It has been a busy and very exciting year for us with all the happenings around the screenings of MANTRA.
We are deeply touched by the support we have received from the promoters, the kirtan singers who sang after the screenings and the enthusiastic audience members.
To us it feels like together we have brought song and celebration to cinemas around the world.
It’s also been a year full of surprises with MANTRA arriving to countries, we would have never thought it would go!
We’d love to share with you some impressions from some of the events below :)
MARCH: It all started in March when MANTRA was released in New York at the Rubin Museum.
Wari Om, (co-director and camera man), Caren Fine (participant) and Jennifer Canfield from the Call and Response Foundation joined us for the special occasion. We were also blessed to have Gaura Vani, Jahnavi Harrison and friends to do the most beautiful Kirtan after the screening.
APRIL: In April MANTRA was released at the Lemmle Santa Monica, LA. Dave Stringer and C.C. White (featured Kirtan artists ) were present to join in the Q&A. On the first night the Kirtaniyas gave an amazing Kirtan concert hosted by Bhakti Shala.
MAY: In May Mantra was screening all around the USA. We would like to express deep gratitude to each and every one of our wonderful screening captains, who made each screening a wonderful event.
JUNE: June was the month of our great release in Germany. MANTRA started screening in over 50 cinemas around the country and continued to be screened over the whole summer. Local Kirtan singers from all over joined the screenings and helped create so many beautiful screening events. It was truly amazing!
Deva Premal and Miten came to three of the screenings and did Q&A's in Deva’s home town Nürnberg, Berlin and Munich. :)
JULY: Thanks to Adina Malveklint (executive producer) we had a very cosy screening at the “No Mind” Festival, in Ängsbaka, Sweden.
Also in July we had a sold out Austrian premiere screening in Vienna, where local Kirtan Artist, Renee Sunbird came to lead the Kirtan.
SEPTEMBER: MANTRA launches in Australia and New Zealand with premiere screenings in major cities. Thanks again to all our wonderful screening hosts.
In the same month we had our first screening Luxembourg, hosted by Joëlle Jai. :)
OCTOBER: This was indeed a busy month. Mantra was released in Canada with premiere screenings in five different cities.
We are grateful that Brenda McMorrow sang after the screening in Montreal and Wendy Cobinas after the screening in Vancouver.
The other amazing thing which happened is that MANTRA screened in Israel at the Spirit Film Festival in Tel Aviv. Our dear friend Catherine (who appears in the film) joined us for the amazing event.
Our biggest surprise in October was the amazing Premiere screening in Moscow where over 600 people attended. It became the biggest screening we had so far outside the United States. Thank you to Shaktyavesha Avatara Dasa (also appearing in the film) for helping to make this happen.
The other Amazing thing that happened in October was the largest screening ever at the unbelievably beautiful United Palace in NYC with over 1,100 in attendance. Krishna Das and Nina Rao (featured Kirtan artists) played for two hours after the screening of the film. Presented by the United Palace, Kirtan Wallah Foundation, and Call and Response Foundation. This event was an official pre-Parliament event of the 2018 Parliament of the World's Religions.
We are also proud to announce that the German Version DVD was released in October this year: Find it here on the German AMAZON.
NOVEMBER: We were thrilled to start the month of November with the U.K. Premiere in London as part of the Doc n’Roll Festival Jill Purce (appearing in the film) joined the screening and took part in the Q&A.
Another highlight of this year was the Slovakian Premiere organised by Zvuk Duše. Giita Rani and friends traveled from different places around the world and lead a beautiful Kirtan on the night before the screening.
November also brought the release of the Original Film Soundtrack! Thanks to the great efforts of Shayne Locke with Soul Traveller Radio.
You can now enjoy the original tracks on this amazing album, which are available for purchase at the following links:
iTunes - http://bit.ly/MantraMovieiTunes
Amazon - http://bit.ly/MantraMovieAmazon
Google Play - http://bit.ly/MantraMovieGooglePlay
DECEMBER: Now as the end of the year approaches we are preparing for some exciting new launches in 2019! We will be sharing news about these soon.
Every day brings news, we had two great surprises with Mantra reaching Brazil and China! Dave Stringer (featured Kirtan artist) brought MANTRA to his Kirtan Workshops in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou. And in Brazil Mantra premieres at the international transcendental cinema festival.
All in all it has been an incredible year for Mantra, and we plan to continue bringing it far and wide through 2019. Stay tuned for more news early in the new year.