Brazilian filmaker, Julio Hey has made a film about NOW’s Patron, Satish Kumar. It narrates the story of Satish becoming a monk, an activist in the Land Gift movement and his subsequent peace pilgrimage around the world. The film also tells the story of Schumacher College and Satish’s friendship with Vandana Shiva. Roger Higman explains.
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Radical Love: the life and legacy of Satish Kumar is a film by Julio Hey. It is a film about love and forgiveness, about activism, optimism and hope.
Satish Kumar is a former-monk, activist, author, and educator. He has been inspiring global change for nearly 70 years. At 18, he left the monastic order to follow Gandhi’s ideas of a more inclusive spirituality that fights against injustices and exploitation. He became an activist persuading landlords to distribute land to the poorest of the poor. At the height of the Cold War, he began a long walk for peace. With a colleague, he walked 13,000 km on foot and without money—over more than two years, from Gandhi’s tomb in New Delhi to Kennedy’s tomb in Washington—to alert the world to the risks and inconsistencies of nuclear armament
He was the editor of Resurgence magazine for over 40 years. In 1991, he founded Schumacher College, in Devon. Schumacher College is now recognized worldwide as a leading establishment for education on sustainability.
He has been awarded the Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award, the Right Livelihood Award, and, in 2022, the GOI Peace Award.
Radical Love portrays his remarkable journey, including his experience of returning from his home in Southern Engand to India, where he grew up. It shows what can be accomplished when our presence in the world is filled with simplicity, collaboration, forgiveness and love.
Radical Love is being screened in independent cinemas around the UK and beyond
Current screenings include:
- Thursday, 5th September at the DocHouse in London. Book here;
- Friday, 6th September at the Barn Cinema in Dartington, Devon. Book here;
- Saturday, 7th September at the Plough Arts Centre, Great Torrington, Devon. Book here.
You can watch the trailer below.