidential, Grass (both Genie Award winners) and the soon to be released Know Your Mushrooms.
Running Time: 88 minutes
More info at: www.filmswelike.com
Images are available at:
www.vkpr.ca/press.html
login: images / password: vkpr
Filmmaker Astra Taylor is available for interviews.
For further information:
Virginia Kelly / V Kelly & Associates
416-466-9799 / info@vkpr.ca
Philosopher’s have long done their best thinking when directly engaging with the outside world, not in isolation from it. Socrates roved the Athenian agora, courting trouble with the authorities. Rousseau immortalized his rambles through nature on the printed page. Nietzsche once said that only ideas conceived while walking have any value.
In Examined Life, filmmaker Astra Taylor, named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces To Watch” (Zizek!) accompanies some of today’s most influential thinkers on a series of unique excursions through places and spaces that hold particular resonance for them and their ideas.
Peter Singer’s thoughts on the ethics of consumption are amplified against the backdrop of Fifth Avenue’s posh boutiques. Michael Hardt ponders the nature of revolution while surrounded by symbols of wealth and leisure. Juditih Butler and a friend stroll through San Francisco’s Mission District questioning our culture’s fixation on individualism.
And while driving through Manhattan, Cornel West – perhaps America’s best-known public intellectual – compares philosophy to jazz and blues, reminding us how intense and invigorating a life of the mind can be.
Offering privileged moments with great thinkers from fields ranging from moral philosophy to cultural theory, Examined Life reveals philosophy’s power to transform the way we see the world around us and imagine our place in it.
Examined Life features the “rock star philosophers” of our time, including Cornel West, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Hardt, Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor.
Examined Life is co-produced by the NFB and Sphinx Productions, whose award-winning theatrical documentaries include Imagine the Sound (Best Documentary, Chicago Film Festival), Comic Book Confidential, Grass (both Genie Award winners) and the soon to be released Know Your Mushrooms.
Running Time: 88 minutes
More info at: www.filmswelike.com
Images are available at:
www.vkpr.ca/press.html
login: images / password: vkpr
Filmmaker Astra Taylor is available for interviews.
For further information:
Virginia Kelly / V Kelly & Associates
416-466-9799 / info@vkpr.ca