ILLUMINATE’s Silver Linings Virtual Screening Series presents a virtual encore of the 2018 ILLUMINATE Audience Award winner STAY HUMAN from filmmaker and beloved world renowned musician Michael Franti.
Franti will join live from Bali for an online post-screening Q&A and play an acoustic set in a live musical Reel Healing entitled “Together As One.â€Â The virtual screening and performance will show on Thursday, May 28 at 5:00pm PDT on illuminate.eventive.org.Â
Stay Human, directed by and featuring Franti, is the third film of the month-long, weekly watch-at-home program Silver Linings Screening Series: Loving Life After Lockdown.
The free live weekly series features a lineup of life-affirming, uplifting feature narratives and documentaries alongside live filmmaker Q&A’s, interactive discussions and the festival’s signature Reel Healing events. Funds will be raised for Covid-19 everyday heroes.
The virtual film screenings take place at a scheduled time, but will be available for a 24-hour replay period. The programs can be watched on a computer, tablet, mobile device or smartTV (through mirroring). The films can also be watched on AppleTV via the Eventive app. The fourth and final film selection of the series will be announced during Thursday’s live program.
About Stay Human
During these turbulent times, the feeling of helplessness is an epidemic. In a quest to find a path to stay human and hold on to humanity in the craziness of this world, Michael Franti takes viewers on an experiential journey through his songs and stories of people who have chosen to overcome cynicism with optimism and hope.Â
Michael shares the tales of Robin Lim, a midwife who opened a birthing clinic in the aftermath of a devastating typhoon in the Philippines, Steve & Hope Dezember, a young couple whose love carries them through Steve’s battle with ALS, Arief Rabik, an environmental scientist in Bali who perfected a method to make industrial and household products with bamboo in an effort to curb deforestation, and Sive Mazinyo and Busisiwwe Vazi, who help inspire their community of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, through music and education.Â
Michael reflects on his own personal journey facing adversity as a child, struggling to find his voice as a musician, and how he came to find inspiration through these stories. He hopes to inspire people to become changemakers by utilizing creativity, tenacity, and heart to face our daily challenges as individuals, and together as citizens of our planet to STAY HUMAN.
Senior Programmer Sheron Foster recalls the joy of ILLUMINATE’s first showing of the film in Sedona, “Stay Human enjoyed a rousing Southwest Premiere at the 2018 ILLUMINATE Film Festival, where a full house laughed and cried during the film, then sung and danced on stage with Michael. He brought us all together and brought down the house.â€