Lord of the Dance/Destroyer of Illusion

The story of Muhammad Iqbal, a turn of the century poet/philosopher from South Asia. Through Iqbal's work we open a dialog between the East and West, refute the notion of a class of civilizations and discover our shared humanity.

Living Buddha

Shadows of Light combines the loud and soft tones of life. The centerpiece is an Austrian mountain pasture where the summer solstice is celebrated with international artists and where tradition and zeitgeist are not contradictory.

Sherpas - Die wahren Helden am Everest

In a Zoom meeting with the Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK on 12th August 2023, Michael answers various questions about Bhagavan’s teachings.

In 1990 Macartney-Snape returned once again to Mt Everest with the idea of climbing the mountain from the sea to the summit. The idea had originally been floated by adventure cameraman Michael Dillon. With sponsorship provided by Australian Geographic amongst others, it would take Macartney-Snape three months to achieve this goal. This was the first time anyone had walked from sea level and reached the top of Mt Everest, as even the first expeditions started from Kathmandu, at 1400m above sea level. Although Macartney-Snape planned climbing Everest via the more difficult West Ridge, bad weather and strong avalanche risk changed his plans and he finally ascended via the South Col route.

At a meeting of the ‘Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK’ on 14th December 2019 Michael James discusses the meaning and implications of verse 1 of ஏகான்ம பஞ்சகம் (Ēkāṉma Pañcakam: Five Verses on Oneself, the One):

At a meeting of the ‘Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK’ on 11th January 2020 Michael James discusses the meaning and implications of verse 2 of ஏகான்ம பஞ்சகம் (Ēkāṉma Pañcakam: Five Verses on Oneself, the One):

At a meeting of the ‘Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK’ on 8th February 2020 Michael James discusses the meaning and implications of verse 3 of ஏகான்ம பஞ்சகம் (Ēkāṉma Pañcakam: Five Verses on Oneself, the One):

A feature length documentary which invites the viewer to rediscover an enchanted cosmos in the modern world by awakening to the divine within. The film examines the re-emergence of archaic techniques of ecstasy in the modern world by weaving a synthesis of ecological and evolutionary awareness,electronic dance culture, and the current pharmacological re-evaluation of entheogenic compounds.

Set in Anyang, South Korea, crew members for an upcoming documentary research the devastating fire that took occurred in a factory prior to the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. 22 female workers, who were locked in their dormitory, were killed in the fire. Along the way, the crew members also come across the past of Anyang, including the origin of the city's name ("Anyang" is a Buddhist term for "Paradise"), Buddhist temples, a search for a 500-year-old "grandma tree" and upcoming mayoral election.

Six blind Tibetan teenagers climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest, led by seven-summit blind mountain-climber Erik Weihenmayer.

This live show features the energetic analysis of television network news by Brian Winston. Winston looks at the news as a unique institution, governed by its own conventions and constraints.

How does the "cultured" gorilla, i.e. Koko, come to represent universal man? Author and cultural critic Donna Haraway untangles the web of meanings, tracing what gets to count as nature, for whom and when, and how much it costs to produce nature at a particular moment in history for a particular group of people.

A dynamic configuration of images and videos overlaid with musings on human existence.

Examined Life pulls philosophy out of academic journals and classrooms, and puts it back on the streets. 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.

Best-selling author Graeme Armstrong reveals his passion for rave, meeting some of the superstar DJs and hardcore party people who created the vibrant and little-explored world of the Scottish rave scene.

Walter Bonatti is THE mountaineering legend, capable of meeting the great challenges of mountaineering: K2, Drus, G4, Matterhorn, to name a few. But the summits reached are not points of arrival, they are intermediate stages which then push him on a journey around the world, in search of himself. His exploration, starting from the vertical walls, then moved towards horizontal paths and was always expressed towards the interior space where our fears and our desires reside. Where the man, sitting alone in front of himself, must decide to surpass himself or to adapt. And Walter never complied with them, he wrote his own rules and followed them all his life, allowing himself no loopholes or shortcuts. He built himself as a mountaineer, as an explorer, as a photojournalist and as a writer, but always and only with the intention of being an uncompromising man with his hands, his muscles, his heart and his head.

At a meeting of the ‘Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK’ on 14th March 2020 Michael James discusses the meaning and implications of verse 4 of ஏகான்ம பஞ்சகம் (Ēkāṉma Pañcakam: Five Verses on Oneself, the One):

At a meeting of the ‘Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK’ (via Zoom) on 11th April 2020 Michael James discusses the meaning and implications of verse 5 of ஏகான்ம பஞ்சகம் (Ēkāṉma Pañcakam: Five Verses on Oneself, the One):