“Appreciation is what we feel in the moment. Gratitude is what we remember that opens our heart” — these pearls of wisdom are spoken by award-winning director, cinematographer and producer Louis Schwartzberg in his newest film, “Gratitude Revealed.”
The film is a transformational, cinematic and immersive experience of how to live a more meaningful life filled with gratitude and premieres Friday to Thursday, Sept. 16 to 22, at the Mary D. Fisher and Alice Gill Sheldon theatres. The screening coincides with World Gratitude Day on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
Through conversations with everyday people and figures Jack Kornfeld, Deepak Chopra, Jason Silva, Lynne Twist among others, Schwartzberg reveals that gratitude is a pathway from feelings of separation and detachment that people have felt from themselves, the planet and each other — especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. “During the pandemic, I was moved by how society was disconnected, and the small things in life, whether meeting a friend for coffee or hugging a family member, were taken away from them,” Schwartzberg said. “I felt compelled to show my gratitude for our world during such a complex and unpredictable time.” “I wanted to help people in desperate need of connection, both internal and external and address the global suffering from isolation, stress and anxiety due to the pandemic. So, I decided to make ‘Gratitude Revealed,’” he said.
Schwartzberg said the film is a culmination of 40 years of archived footage that he sifted through during the pandemic. While the overall film encompasses the theme of gratitude, entwined within are thought-provoking vignettes that feature additional human virtues. “I think [‘Gratitude Revealed’] is a giant ode to celebrating life and all the different elements that add up to gratitude. It’s about being grateful for being alive,” Schwartzberg said. “I covered generosity, curiosity, happiness, creativity, patience — all of these are virtues you could almost live your life around. But I’m combining all that into one big basket. And what did that all add up to? The combination for me — the feeling — is just gratefulness.”
Schwartzberg said gratitude is needed now more than ever. He attributes the film to his parents, Holocaust survivors who taught him valuable life lessons. “Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., under their roof, I saw how they appreciated every little thing that came their way — food on the table, a roof over their head, a steady job, and the miracle of having children,” Schwartzberg said. “Seeing life through their lens of gratitude made me appreciate all the little things in life and to tell stories about people who overcome adversity but still have a lot of hope, optimism and resilience in their lives — those are stories I love to tell. I’ve dedicated my life to making films celebrating life and the human spirit.”
Schwartzberg said he grew up wanting to make the world a better place. He went to University of California, Los Angeles as a history major but realized he couldn’t study the French Revolution when a revolution was happening outside his door. “The students were protesting the Vietnam War, which turned out to be an unjust war, and of course, the police brutality stopped the protests from happening,” Schwartzberg stated. “We didn’t have camera phones back then, so I quickly had to learn how to use a camera, and that camera protected other people and me from being beaten. These were my first photographs.” Schwartzberg graduated with an MFA. He began to shoot flowers 24/7, 365 days a year, and, to this day, he still has time-lapse cameras rolling non-stop.
It has been four decades, and as a result, he has accumulated only 20 hours of film. He captures about four seconds of time-lapse film on average during a 24-hour cycle. This is attributed to many things, including footage that is out of focus, a plant dying instead of flourishing. The ratio, he says, is 1 out of 6 — of obtaining a really beautiful shot — yet he won’t miss a moment of time.
Schwartzberg noted that he continued to capture magic moments by chasing the light and fell in love with photography and filmmaking. That’s when he met his greatest teacher. “Mother Nature taught me everything about lighting and composition, texture, color and movement,” he said. “She also taught me how to live a creative and sustainable life because Mother Nature isn’t greedy and will never waste a single molecule. She also helped me connect with the deepest part of my soul.”
Schwartzberg is an evocative storyteller who engages with audiences reminding them that beauty connects people to the world around them. Through film, he artfully demonstrates the imperceptible beauty that unfolds around people, reminding viewers to embrace the world they live in with gratitude, wonder and awe. “I’m giving you these magic moments, these peak moments that I’ve been able to capture on film, and using cinematography, making the invisible visible, you know, speeding things up, slowing down, zooming in, zooming out, showing you things that the human eye normally doesn’t see from a perspective you normally wouldn’t see,” Schwartzberg said. “I want you to not only be filled with wonder and awe but afterward, how you integrate that into your life — because it’s more than just being blown away. I think everybody wants to have an immersive experience that will make your life better. Those are the peak experiences we all want. Those are the things money can’t buy.”
Schwartzberg says that gratitude is the umbrella that includes feeling connected to something larger than one’s self, having the courage to open the heart, feel compassion and having the courage to be a “Jedi warrior” to take on the biggest challenges. “It’s inside of all of us, and it’s fueled by generosity, curiosity and love,” he said. “Being grateful is the one word I need to hear in order to center myself. So, this isn’t a self-help, new age movie. It’s a journey through time, where we meet remarkable everyday people who share their wisdom and it’s up to us to create the context of what it means to you. It’s like looking into a mirror to connect to the virtual truth that lives deep inside your soul.”
Schwartzberg has interviewed hundreds around the world, imparting their words of wisdom. “I remember in French class in the seventh grade, I learned about noblesse oblige,” Schwartzberg said. “I think it came from the French when they had aristocrats and royalty. The idea was you had to be a really good benevolent leader.” “So, if anyone has certain gifts or talents that can be used in a positive way, it’s your responsibility to make the world a better place,” he said. “Being Jewish and raised with that heritage, ‘Tikkun Olam’ is the mantra for Judaism to heal the world. I think all of those are strong influences and I feel grateful that I can be a messenger for that wisdom and beauty.”
As Schwartzberg captures life through the power of his lens, the images he creates through his cinematography and time-lapse photography are intimate, exquisite and transcendent. He reminds viewers of the essential nature of beauty and the intrinsic beauty of nature. “Imagine what it would be like to see the world from the point of view of a hummingbird or a butterfly,” Schwartzberg said. “If you could see life from their point of view, it would expand your vision; it would open your heart, it would unveil the mysteries of life that would be truly transformational.”
Regarding how he started filming all these beautiful shots of nature, he said, “I didn’t grow up in the woods. I grew up on the streets of Brooklyn. I think my first white-water experience was racing popsicle sticks down the gutter.” “Seeing flowers seduced me by their beauty, color, aroma,” he said. “What I learned after shooting these flowers all these years is that beauty is nature’s tool for survival because we protect what we love.”
Schwartzberg created a series for Netflix called “Moving Art,” encompassing seven topics: Flowers, forests, oceans, deserts, underwater, waterfalls and the latest about mushrooms. “Fantastic Fungi,” launched as a video-on-demand, appears on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime and Netflix. Taking the film one step further, he produced the Fungi Global Summit, which included 50 leading experts and 160,000 people registered.
While Schwartzberg prepares for the world premiere of “Gratitude Revealed” nationwide and another global summit, the subject of his next film will be “Wonder and Awe.” “I am in awe of the beauty of nature, whether oceans, mountains, flowers, bees, or mushrooms,” he said. “Each day, I am thankful for the opportunity to film nature’s beauty and share my images with a worldwide audience — all with the hope that the beauty of this planet seduces people, they fall in love with it and are willing to protect it …. Nature is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude.”
