Barnet Bain

by melissa b. williams

find bliss speaks with barnet bain
Producer and screenwriter, Barnet Bain has spent the past decade, creating movies that touch and explore the human spirit. His recent film The Celestine Prophecy-the Movie, is not only a spiritually enlightening film, but a timely one; exploring issues pertinent to our ever-changing world.

Why did you choose film making as a career?
I thought I was going to become a clergyman because that was really where my interest was. My interest began to move toward the power of ritual and storytelling and I discovered what was most moving, what drew me to the religious and spiritual traditions were the provocative, meaningful stories. As I became more interested in storytelling, I began to feel excited by what could be done in film-making in terms of telling those kinds of stories about the mythologies of our time, the powerful connections between people, and the powerful connection between people and God. It felt like the same kind of job. You’re dealing in a responsible way to provide connection and meaning, to provide imagery and story in a context in which people can find their own connections with God and with each other.

Is there a message you’re hoping to get across in your films?
I have a recipe for visionary film-making or for visionary story telling: I ask myself how would things be if they were running at their very best in 5 months, 15 months, 5 years, 6 year; what would our world look like? You can go as broad as world considerations or my own personal ambitions-; what will my marriage look like in 5 months, 15 months, etc. What will my community look like if every step along the way I’m working from a place of my highest willingness to be collaborative, to raise the highest possible truth that I can. And if everybody else was doing that as well; what kind of world would that be? At the level of story telling, that is the recipe for some pretty exciting story making.

I understand you will be making some of the Richard Bach books into films. Can you tell us more?
I’m making Bach’s book, Illusions. I’m currently working with the director and the writer on refining the script.

What drew you to Bach’s stories?
Illusions fits very much into the kind of mindset that I just discussed; it really is a story about people operating at a capacity that they don’t even know they have; they go innocently into ordinary experiences and confront the parts of themselves that are disbelieving or skeptical; ideas and beliefs that are keeping them firmly anchored to the past that they have the opportunity to outgrow. When people cling too much to the past or to a sense of the way the world operates, it prevents the opportunity to have their thinking expanded further. This is a book about people who become aware of parts of themselves that they have closed themselves off from; unprecedented levels of happiness or things that we might call miracles simply because they don’t fit in with their old ideas. I think it is a beautiful and empowering story and a wonderful model to move beyond our beliefs of what we’re capable of.

Do you think there is a spiritual genre emerging in the film industry with the recent release of such films as What the Bleep Do We Know and your film The Celestine Prophecy?
There is no such thing as any art that is not spiritual. If it is wise and true, then it is by nature exploring spirituality. The collective works of Shakespeare; those are all spiritual. So is the Godfather. Any work of art that reaches beyond the comfort, beyond the known, and attempts to frame for people a deeper understanding of themselves and of others, of mystery and of a God-filled world is spiritual. And when we say, “this or that is spiritual or not spiritual” then sometimes we run the risk of creating new structures. When we make a movie like The Celestine Prophecy, that is quite intentionally and purposefully exploring issues that empower people to discover more of their spiritual nature in a very conscious way, I can understand the genre classifications, but I’m not sure it’s useful. I prefer to look at this art or this film and ask: does it go the depth, does it dig deeply into thought, values, beliefs, and choices in a way that makes it accessible to an audience?

What is bliss for you?
Bliss is being out of my own self-judgment. When I’m out of my own mental loop of things, it allows me to experience people, things, emotions, events, and beauty beyond the filter of my own thinking. It allows me to see people and things in the world for who they are and not just for my sense of who they are.

How do you find bliss?
I find bliss by asking, praying, being in nature, being on my surfboard. I also find it by being more and more aware of my thoughts and my feelings. There is a certain comfort that helps me when I remember that not everything I believe is true.

How do you feel when you’re in a state of bliss?
I feel connected, calm, open hearted. I feel held. I feel loved.

What is the last movie you saw in the theater?
The Break-up

What was the last movie you rented?
Breathless; but it is still sitting on my coffee table.

What movie would you suggest FindBliss readers should rent that is blissful or has an important message?/strong>
Samsara. it’s the story of a monk who comes from a very rarified altered state and finds peace by restoring the balance that is required by living fully in the world. It is a Buddhist story told backwards. It is a great reminder to me of striking a balance between living fully in the world and exploring as much as possible our spiritual and non-physical nature.