katrinaolson.ca - We Rise Up (Sundance 2019)

Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2019 at 05:00 PM

KO Review of We Rise Up (Sundance 2019)

Review by Katrina Olson-Mottahed x CalgaryMovies.com

Part 1: KO Sundance Film Festival 2019 + Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile >
Part 2: Halston (Sundance 2019) >

The film We Rise Up and the movement is a culture shifting documentary that presents a new model for success in the world. I showed up for the evening's premiere to be greeted at a Tao, Park City pop-up space with handmade african beads from BeadforLife sporting a lanyard where I had to write what I RISE UP for. I decided to write EMPOWERMENT because I think anything is possible if someone feels empowered. All the films contributors walked the red carpet entering in to event space where drummers and acrobatic performers started up the energy flowing into the intro by Kute Blackson (transformational truth teacher). I had never heard of Kute Blackson before but let me tell you, this guy woke me up, he just radiates positive energy and good vibes.

Blackson pumped the audience up and the introduced Kevin Bacon to talk about the charity he founded called Six Degrees, builds on the popularity of the “small world phenomenon” by enabling people to become celebrities for their own causes by donating to or raising money for local and grassroots charities in the United States. Bacon then went on to introduce the founder of Sackcloth & Ashes, Bob Dalton. Dalton told his story about his endeavour to make a difference in the United States;his mother, a hardworking single mother, found herself living on the streets in 2013. Bob realized that not all people choose to become homeless, some people just need a second chance. He was inspired to call his local homeless shelters to ask what they needed most – they all said blankets. That’s when he founded Sackcloth & Ashes. For every blanket you purchase, we give a blanket to your local homeless shelter.

After the very inspiring introduction from Bacon and Dalton, we begin to watch the film We Rise Up. The film transitions between cinematically stunning visuals and intimate dialogue with many prominent thought leaders including his Holiness The Dalai Lama, Moby (Grammy Award winning musician), John Mackey (CEO of Whole Foods Market), Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Group), Tom Chi (co-founder of Google X and inventor of the self-driving car), Jack Canfield (Author Chicken Soup for the Soul Series) and Michael Franti (Musician and Activist) to name a few.

If you liked the movie The Secret, which was about manifesting your material and personal desires, then We Rise Up is the next step on the consciousness journey. We Rise Up is about a collective consciousness for our planet. All the discussion around success is about redefining what success is to each of us to include a utilitarian approach to a collective success in saving our planet and mankind. Taking the focus away from the self and shifting it to the collective good which in turn makes all of us successful.

I really enjoyed the film and all the discussion surrounding it at the event, the evening of the screening. I look forward to the spread of this movement around the globe because something’s got to give before it all disappears.

Part 1: KO Sundance Film Festival 2019 + Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile >
Part 2: Halston (Sundance 2019) >

Calgary Showtimes: We Rise Up >