by Dr. Laura Wilhelm, LauraWil Intercultural
Thomas Essig recently held a special Los Angelese screening of his Telly Award-winning documentary Something Divine.
The film features Ray Cappo (Monk Raghunath), the lead singer of the straight edge hardcore band Youth of Today, Moby, and Cappo’s bandmates John “Porcell” Porcelly and Sammy Siegler, Kirtan singer Madhava Naidoo, and Kumi Yogini, founder of LA’s Veda Yoga, among others.
In 2017, Essig first went on pilgrimage to India with Monk Raghunath. What he believed was to be a yoga trip, was in fact a journey into yogic philosophy and transformation of oneself – the catalyst that forever changed his life.
To date, the film has garnered top festival honors, receiving the Award of Excellence at the Impact Doc Awards in Los Angeles, and the New Filmmaker Award at the World Music and International Film Festival in Washington, DC, and was nominated for Sound on Screen and Best New Film Maker Award at Thin Line Fest in Texas, named Official Selection of the Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival, Finalist of the Prague International Film Awards, and was featured at the Lonely Seal Film Festival in Arlington, Massachusetts. Most recently, the film was awarded the prestigious Telly Award.
Film critic Dr. Laura Wilhelm of LauraWil Intercultural had the chance to attend the screening. Following is her review.
On the evening of Saturday, August 2nd Thomas Essig’s independent feature film Something Divine was screened at the Veda Yoga Center in Los Angeles. This proved to be a most fitting venue to support the film’s themes of intense soul-searching in the holy cities of India. Mirroring the immediacy of these overseas experiences, LA guests stretched out on the floor to view and discuss the computer-generated director’s cut. Essig himself was on hand to field questions and offer commentary.
In the film, Ray Cappo, the lead singer of the straight edge hardcore band Youth of Today, suddenly decides to switch directions and travel to India at the height of the band’s popularity. Ray goes from punk artist and becomes the Monk Raghunath.
The film closely follows Cappo’s spiritual journey. ”It’s all about transformation,” say many of the narrators in one form or another.
Also appearing are Cappo’s bandmates John “Porcell” Porcelly and Sammy Siegler, Kirtan singer Madhava Naidoo, and Kumi Yogini, founder of LA’s Veda Yoga, among others.
An admirer of the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa, Essig literally and figuratively takes Americans to places they rarely go in this daring film. It may require extreme fringe artists like punk rockers to escape the materialistic mindset of Western culture and truly understand Eastern mysticism. Famed musicians such as the Beatles have also made the trek to India, returning to the source and immersing themselves in ecstatic religious practices that seem as old as time itself.
To date, Something Divine has garnered top festival honors around the nation. Most recently, the stunning documentary was awarded the prestigious Telly Award. It is truly a film for our times as the whole world revaluates its values under COVID-19 and many dangerous political regimes.