Amma, A Documentary of a Living Saint

Short Synopsis

“Amma A Documentary of a Living Saint” is an exquisitely beautiful, extraordinarily powerful portrayal of one woman’s rise from poverty, abuse and discrimination to become a world-renown spiritual leader and global social activist.

Description/Treatment

Amma, A Documentary of a Living Saint is an exquisitely beautiful, extraordinarily powerful portrayal of one woman’s rise from poverty, abuse and discrimination to become an internationally-acclaimed spiritual leader and global social activist.   Amritanandamayi is affectionately known as Amma and as The Hugging Saint by the international press for her ability to uplift millions of people through a simple gesture of an embrace and for her ground-breaking humanitarian work to the world community. From her early years as a young mystic on India’s southern coast, defying traditions millenniums old, Amma continues to lead a life-style revolution with direct links between unconditional love, spirituality and social service that emphasize gender equality and global peace. For over thirty-five years she gives her time, service, and fund-raising to philanthropic programs she has initiated; these include Tsunami disaster relief, hospitals, orphanages, schools and food programs.    On a typical Sunday at her ashram in India, 20,000 receive her blessings, and during her US tours, thousands come. A stream of humanity flows through her arms as she compassionately embraces the crippled, the dying, the beautiful, the powerful, outcasts, lepers, and priests. She blesses each, working continuously for up to 20 hours. Revered as a living saint, she shares the world's platforms with political and religious leaders at the highest level. For her outstanding contributions to the world community, Amma receives the prestigious Gandhi-King Award for Non-Violence at the United Nations in Switzerland (Nelson Mandala, Kofi Anan and Jane Goodall were prior recipients). Her organizations donated $46,000,000 to Tsunami Relief, $1,000,000 donation to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, and unanimously voted a United Nations NGO.   Her practices and teachings attract millions of people throughout the world from diverse ethnic, political, economic, religious and non-religious backgrounds.  Amma’s arrival in the US, including the founding of permanent ashrams on American soil, and her frequent offerings of personal blessings are essential parts of the transfusion of spirituality from the East to the West.  Her teachings are illuminated in the context of the spiritual quest in the West; focusing on the dramatically increasing number of Americans who have found fulfillment. Amma leads by example as she teaches a symbiotic relationship between spirituality, service and social change through direct action in the world; illustrating a new kind of leadership - a unique, non-political model that is spiritual, practical and highly effective with goals of world peace and equality.   Interwoven throughout the film is the impact of service and social change through the documentation of a selection of her humanitarian and disaster relief efforts. Interviews with acclaimed authors and leading experts of women saints and mystics in both eastern and western cultures, leading experts on Hinduism, volunteers at her charitable facilities, and those who received her blessings provide insight on Amma, her place in history, and her contributions to re-defining the role of women and women spiritual leaders in a global community.