Weaving a World Culture Film Festival with Sej Saraiya & Anabelle Munro

What is your Earth Archetype?  Take the Quiz!
https://quiz.eartharchetypes.com/

Have you gotten your quiz results from the latest version of the quiz?  The one where you score from 0 to 4 on 28 questions and get your results for all 5 Archetypes?

Well, I’m happy to say that Weavers Sej Saraiya & Anabelle Munro, Filmmakers & Co-Directors of the World Culture Film Festival, have.  So we got to dive deep into the specifics of their results from overlapping scores to time spent on each question – which may help you understand your results a bit more too.  

Plus, we had a lot of fun exploring how Weavers are like ecotones.  What’s that?  Give a listen in the first half of the episode to find out.

In the second half, we explore how these attributes show up as Sej and Anabelle work together to create the inaugural World Culture Film Festival from July 25-28 in Los Angeles.  With the focus on “Entertainment that Uplifts,” you can bet emergence, reciprocal relationships, and more are woven into the fabric of the festival.  

Join us for the conversation and the event!


To learn more about the World Culture Film Festival, click HERE.  

Sej Saraiya is an internationally recognized transdisciplinary visual artist whose work focuses on indigenous narratives. Sej's films have received over thirty international awards, and her work has been exhibited in museums, art galleries, universities and the Orange County airport. She serves on the board of the Garifuna Indigenous Film Festival, now in its 13th year,  contributes to the Topanga Film Festival, and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern California.Instagram: @sejvsaraiya

Anabelle Munro is an award-winning actress, writer, director, singer, producer, and C.E.O. of the film production company Blue Boots Entertainment that she operates in Los Angeles.  Anabelle's artistic focus is dedicated to purpose-driven filmmaking, like spreading awareness about recovery from addiction, healing, and discovering purpose and spirituality. Her 3 Book Series, "The Skeleton Key Series," focuses on sharing her own powerful story of healing.  Munro's directorial work in film explores the same deeply human topics.  To give back to the filmmaking community, Anabelle founded ETHOS Film Awards and Institute and serves as an Executive Director for the World Culture Film Festival.


And if you liked this episode, you'll also enjoy my 2 part podcast with Weaver Type Stephanie Zhong.  Episodes 4 & 5.  

Or Weaver Tressa Yonekawa.  Episode 13.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You know what you said about emergence, I feel like so many, we had so many of those moments like,

(00:05):
you know, not infinite finite, but like meeting you was a moment like that, that I would call
that a moment of emergence because what you did was you opened up a whole new world for us.
Especially when I came to the Hollywood Climate Summit, I was like, oh my goodness, this whole world
exists. And how do we bring this world together with our festival and make something that is so

(00:29):
much more powerful? There were moments where there were people like Carol Joyce introduced us,
but you know, we had other people bringing in different people who had never heard of and
the next thing you know, you're on a call with someone who made this incredible film and very
much wants to be a part of your film festival and bring something to the actors or bring something
to the storytellers. And those were all these like very powerful moments of emergence, I would say

(00:53):
along the journey where something beyond the imagination was happening. The uplifting pod,
actually, the rocket fuel, you know, that's the special sauce and the whole thing. And not like
uplifting and making you happy, but literally catapulting you together in places that all of us didn't
even know existed before. Welcome to the Earthmates podcast. Together, we explore how to find your

(01:23):
path from climate anxiety to community action by asking, who are you? Because just like any relationship,
that matters. So get ready to be raw and real, but also playful and silly with me, Chief Relationship

(01:43):
Officer Amber Peoples, as we discover what's possible through the lens of the five Earth Archetypes.
Curiosity and subscription buttons highly encouraged.
Welcome my friends. Today we have a very special episode, but before we dive into that,

(02:06):
I do want to take this moment of presence, of reminding ourselves, oh yes, we are nature.
And so the way that I'm really feeling a part of nature is the heat in my body. Here in the Pacific
Northwest, we are in the thick of the summertime. And we just got, we just broke a hundred degree

(02:27):
heat wave that we've had for the last week. And it's been pretty intense. It's becoming less and less
unusual here in the Pacific Northwest as things change, but our structures and our systems aren't
necessarily used to it yet. We're in that process of adoption. And so different ways that we've been
helping both myself and others when I'm outside is reminding to have cool cloths on the back of our

(02:54):
necks, because that helps our vagus nerve system, making sure we have electrolytes in our water.
And even having fun like dancing around being a little misting fairy with different squirt guns.
And so wherever you are, whatever part of the world, and thus what season it might be, or time of
year it might be, I'd like to take this moment of five seconds where I count silently on my head

(03:18):
to just feel whatever is that ambient temperature around you. And how, how is your body a part of that?
How are you connecting with that? And so we're going to begin that as I close my eyes and start the count.
[Music]

(03:48):
Thank you. And now today, as promised, we have a very special episode, because we actually have
two guests joining us today, and they are both weaver types, though by looking at their quiz results,
we definitely have some interesting similarities and differences to explore about how that came

(04:08):
to be the top one for both of them. And part of the reason that we're having them come together today
is that we have this special event that they're working on together, that I got to be a part of.
And it is called the World Culture Film Festival. And I know that I was first introduced to them with
this, with the concept of the two reality TV shows that I'm working on. And because those are

(04:33):
in a development, we started quickly realizing all of this amazing framework of the Earth Archetypes
is actually a place of connection because there's so much story interwoven into the framework itself.
And so as we began talking with each other, we started finding some cool ways to add the Earth Archetypes

(04:53):
and this environmental element to this festival that has the phrase as its core, "Entertainment
that Uplifts." And it's been really exciting to explore this and get to know these two amazing
humans at the same time. In fact, we got to meet in real life and give each other real hugs and eye
gazes for the first time just a couple weeks ago at an amazing event called the Hollywood Climate

(05:17):
Summit where I was able to give all these great introductions to people that are finding the
interconnection points between film and climate. And so today we're going to have a very exciting
conversation that I'm delighted to have you be a part of. And so without further ado, I'm excited to
introduce Sej and Anabelle, welcome to the Earthmates podcast. And I would love to hear what is your

(05:41):
version of that story. And Anabelle, let's start with you. All right, so I met you on WhatsApp
as Amber through my very, very trusted friend Carol who is a well-known person and was
anxious because she has helped so many filmmakers realize their projects or being part of the

(06:02):
success journey. So you already had a high standing and then yeah, it took me a minute to put my finger on
what is Amber still? What is she exactly doing? And it went straight to leadership, you know,
because you took charge and you said, "Hey, would you like to meet this person and that person

(06:26):
was very impressed by how we went straight to a level of trust and recognizing that we are
kindred spirits and you going out of your way to elevate our event, right? When I meet a person
like that, I notice instantly because often people think about me, me, me, how can I benefit, but

(06:52):
when there is a helper nature who sings about how to elevate the greater picture so that always
strikes a chord in my heart. So yeah, you and when I met you in person after, we were already in
love. Let's put it that way. It was already sign sealed and delivered. As you said, when we finally

(07:13):
hugged in person, everything was already done before. I love it. I love it. Thank you so much. And
Sej, I know that you got introduced to Anabelle, that introduced you to me and so you have many layers
to this story. Yeah, actually, I, you know, I, it was actually Carol Joyce who introduced you to me as

(07:34):
well. So Carol is also very dear friend of mine and she had, she mentioned your name a couple of times,
via text and via email and then she introduced us and as you know, things can be very crazy when you're
directing a film festival and this was like in the last three months of it. And so I didn't know what
to make of it. I didn't fully understand, but then because of Carol's persistence, I had the pleasure

(08:00):
of meeting you on Zoom. So there was a Zoom meeting between you, me and Carol. And I remember,
I was like, I have 10 minutes, you had 10 minutes and I was like, let's go right in and I, I very
clearly remember you talking about the earth archetypes. I very clearly remember your passion.
And everything you talked about for me was instantly like, yes, yes, yes, I was so excited

(08:26):
with the concept. And that was when I was like, oh my goodness, you need to have a booth where
people can come and explore this. And it's such an, it's so interesting what you do. It's so important
and it just makes it so fun. And so I remember that meeting very clearly and I know that that was the day

(08:47):
when we, Anabelle and I, you know, we would be integrating this in the festival. But then you invited
us to the climate summit, which is so funny because I'm such an environmentalist, but I'd never
heard of the climate summit and you invited us there. And that was amazing. Being with you there,
meeting you, meeting Kristina, Mitter-Mier together. That was like a golden moment right there.

(09:09):
Meeting Ellie Weinstein and all of these amazing people over there was like, oh my god, this is
incredible. Very exciting. We're like all looking at the same stuff. We're looking for the same stuff.
All of us have same goals, same mission. And so that's how I remember my meeting with you.
Amazing. Thank you both so much for that reflection and those moments of new insights and

(09:36):
giddy moments to hear that story from that lens. And what, you know, a piece of what's going on when
you are kind of that within that weaver role of really finding these tentacles and figuring out how
to weave them into something much larger like the World Culture Film Festival. And what is it? Because
you know, there's always that journey of people that are creating things like frameworks as the

(10:01):
Earth archetypes and figuring out what are those ways to weave into those larger things is always
an interesting question. And so I hope that for the listener, you hear some interesting threads
there with whatever it is that you're passionate about with your Earth archetype and with your
climate journey as to how you can find these inroads. And I really think that that's an exciting

(10:24):
part of how we as Earth archetypes can can start introducing these ideas of, hey, can you can you
imagine how we could integrate the climate or the environment into everything we do to really
represent that ultimate relationship that we have with climate. And so thank you so much for helping

(10:47):
give that insight for for people trying to find that way to to share their stories or integrates
climate. And with being weavers, that is the major focus like the verb for the weaver is interconnect.
And it is very much this tapestry where you have this loom with different pieces of thread of

(11:08):
different colors coming from different directions. And there's this process of bringing it together
to create this thing that is this absolute beautiful tapestry. And so I would love to next dig into
your Earth archetypes partly because what's fun is of all this first season. This is the first time

(11:28):
I've gotten to interview people that have taken the new version of the quiz where you score things
on a score between zero and four as to how much it resonates with you or feels like yes this is true
for me or not true for me. And you also get to see your scores in all the different archetypes rather

(11:49):
than having to select between the five. And so I know that that's brought up some interesting
questions and some interesting results. And even Anabelle noticed that she had equal
scores in both weaver and molecule and was like well what does that mean? And how do I how do I
work with that? And so this is something that I'm actually really excited to ask you and have maybe

(12:11):
perhaps an aha about the quiz is and one of the things that I dove into to try to understand
your specific scores is there is a question under each of the five archetypes that specifically
asked about how you solve problems. Like one is when solving problems I listen to guidance from my

(12:33):
body or intuition. Another one is when addressing problems I work to bridge gaps and bring things,
ideas and people together. Another example is I solve problems by measuring and analyzing data
collected over time. And so that was part of my way to try to suss out these different types is by

(12:54):
having a similar goal like solving problems but these these different ways of expressing it.
And so I would love to just get some insight about when you were taking the quiz what is it that
made you choose the number you chose in these different questions? I spend a lot of time self-reflecting.
It's an important part of my daily routine I get up at 5 30 in the morning and do my spiritual work

(13:21):
there because I'm understirbed and I can prepare my to-do list for the day based with actually my
spiritual insights I'm receiving and you know when I feel unbalanced also slightly I take great note of it
and try to figure out why is this giving me this this weird feeling in my god what can I do about it

(13:45):
to solve the problem. So that being said I think it's an important skill for humans to become their
own experts I cured my addiction past with that and it has been the recipe for everything in my personal
life too and there's an issue you become the expert and then you solve it right that's probably the

(14:05):
molecule part. So if you practice that every day and you see a question like in your quiz you know
right away because the dot and the brain trained to respond to the question like for me because I do
it every day so yeah it's a mix of analysis and like head and and gut so and I also know like is

(14:31):
this intense is this medium is this important to me so the different levels were like is this really
important not me the me is like a two you know but things you know are for you know them right away
easy I think that's why this course was so extreme as well because when you know you know boom boom boom

(14:52):
yeah an interesting piece of that is that one of the things that I can see on my side is how long did
it take people to answer each individual question okay how long were they on that page
and that is an interesting aspect too to see is when I when people take the quiz I do warn them I'm
like this this is going to take longer than like what Disney princess am I you know it's intended to

(15:16):
cause you to think a little bit more and I usually give people the ballpark of five minutes but
I think the shortest I've seen is 215 and the longest is like around 10 minutes and so I do see that
reflected a little bit in your anabell that sense of you just you're really clear when you read
something and and that shows that for the most part that the amount of time you were on each page

(15:38):
was was pretty consistent and so I can definitely see that for sure for you and I'm wondering with
you Sej what what what was your experience of thinking through these questions yeah so I'll just
I just start off with saying I hate these quizzes usually because I'm like I'm usually dread them
because I'm like oh my god they're gonna make me think about all these different options and I

(15:59):
don't know what the options and I usually have a hard time of answering these questions but I have
to say this quiz was really well made really well what taught through or whatever it was because
when I saw the different options for me it was also very clear so that was like I remember there
were very few moments where I was like oh would I do this or would I do this it was like yeah

(16:24):
obviously this and also I'm also a fire sign so I also have this little bit of a sense of
awareness of self and it's like everything is very clear and very you know strong I feel very
strongly about a lot of things strong opinions and so when I was seeing the questions it felt like
that was in that was a clarity to the answer as they came quite fast

(16:48):
yeah beautiful thank you for that and what's interesting is that with with your quiz results the
molecule was definitely the lowest and what's interesting about that is as I look at the time you
were on each question it's also in the molecule section that you spent the most amount of time

(17:09):
and so it was you must have really like sat with it and thought and really made that no there's
really like I think you had almost all zeros except one three and so you must have spent that time
to really like yeah no this this is not me but let me let me check with that before I before I
actually hit it and send it on so that that's really interesting to see that part and and how that

(17:30):
that gets reflected there and also I think a key piece of this is with the earth archetypes I have
zero interest in putting people into boxes that that's not what the goal of this is for it's more
when we look at that question of what can I do which often causes people to freeze is how can we

(17:51):
scaffold people to to break out of that and get unstuck at my first career I was a public school
teacher and we often talked about how the different strategies we would use was a form of scaffolding
as people are learning a new skill how do you give them just enough structure to learn the skill
until they can then fly on their own and create their own from there and that's ultimately the

(18:16):
intention of the earth archetypes is to help give people that scaffold to go from that place of
climate anxiety to community action and so I'm curious with with the weaver type the the big piece
there is about building bridges and I'm curious to hear do you feel like right now in your life

(18:38):
especially with the festival perhaps that's the reason that one popped is that that's so much of
where your brain is right now as you prepare for this festival compared to Sej I know you're also a
filmmaker and and when I first met you you were gone actually to India for a you know a couple
weeks maybe even a full month filming and perhaps if you were taking the quiz at that time maybe you

(18:58):
would have leans you know and made benefit for your actual top one and so I'm curious
with these archetypes and with these amazing different projects that you're working on do you
feel like this framework can actually help you be able to apply or look at what you're the projects
that you're working on in a unique way that does allow you to go oh how can I remember that I'm

(19:24):
a part of nature in this moment and and include that in whatever way is appropriate for this I'm
curious if that feels applicable or if that feels like too much to ask perhaps of one framework you
know I mean I still have to understand fully what a Viva archetype really is so but honestly when

(19:44):
you see building bridges that absolutely is a part of the work that I do even in my filmmaking not
just with the festival so yeah I have to actually if you can tell us a little bit more about Viva I would
luck to answer your question in detail yeah definitely and so the metaphor I like to use here is
actually a pretty logical one because a Viva really blends these two sides of the spectrum of the

(20:09):
full embodiment as well as the full like prefrontal cortex precision type elements of the spectrum
and so I use this metaphor that is a scientific term called ecotone which when two ecosystems meet
that's what's called an ecotone it is this vibrant place in the middle where they it has elements

(20:31):
of both ecosystems plus ones that are unique just to that zone and these are our most cherished
places on the planet they are estuaries where an ocean and a continent meet they are that zone
between a meadow and a forest and what is that unique place where where animals kind of dance in and
out of whichever one is their main home I find that a lot of Viva types actually really thrive with

(20:57):
starting with this place of ambiguity to be able to toss out where where is the connection in
that ambiguity where is the places of commonality even if we keep our our unique differences because
then we can create one plus one equals three with the idea of emergence it's it's this place of

(21:18):
of really finding those those places of unity and connection and creating something entirely
different as a result and part of what's what's fun there too is in the report people get after
taking the quiz one of the pages is a compatibility page and it's if you are a weaver this is what you

(21:39):
could possibly do to start working with a metaphor or a molecule or so on and so forth and so I
often find also having people dive into that page especially when they have this really beautiful
spread across the archetypes like both of you do is as a really interesting conversation point
because then then we can look at oh yeah this this element of weaver really makes sense to me if I

(22:05):
want to talk to this type of person or and actually close enough to the metaphor type that I could
do both of those simultaneously wherever I need to or whatever you know place that I'm in and
so does that help give a better sense of the integration and more specifically the weaver?
Yes absolutely yes what this test is doing is it's creating a map it's like a map for us it's a

(22:29):
guiding guiding point right because as a weaver when you're going into ambiguity to remember why you're
here and to go back and remember why you're here and what your path is going to look like
is such a great like a poof you know it's it's a it's it's it just makes you feel like okay
I can do this and it becomes a it supports system in a way to understand that I love understanding

(22:55):
types archetypes and for me the climate archetypes was something that I had never heard of before so
I'm still trying to understand them fully which is why you know it's a little bit vague to me
but I was reading up on them after the test and it just feels like it's such an incredible map to
know what kind of work you should be doing in the world if you're not already doing it and if you

(23:18):
are doing it it becomes a support system and a guidance to keep going so thank you for that
thank you Sej I appreciate that Anabelle do you want to add anything or should we jump to the next
question yeah I'm a big fan of self analysis as I said in the beginning and anything that helps
people to analyze themselves you know is a greater pathway to being non-judgmental within the

(23:45):
world you don't have to get triggered if people behave in a different way because you can map it
out and it all starts with the self awareness why am I getting triggered right now why am I freezing
up you know so I'm I love that it's a new way of describing personality types as you integrate
the ecosystem you know what you describe there with the tone the eco tone I think our festival is a

(24:10):
very eco-tony festival because we are very nurturing we have very open-minded to allow complete culture
clashes right because if you have many cultures of course there's culture clash because you're dealing
with religions you're dealing with political differences with activism that go all sorts of ways

(24:32):
so we are right there you know where us with an understanding of that eco tone we know what to do
how to hear out how to be open but also how to you know make something like retreat again if it's
destroying something else so it's a very exciting place to be in the bridge building is is actually one

(24:57):
of our motos for the festival because we want to be a place for everyone which we feel is so missing
because we have those many clashes nowadays where people stop talking the moment they get triggered
you know and then you have camps and then there is there's the desert and there you know is the ocean

(25:18):
and in the in the middle is a grand canyon of hatred and prejudice so I identify very much with this
I think it's great to appeal to everyone because it's not like a zodiac it's it's it's not it's about
the mother earth that we live on so who can't identify with that you know beautiful yeah I love that

(25:42):
and I love that as as a weaver you really stretch that analogy of the eco tone by talking about
the ocean and the continent and what happens if we have the grand canyon and if we actually followed
nature we would have an estuary which is this beautiful eco tone rather than divisive one and so
that's I think a big part of the earth archetypes is just I compare it a lot to love languages because

(26:07):
with love languages we were really introduced to the idea of oh wow you might love or express love
differently than I do and that's cool but then and then how do we find compatibility there
and so with the earth archetypes there's something similar which is how do we experience belonging

(26:27):
or this expression of being nature and really just introducing that as a way to kind of
rethink of that or re-remember that when we're looking at these things like these political
or cultural divides that you're talking about and that's actually the next thing I wanted to
dive into with the festival was you were talking about you know all these different groups that

(26:48):
you're bringing together and how you can have them work together in community and across differences
and I think even the slogan itself has this really interesting two pieces that are coming together
which is entertainment that uplifts you know so much of our entertainment these days is violence or

(27:08):
gore or true cry am or these things that feed are perhaps an adrenaline rush or a dopamine rush or
or some other part of us that that taps into that that fear response and and I really love that
you had such a clear focus on how do we celebrate entertainment that uplifts and I'm curious as you're

(27:33):
going through this inaugural year of creating the world culture film festival how is that
going for you it is my understanding that with with the environment that was in particular an issue
where so many of the stories are stories that highlight the challenges which is is important we
need to know the challenges that we can use these strengths to solve them but where is the hope

(27:55):
we also need those stories so that we have the energy and the optimism to move forward
and so I'm curious if you can help highlight what it's been like to try to bring together those two
pieces yeah I mean it's very hard to find entertainment that uplifts you know just we we went through
so many movies and that's not the stuff that sells and what we heard from a lot of the filmmakers is

(28:23):
even if filmmakers are passionate about stuff that they want to make that is uplifting in content
there is no place for their projects to rest that's not what the distributors are looking for that's not
what the world is looking for and so I feel like there are people out there who want to make stuff
like that but they're not they're discouraged you know because what's the point one of the things I

(28:48):
want to quickly digress and share is after speaking to so many different documentary filmmakers
for the sake of this festival I realized it's not easy being a documentarian you here you are
taking a topic that you're so passionate about that no one else cares about no one else is not not
not no one else cares about I mean no one else cares whether you make it or not you're the one putting

(29:10):
all your time and your effort and money and everything and then at the end of it if it's not
going to have a place to rest it is it is very disheartening and so to come back to the topic I want to
say that there there needs to be more spaces where friends like these can rest because if we do have

(29:31):
spaces like this people are going to make films like these and this is what we really need in the
world right now because there's just too much information out there that is disheartening it's dark
and the reality is there is there is hope absolutely we have the power as human beings to make
the changes we need to make and we need to tell stories like that we need to tell stories like that

(29:54):
and we need to show stories like that so it the responsibility lies on both sides not just the
filmmakers yes so when you talk about both sides am I hearing that the filmmakers and the distributors
correct the distributors the audience you know people who use stuff like that so yeah
everyone on the other side the receiving end of the film yeah yeah I think that's really interesting

(30:18):
that that piece of when we're provided the options when we're sitting down to let's say it's our
computer or or TV or we're looking at the the list of of movies that are going to be at the theater
nearby what is that within us that is making that choice like I actually have a friend who wanted to
bring everybody to the like six dollar movie night as part of this like birthday week long celebration

(30:43):
that she's doing and she said that unfortunately all three of the movies out right now that she wants
to watch all of them are horror in some form or another and and she recognizes that there's friends
like me who will refuse to sit through a horror movie I find that is such a stark example of what
you're saying Sej which is that's that's all that there is for the choice right now and so I'm

(31:09):
curious either from Sej or Anabelle what do you think there is about this process of bringing us
as an audience to this place where we're excited and interested to watch a story that is uplifting
right it's definitely the road less traveled right it's so much harder to be kind for giving
patient thoughtful and not once you like had a epiphany turn into the echo chamber blast thing your

(31:36):
opinion in everybody has to just like accept it because that's never going to happen but
sex tracks and rock and roll sell it's just the fact because the innate human feelings and the film
industry has been nurturing that type of narrative social media with the swipe swipe swipe online dating
you know it leaves an imprint that's why entertainment the sacred art of storytelling is a valuable

(32:00):
good that all of us have to protect that it doesn't go further and further and further and it is a
collaborative between the creators educating one another reminding one another of why we started
doing this and not just go with the flow it's much easier to kill somebody than to keep them alive
right because and that's what the the movie thing is right go oh you got people's attention versus

(32:25):
a well-crafted story takes so much more time and if you talk about something difficult you have to
go the extra mile to think about the enemies right that you're talking about because ideally
you want to turn those enemies into your audience to be inspired to maybe think about what you're

(32:45):
trying to tell them right it's like Christian movies for example they fail because they're made for
Christians and there's festivals dedicated and they don't travel even though they so want to it's
because it's blasting one particular story that is offensive to other religions to start with and
you can go through the different genres this way I also want to add here that we just already with

(33:10):
our festival what is the difference is that we don't make a distinction between fiction and between
documentary because in the end of the day all of them are storytellers and we have masters of storytelling
right like Academy of Winning producers and writers that have so much to say about how to craft a
story for all that documentary filmmakers can integrate you know and it's not the big thing it's

(33:37):
the little stuff actually where you can leave that particular thing out of your story where you know
you lose a whole big chunk of the audience that should listen to it most right so yeah I'm very proud
that that we are creating this and in that sense the film festival what we are doing I perceive it
actually more as a movement as well or the beginning of a movement and it's not just us there's

(34:01):
other wonderful film festivals that have probably weavers at the helm you know where we just want to
gather a community and remind one another of the amazing opportunity we have you know with like hey
entertainment that I've lived so we know it's a it's an extra mile but it's so worth it because this whole

(34:22):
swipe swipe swipe gore gore gore we can create the antidote for this but if we don't do it it's not
going to happen you know we have to it's a conscious constant effort like keeping a beautiful garden
alive if you just take your hands off the sun scorches it instead you got a water you got a nurture

(34:43):
you got to you know get the community together everybody shipping in to keep it alive and growing
so that's that's what we're doing yeah Sej do you have more to share on that because I know that
my my memory of this is that you were you were part of this movement and the original festival
that influenced the film festival and you were you found anabella is this wonderful co co producer

(35:06):
with you to help out add that element so I'm wondering with this this theme was that already in
existence uh went at the very genesis of the idea or did that come along after Anabelle was
already a part of it and and you co-created that so yeah so Anabelle and I came together
you know we were brought together to help create this festival and uh Anabelle has her own

(35:32):
festival and I have been on uh I've been on the board of like another festival in LA right now which
is an indigenous very solely indigenous based festival and so that that was something that I had
never seen before it was you know it's when you when you see indigenous stories they are so stop

(35:52):
there's such a stark difference between the other stories and indigenous stories there
there's you have to see it to believe it there's just always this inherent connection with nature there's
there's all this like stuff that we have forgotten that is very much embedded in the stories and so
Gurudev Shishir Abhishekhar is a um you know if I would say it in Native American terms he's essentially

(36:16):
a wisdom keeper uh if the the ancient Vedic tradition which is I would say over five thousand years old
you know even more but I don't want to be quoted because I could be wrong but it's very very old
the ancient Vedic tradition and uh so when you know what what happens with wisdom keepers is they attract

(36:36):
the people and the the people they want to you know bring they bring people together everything
works on an energetic plane and so when Anabelle and I came together to start to kind of really
create this film festival we had come together with very similar ideas as Anabelle was sharing
earlier you know she has her own routine in the morning she has this very spiritual um you know

(37:01):
she's she's a very spiritual person I'm a very spiritual person and we came together and we just
knew that this film festival was going to be something that was going to reflect Gurudev's vision
which is a world of nonviolence a world that has um people that are happy and that are satisfied

(37:25):
and that the environment is taken care of and indigenous people are respected and everybody's
respected and differences are celebrated and so that was that's his vision that's the work he does
around the world and uh you know 180 countries there are 500 million people who have been impacted
positively so so when we came together we already had all of this that was kind of the umbrella

(37:50):
and uh and then this was like the natural direction to go for us that was you know this was something
that both Anabelle and I personally believe in and live and then there was this beautiful
inspiration this amazing humanitarian um who were extremely inspired by so that's how it all came
about yeah amazing in in this first season of the podcast I've done three um solo episodes where

(38:18):
they're kind of 15-minute mixes of TED Talk and folkloric storytelling and the one that I have yet
to release uh that I will in a couple weeks is this difference between um looking at the western
storyline which really there's only six different versions and they all center on the same word

(38:38):
which is verses this versus that human versus self human versus society and one of them also of course
is human versus nature and one of the things that I challenge in this final solo episode that's
going to get released is is it possible to replace the word vices versus with whiff could we still have

(39:02):
good stories exciting stories entertaining stories with stakes and changes and our haves if we look at
this idea of whiff and together and and and one of the places that as you hinted at Sej is looking
at the stories of indigenous cultures uh whether it's traditions that are still alive and well or ones

(39:28):
that have been lost um and some that were refinding like from my own ancestry which is the Scottish
realms you know we're starting to kind of refine some of those stories and some of those traditions
that that do incorporate this really interesting way of replacing vices with something else um and

(39:49):
and so I I really resonate with that and it makes really excited to experience the full breath of
the festival um coming up and and seeing that that play out and so um as as we're getting closer to
the end of this uh one of the things that I do want to talk about it that's really important within

(40:09):
the framework of the earth archetypes that I think really feeds into this idea that you've both been
sharing around around audiences and uplifting and um storytelling is this idea of reciprocal
relationships um the person who kind of made it a cultural phenomenon was robin walkiom
or earth through her book braiding sweet grass but it's definitely not a new concept it's a concept

(40:31):
that's been around in all of these earth based traditions for a very long time but I'm curious
in this more modern sense where we're dealing with things like this this uh recording session that
we're doing right now or you both mentioned that we met unlike what's happened zoom as we're
integrating these things or we're building these modern festivals or we're just living our daily lives

(40:54):
how do you see especially from this weaver point of view about you know building bridges and finding
these eco tones how do you actualize uh reciprocal relationships and that could be with fellow
humans that could be with other elements of nature like plants or animals or the elements
but I'm curious what what more you can share about that

(41:16):
for me it's listening and taking my time because I love everyone right away and instantly but is
that healthy? No because often you know you love damaged people who don't know how to reciprocate

(41:38):
so giving it time and knowing your boundaries is important giving people the benefit of the doubt
I do that for a long time until I have a clear indication that somebody is so troubled
that they're only looking out really for themselves because they obviously have reasons for that
but I cannot join a syncing ship you know like I want to create big vessels for a lot of people

(42:04):
that stay afloat and they're are safe um yeah so and then there's the gut instinct as well um
yeah but I do believe in the innate goodness of people and that with a little little
little patient sometimes you can facilitate a profound change in somebody if you just give it time

(42:29):
and nurture and don't judge yeah but for the reciprocators I think you like with you
you usually notice very fast when somebody is looking out for you without knowing you it's like
bing bing bing a big light bulb going off so oh how refreshing it's like being on the mountain

(42:49):
up hey over there you know you see each other clearly and want to be in touch with each other
and the others you figure out just with time and patience and if they're dangerous and hazardous you
don't go too far to put yourself in danger
yeah so I hear that that sense of listening there is that that first initial response

(43:14):
but then there's also listening for well what and that kind of sounds like came from you
but then there's also the listening of what's coming back and it makes me think of
part of what I'm doing to really nurture my sense of reciprocity is I've started to actually connect
with somebody who is a reverend within the druid community because that's once again a part

(43:35):
of my ancestry and he within the druid community he's actually considered the expert in
in reciprocal relationships and the phrase that he uses and actually built an entire book around was
I give so that you can give or we give so that they can give and so what I hear Anabelle is you're

(43:55):
you're willing to start from that place and and do it for a long enough time that you have the chance to
to see what what you can listen to in return and then there becomes this this point of
a decision that that keeps you healthy in in that right beautiful Sej do you have more to add

(44:17):
on the idea of reciprocal relationships yeah yeah I mean I think reciprocal relationships was the
foundation of humanity and and everything everything living being on this planet and it's
something that has been forgotten at the very basis you know and at that reflects in everything

(44:38):
that you see around you and all the businesses and everything we've just become a pretty selfish
species and so one of the things that so on a bigger scale yes you know reciproc- reciprocable
relationships is something that indigenous communities are always reminding us about but what
one of the things for the festival that Anabelle and I are doing are very very consciously and

(45:00):
intentionally is that where everyone that we've brought on board we have brought them on board
to see what they want to bring to the table rather than what we want from them so everyone we
have invited it has it has never been with our agenda it has really we you know it's yes the festival

(45:20):
has to be cohesive there has to be a theme but when you go with that kind of a mindset naturally
when you tell them what the what the theme of the festival is and you go to a person and you tell them
what would you like to bring what is it that your voice really needs a platform for what is it that
your heart is dying to share with the world bring that because we want this festival to be a

(45:42):
heartfelt festival that comes from a very beautiful and pure place and that has been so rewarding
so far so that's that's something and then another thing is we want to try to make it as sustainable
as we can even in the inaugural year with limited whatever you know funds that we have so we're
gonna try to keep it reciprocal in every sense of the word that to the best of our ability.

(46:09):
that kind actually brings us back to the very beginning just that encouragement once again for
people listening to to to keep that in mind of using this this sense of reciprocal relationships
to show how can you show up with this desire to have this relationship with the climate to introduce it
to folks like yourself that are doing projects like this two more questions that I want to ask and one

(46:35):
of them is this idea of emergence which I've hinted at already it was really interesting for me when
I learned the physics behind emergence and and it really kind of boils down to this mathematical
equation which is one plus one equals three and and what happens in that is it's it's also a way to
describe a style of evolution where you have these two things that are kind of sort of around each

(47:00):
other but then as they get closer they start kind of this more frenetic energy and they're kind of
about they're starting to affect one another as they're bouncing up against the world that is
and then at a certain point if we're looking at it as if we're looking at a graph the pencil literally
leaves the page and moves to a whole new section of the graph and that's the really interesting part

(47:23):
of the physics is that there is this leap that happens that is kind of unexplainable
still even from the science that we know but as a metaphor type I I relied on it to make things happen
and was we talk about the embodiment types that's a huge part of that world where it's a it's a physical
embodiment an instinctual embodiment of things that maybe can't even put into words and so I'm curious

(47:48):
if you can give an example where you feel like you've experienced that with this festival maybe it
has to do with some of these things we've been talking about with the environment and climate or
maybe a whole other thing but this example where as you welcomed in people's ideas you created something
even more fabulous than then you first thought it could be. It's a secret to a happy life you know like

(48:12):
where there are two or more gathered it is the an energetic you know the power of aligned
kindred spirits that create that extra push the energy in the invisible realm right besides those
two heads and four arms so that's that push it with fireworks it's what makes the world go round

(48:37):
it's you know I completely agree to everything that's why you know we opened the festival as a playground
rather than a business battleground for people to bring their joy you know like joy alone and
passion are they literally you can lift a car you can you can rip out a tree you can make a mountain

(48:59):
move if you are motivated we can we not as we all know not tapping into it like the vast majority of
our brain capacities when we are on that autopilot sleeper mode but when we are tapped into and in
in our passion zone and then meet a like-minded person you know to have each other's back and

(49:21):
to do things together and then now imagine that multiplied with a community that's in 180
countries that's our partner and the filmmakers from from 60 countries next year it will be
160 countries you know it's multiplying with joy with our passion themes and I also want to say

(49:43):
you feel it when you sit in the screening rooms and because we are not the producers of the festival
we are actually the directors so we do the programming we carefully put the movies together where we
know it's not the filmmaker waiting until their movie comes oh that came great and then they leave the
theater but that everybody's going in there for an emotional journey of like-minded people who make

(50:06):
similar movies about similar things so they can all you know be this group together afterwards and
help each other making more movies together yeah from believer in everything you said it's it's the
recipe for everything finding like-minded people yeah now I appreciate that example of
translating the math to this this human element of how you've how you've built the festival and

(50:32):
Sej I'm wondering if you have anything to add to that you know what you said about emergence I feel
like so many we had so many of those moments like you know not infinite finite but like meeting you
was a moment like that but I would call that a moment of emergence because what you did was you
opened up a whole new world for us especially when I came to the Hollywood climate summit I I was like

(50:55):
oh my goodness this whole world exists and how do we bring this world together with our festival
and make something that is so much more powerful there were moments where there were people like
Carol Joyce introduced us but you know we had other people bringing in different people who had
never heard of and the next thing you know you're on a call with someone who made this incredible film

(51:16):
and very much wants to be a part of your film festival and bring something to the actors or bring
something to the storytellers and those were all these like very powerful moments of emergence
I would say along the journey where something beyond the imagination was happening
the uplifting part actually the rocket fuel you know that's the special sauce and the whole thing

(51:40):
and not like uplifting and making you happy but literally catapulting you together in places
that all of us didn't even know existed before
I love that amazing thank you both so much that's there's so much juicy bits of wisdom there to
really inhabit and body to all across the different archetypes the embodiment of it the

(52:08):
creative expression of it the weaving of it the networking of it and even the
the dissecting of these different elements of what it's like to really bring forth something that
has an uplifting energy to it so thank you so much for for using different story lines and

(52:31):
examples that appeal to a wide variety of folks and as we close this out I always like to end with
one last question which is also another example of both emergence and reciprocity which is I like to
ask what's something that you wish I would have asked what did I miss what is something you're

(52:52):
dying to talk about when I've given this question I've gotten such a diverse variety of answers
whether it's will you ask what I'm drinking right now to things that have to do with projects to
bouncing back to other ideas so think wide and broad but is there anything that you would love to
still talk about that we can bring into this conversation no I just I just want to say that I'm

(53:19):
guessing Amber you have an incredible community of people and that's the community that we I know I
would love very very much I know we would love very very much so if there's anyone who wants to
reach out to us for any reason or they want to bring something again like use us as a platform
bring something to the table it would be amazing to have them reach out to us we're we're we're open

(53:43):
and we're for all the work that you're doing so yeah amazing so in the show notes will include
wonderful information that will help reach out and connect with you guys so thank you so much
for that Anabelle anything for you I just want your audience to know that the festival is going
live on the 20th with our online program and then the actual live show program with all the

(54:06):
screenings and panels and amazing events starts on July 25 goes until July 28 and it's open for
everyone and a highly highly recommend even if they are non-film makers in in among the listeners
this is a place really for everyone because you know the story tell us only reflect the stories
they are being told you know and that the world should listen to so everybody matters that comes to this

(54:32):
and yeah this festival also doesn't end on the 28th it opens the very next season so for all the
filmmakers you know what Sej is called to action I want people to know this is an annual event
and contact us at any time you know just as you heard Amber's story joining us saying hey let's

(54:53):
hop on a call we are here we're very open-minded we are hot led and supportive of everyone who
wants to be part of the uplift community amazing thank you both so much Sej Anabelle what an
incredible conversation to add to our list of ongoing conversations that I'm excited to continue

(55:16):
and for you the listener I would love to see you in LA very shortly at the end of July
we will be there with hopefully all a glow and perhaps also running to the next the next thing that
needs doing but would love to connect with you and and have a moment to to share and that could

(55:37):
lead to an emergence yet to be found so thank you both so much thank you oh cool
Hey Earthmate, how did that episode resonate? did it stretch you inspire you or perhaps
urk you? I'm here for it so please reach out besides the socials we have a community to practice with

(56:01):
on our website eartharchetypes.com where more earth archetypes can guide your path and become
dear friends a great place to start is the quiz to discover your type oh and on your way I'd love
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