August 2024 | Issue No. 41

A Conversation between Téana David, the Director of the ILLUMINATE Film Festival and Monica Lenches and Claudia Rucker

Meeting Téana David, the Director of the ILLUMINATE Film Festival, was a truly magical experience, with synchronicities leading us to each other. My first encounter with her was at film festival’s opening night at the Lobero, where the impactful documentary, ‘Love Over Money’, was premiered. Shortly after the festival, two dear friends, including Wendy Kout, one of our Legacy Brands, eagerly offered to introduce us, sensing a genuine connection. And they were absolutely right! Getting to know Téana has been a source of immense joy and inspiration for me. Her clear and passionate articulation of her vision reminded me of a vision I had 15 years ago when I first ventured into the world of documentary filmmaking with my short film, ‘A Kinder World’. At that time, I had a vision of a second film festival in Santa Barbara, one that would focus on kindness, healing, and the evolution of consciousness. And now, thanks to Téana, that vision has become a reality! With the successful launch of ILLUMINATE, the festival is not only sparking hearts but illuminating our community!

 

ML: I understand that you played a key role in relocating the ILLUMINATE Film Festival from Sedona to Santa Barbara last April. Can you share your journey of taking the helm as its director?

 

TD: My partner Kit Thomas and I had been the co-creators and directors of a successful online film festival during Covid called Shift Your World (with the Shift Network). This experience, combined with my years in New York as the director of Deepak Chopra’s center in New York City, inspired ILLUMINATE’s founder, Danette Wolpert-Holman, to approach us about coming on as the Directors of ILLUMINATE. However, we live in Santa Barbara and ILLUMINATE was based in Sedona, where it had been for nine years. It seemed to us, though, that the festival was poised to grow and that perhaps Santa Barbara would be an excellent new home for many reasons. Members of the ILLUMINATE board visited Santa Barbara to tour theaters and meet with relevant community leaders including SBIFF’s Executive Director, Roger Durling. Roger was tremendously supportive and agreed that our culturally rich, socially conscious town would be an ideal fit for ILLUMINATE, which has been recognized as the world’s leading conscious film festival. I ended up accepting the role of ILUMINATE’s Director and Kit came on board as Festival Co-Producer and Director of Programming.

 

ML: What do you mean by a “conscious” film festival? 

 

TD: By conscious, we mean films that are soul-centered and solution-oriented. Films that, as one of my Buddhist teachers says, “spring from an awakened state of mind.” If a filmmaker is making a film with an intention of uplifting humanity and providing viewers a sense of purpose and possibility, it would likely be considered a conscious film. I often call the films we feature in the festival “evolutionary films,” because they are propelling humanity forward. And although they can be either fiction or non-fiction and encompass many themes — for example, earth stewardship, social action, human rights, health and wellness, spirituality, mysticism — what most ILLUMINATE films have in common is a message of shifting consciousness at the root… in other words, that true and lasting change begins within each one of us.

 

ML: What purpose do film festivals serve?

 

TD: Film festivals serve several important purposes. They bring us together around cinematic storytelling, and we have a shared community experience where it is safe to feel our emotions. The late movie critic Roger Ebert called films “empathy generators,” and it’s true — films allow us to see from others’ perspectives and to step into worlds outside of our own. This opportunity to cultivate empathy is critical in today’s polarized world where social media algorithms tend to siphon us away from a common understanding.

 

The film festival circuit is generally the earliest screening period in a film’s life and it’s usually some time before it will be distributed widely if at all (in theatres, television, or streaming platforms). If a filmmaker succeeds at securing distribution for their film, more people will see it and be impacted, so we hope to help filmmakers with this by inviting various network representatives to ILLUMINATE. When all goes well, it results in a great opportunity for an independent filmmaker who has spent a lot of resources bringing their story into the world.

 

Another meaningful way that film festivals serve is by educating and mentoring the next generations of filmmakers. In the case of ILLLUMINATE, we’re mentoring those who want to make films that help us become better versions of ourselves, both individually and as a humanity. Through our IlluminatED program, filmmakers of all ages not only grow in their filmmaking and storytelling skills but meet others who may become their collaborators in the future.

 

ML: What are your organization’s vision, mission and values?

 

TD: Our vision is to become the global hub for Evolutionary Films and our mission is to elevate human consciousness through cinema. We endeavor to set a tone, both in front and behind the scenes, that is joyful, heart-forward, and very collaborative. Our values are imagination, joy, embodiment, community, curiosity, empathy, earth stewardship, and equality for all. 

 

ML: Can you give us a couple examples of how you put those values into action every day?

 

TD: Through the films we curate, we aim to create a space to be curious and empathetic toward other’s experiences and to dream into a new way of being together. Seeing is believing, so when we watch personal and global transformation modeled before our eyes on screen, the path toward creating a caring civilization gets ever closer. We also encourage people to embody the insights they’ve received from our films by partnering with organizations where our attendees can become part of the solution. A few months ago, our four-day “festival hub” took place at the Community Environmental Council, and our key sponsor was the Holomovement, where festival goers could get involved to make positive change in many different areas, such as women’s equality and regenerative agriculture.

 

 As far as our own commitment to the Earth, we set out to be the world’s first single-use plastic-free film festival and largely succeeded. This meant renting glasses and other dishes even when the disposable versions would have been a lot less expensive and choosing to offer fresh fruit instead of packaged snacks. It takes more planning and resources to do it this way, but it set an example for other event producers and for our own team, internally. 

 

The art of filmmaking requires many people playing many different roles, both in-front and behind the camera and a film festival is similar… from programming films and speakers to coordinating volunteers, to making sure all the films are formatted correctly, to getting the programs designed and printed and the awards engraved. We know that everything goes more smoothly when someone can be in their zone of genius and joy. We aim to create circumstances where each of our team members can flourish where they are most suited, recognizing that this allows true collaboration to occur.

 

ML: When is IILLUMINATE’s 2nd annual film festival in Santa Barbara, and how can the community get involved? 

 

TD: Next year’s ILLUMINATE will be in early May of 2025 in Santa Barbara’s Downtown Arts District, and our All-Access passes will go on sale in September. We’d love to hear from those who’d like to learn more about becoming a festival patron or volunteering. We also invite you to get in touch if you’d be interested in hosting a fundraising screening or event in your home.

 

Check out the hundreds of conscious films in ILLUMINATE’s on-line streaming library and join their mailing list at: illuminatefilmfestival.com.

 

Téana David can be reached at [email protected].