Featured
- Meditation • Creativity
How do Nathalie and Frank imagine a future worth living? The couple talks about how they came to their extraordinary travel companion, what travel means to them and how free it can feel to quit a job.
Protagonists
- Meditation • Creativity
Marc talks about how he first came into contact with meditation and how the practice of meditation as a practitioner and as a teacher changed him. For him, the path to a future worth living in can be found in the here and now.
- Traveling
How do Nathalie and Frank imagine a future worth living? The couple talks about how they came to their extraordinary travel companion, what travel means to them and how free it can feel to quit a job.
- Meditation • Mindfulness
Vivian talks about how mindfulness and meditation changed her perception of herself and others.
- Meditation • Mindfulness
Nils is one of the founders of Deeply Human and talks about a moment that had profound implications for his life.
- Zero Waste
Jonas talks about climate change, plastic waste and packaging-free shopping. He also reveals what drives him to work for a future worth living in, in which interpersonal relationships become more important.
- Zero Waste
Lucie and Peter talk about the positive feelings they experience through packaging-free shopping and waste avoidance. Does returning to a more down-to-earth lifestyle lead into a future worth living?
Social Media
Intention of the Project
The complex social and ecological crises of our time show us more and more clearly the necessity of a profound cultural transformation. As the world’s population increases, the negative effects of a globalized consumer culture on people, animals and the environment are growing. We are forced to take a closer look. How can we explore ways into a future worth living? How can we develop a new cultural story? How can we, as humanity, use this essential crisis to develop ourselves both individually and as a society? How are these two developments related?
In order to find answers to these questions, the documentary “Cultural Transformers – Exploring Ways Into a Future Worth Living” portrays inspiring people who bring new ways of thinking and action to life in different ways. The film is about people who are actively involved in shaping a cultural change characterized by cooperation, humanity and sustainable thinking. The portrayed protagonists are active in various fields.
The focus lies on the question: How is inner growth—especially by means of deceleration, mindfulness and more conscious experience—related to cultural and societal change? The protagonists of the documentary speak about inner processes contributing to new ways of thinking and acting. To what extent did an examination of their conscious, human experience influence their actions in the world?
To meet todays unprecedented challenges, we are required to mature into a more conscious and whole life. That means waking up individually and coming together in more enlightened collectives.
More Protagonists
Christiane Halder &
Dr. Hans Madritsch
Christiane studied natural resources and plant management. Hans studied economics, is an independent business consultant and enthusiastic part-time farmer. Environmentally friendly production of high quality products are their two major concerns. In addition to the production of products for direct sales, they also aim towards self-sufficiency as much as possible.
Eduard Justus
Eddie owns Eddie’s Packaging Free Shopping in Mannheim. Since March 2018, customers have been able to shop food, hygiene and cosmetics without packaging in his grocery store.
Image by: www.morgenweb.de
Frank Zechner
Frank studied psychology and philosophy at the universities of Vienna and Berlin. As a certified MBSR teacher, he supports people in their development processes in his mindfulness courses. He is also involved in various projects, such as for the school project “Mindfulness at school – from external noise to inner peace” and has received several awards for his commitment.
Karin Schlieber
In Obermillstatt, high above Lake Millstatt, Karin runs a permaculture, herb and vegetable show garden. Permaculture offers the opportunity to transform a piece of earth into a paradise for humans, animals and plants. Little weeding, no digging, no watering, no fertilizing, no fighting. Instead, see, understand, apply natural cycles and enjoy the gifts of nature.
Roland Nyanabodhi
In the spring of 2020, after 27 years as a monk, Bhante Nyanabodhi put down his robe and became Roland Nyanabodhi. He is the spiritual director of the Buddha House Projects and the Metta Vihara Heart School & Retreat Center.
You would be crazy to busily polish the silverware as your house burned down. Similarly, it is insane to live a normal life in today’s world. Maybe if millions of children were not malnourished, maybe if torture were not commonplace around the globe, maybe if species and entire ecosystems were not dying, maybe if genocide were forever gone, maybe if all the injustices I’ve chronicled in these pages did not exist—maybe then the “normal” life presented us would be sane. Maybe then it would make sense to absorb ourselves in professional sports, soap operas, the stock market, material acquisition, and the lives of celebrities. Given the reality of the world today though, the only life that makes sense to live is an extraordinary life.
The Filmmakers
Andreas Frickinger
Andreas produces and directs the movie. He has acquired a wealth of knowledge through his studies in audiovisual media (emphasis: camera and postproduction) and his many years of work in the field of visual effects. As a VFX supervisor, he accompanies film productions all the way from screenplay advice, calculation, set supervision, to the creative direction and implementation of complex visual effects shots.
“Cultural Transformers – Exploring Ways Into a Future Worth Living” is his first documentary, in which he wants to bring in and develop the acquired knowledge and skills. Andreas is also a trained hospice caregiver and MBSR teacher (mindfulness-based stress reduction) and has many years of meditation practice. The examination of his own experience through meditation motivated him to explore the connections between inner growth and cultural transformation.
Melike Frickinger
Melike takes care of the organizational aspects of the film production as a producer. As an interview partner, she accompanies the aspects of cultural transformation. Due to her job in a zero wast shop, she is knowledgable in the production and distribution of ecologically sustainable food and other products.
Nils Schmalenbach
As a dramaturgical consultant, Nils will be instrumental in guiding the aspects of the movie about inner growth. He is a certified MBSR teacher (mindfulness-based stress reduction) and has been accompanying meditators in their development for several years. Together with Andreas, he founded Deeply Human in 2019 – an online platform for inner growth and cultural transformation.
Carsten Schuffert
Carsten is managing director of the company Bewegte Bilder Medien GmbH and will accompany the project as a postproduction supervisor. Based in Tübingen, his company is the perfect location for the postproduction of a movie in which sustainability plays a major role. Beyond producing their own electricity through solar energy, Carsten and his team put a lot of effort in providing an environment that enables creativity.
You Can Support US!
The movie is financed exclusively by self-funding and donations. For the realization of the project—e.g. for travel expenses and the purchase of camera equipment—we need your support.
We’d appreciate your donation!
As PayPal is charging a fee for each donation,
we prefer donations via direct bank transfer.
Direct Bank Transfer
Deutsche Kreditbank Berlin
Andreas Frickinger
IBAN: DE36 1203 0000 1053 5746 85
BIC: BYLADEM1001
Sponsoring Partner
2020 Andreas Frickinger
All Rights Reserved
Due to the planned theatrical and/or TV release, all content published in connection with the documentary film project "Cultural Transformers" is not covered by a Creative Commons license.
