The best way that I know to enjoy the holidays is to surround yourself with magic and wonder. And I believe that a good film has magical powers. It can transport you to a world inconceivable to your imagination before you walked into the theater. In the spirit of the holidays, I offer three movies to remember, each with its own bit of magic.

FINDING NEVERLAND, starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman and Julie Christie, is about the transformative power of imagination. Turn-of-the-century London is recreated in this magical story about real-life friendship  between J.M. Barrie - author of Peter Pan - and the Llewelyn Davies family. The film imagines the circumstances and emotions behind the creation and evolution the of the Peter Pan story. Echoing the compelling themes of Peter Pan -  the wonder of imagination, the nostalgia for childhood innocence and the importance of believing - the film is filled with rich imagery and fresh, magical moments.

Johnny Depp plays J.M. Barrie, the successful Scottish playwright, who is sorely in need of inspiration after his last theatrical production flops. He happens upon four charming boys and their recently widowed mother (Kate Winslet) in London’s Kensington Gardens. It is especially poignant to watch as he re-opens the heart and mind of one of the boys, Peter (phenomenally played by Freddie Highmore.) The film traverses fantasy and reality, melding the difficulties and heartbreak of adult life with the childlike innocence of a boy who never grows up.

As Barrie transforms sticks into swords, kites into enchanted fairies, and the Lleweyen Davies boys into the “The Lost Boys of Neverland,” the story of Peter Pan comes alive. Barrie’s producer, played by Dustin Hoffman, is worried that he has another flop on his hands. The staging is like nothing ever seen before, and even the actors are skeptical. Alas, there is a heart-rending twist of fate ahead for Barrie and the boys he loves. Fortunately, it takes us to Neverland, and to a deeper understanding of “just what it means to really believe”.

Director Marc Forster described the idea of  “Neverland” on  KPCC’s Talk of the City as “ultimately about the power of our imagination, the power of where we can go in moments of despair, or in moments where we need to be inspired. I think we all should carry Neverland within us. It is key for us to have a child within us, to have an imagination. I believe that when we really believe in that, the manifestation of our dreams is possible.”

Finding Neverland is now playing in theaters. miramax.com

From the director-writer Khyentse Norbu, the lyrical film TRAVELLERS AND MAGICIANS recounts the age-old story of longing for a better life. A story within a story, it follows two men: one real and the other fabled as they seek greater happiness. The film becomes magical as it gives glimpses of the land of Bhutan, the tiny Buddhist kingdom nestled in the Himalayas between India and China.

It probably wouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with Khyentse Norbu to know that every choice he makes as a filmmaker comes about through a Tibetan oracle’s divination process. That includes selecting the crew, locations and even casting. Norbu is the third incarnate of a Tibetan Buddhist lama, Dzongar Khyentse Rinpoche, and a member of one of Bhutan’s noble families. In ‘Travellers and Magicians,’ Khyentse Norbu lets us experience the culture and the people of his homeland in a story infused with Buddhist tradition.

The film opens as Donrup, an educated university graduate, decides that any job in America - even if it means picking fruit - would be more fulfilling than his work as a government official in a remote village in Bhutan. He is an unhappy man in a country where the King prefers to measure “gross national happiness” instead of the national gross product.

To make his connection for passage to America, Donrup must hitchhike across the country, and his sense of urgency is challenged and transformed by the timeless pace of the Bhutanese landscape and the fellow travelers he meets along the way. They include a farmer and his daughter, an apple seller, and my favorite, a delightfully perceptive and playful monk who relays a story within the story. He tells Donrup a fable of two brothers, magic, love, lust, and seduction. True to Buddhist form, the movie ending offers no “big bang” and instead charms us with a pastoral “middle way”.

Alan Koslowski, cinematographer, musician and owner of “On The Path” gallery in Santa Monica served as Director of Photography on the film (again prescribed via divination). As the first DP to ever shoot a film in Bhutan, Alan recounted how the “remoteness of the land required lots of flexibility to plan and change according to “Mo’s” (Tibetan Oracle). The ritual and spiritual practice allowed for continual renewal to maximize what could be accomplished and not be burdened by the difficulty.” Working with a teacher like Dzongar “really shook me in many ways to my roots of belief and expectation, to shed them and get in the present with what is.”

In one scene, the farmer’s daughter exclaims, “I hear most people in America do not even know that Bhutan exists.” Indeed, this kingdom country, often referred to as Shangri La, maintains a policy of careful controlled growth, cautious of too much tourism and modernization. Most of us will never be able to make the journey there, and I am glad this film allows us to share in its magic and beauty.

Travellers and Magicians opens January 28th at the Nu-Art Theater in West LA. zeitgeist.com

SHORTCUT TO NIRVANA: Kumbh Mela offers a full immersion experience into the“biggest gathering of people in the history of humanity,” the Indian spiritual festival known as the Kumbh Mela. Documentary  filmmakers Maurizio Benazzo and Nick Day take you into the heart and soul of the pilgrimage, where a staggering 70 million people come together to camp at the place where Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet to join a third mystical river - the Saraswati. The film follows a group of Westerners and the interpreter they “magically” meet - Swami Krishmanand - as he guides them through the mystical, the mysterious and the surreal. Yogi Times photographer Jasper Johal is included in the film, and he gives one of the best distillation of the significance and essence of Kumbh Mela. 

Using aerial photography, freeze frame and a haunting sound track, the film does a good job of capturing the extraordinary scope and incredible sights of this festival which is held every 12 years. Although at times overwhelming and unsettling - one western pilgrim describes the festival as a “constant bombardment of the senses, dirt and noise” - some may be fascinated by the real life Babas, Swamis and Sadhus and the possibility of experiencing this amazing event.

‘Shortcut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela’ opens January 14 at the Nu-Art Theater in West LA. mela.com

the 14th annual environmental media association awards

The 14th Annual Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards were held on November 17 at the Ebell Theater in Los Angeles.  The EMA awards recognize the creative teams behind film and television productions that increase public awareness of environmental issues and inspire personal action. Two special individual awards were presented to Daryl Hannah and Willie Nelson. EMA’s highest honor, The Board of Directors’ ‘Ongoing Commitment Award’ was presented to Daryl Hannah for being an example of environmental activism by living on solar power, cultivating organic gardens and driving clean bio-diesel vehicles. The ‘Mission in Music Award’ was given to Willie Nelson for using his talent to influence and protect our natural resources, and promote sustainable and organic farming. This year’s top production awards went to Without a Trace, The Simpsons and The Day After Tommorow.  The party afterwards was a showcase for all things green sending the message that “green is hip.”