What role can inner peace play in life? Can it help us combat age, fatigue and depression?

Peace advocate and spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy believed it could. In fact, he had so much faith in the power of inner peace that he dedicated his life to demonstrating that peaceful people could lead to a peaceful world.

Through a dazzling variety of activities from art, literature and music to diplomacy, meditation and humanitarian aid he fostered peace amongst individuals in the hope that it would inspire nations to peace.

In 1985 he transformed this philosophy of rapt introspection into a powerful challenge to impossibility.

At the age of 54 he took up weightlifting. Over the ensuing years his achievements didn’t lessen, rather with age came increased strength.

Sri Chinmoy defied all notions of age being a barrier to physical development. In fact, at the age of 76 he set personal bests in a number of lifts, not measured in the tens or hundreds of pounds, but in the thousands.

Challenging Impossibility illustrates that one should never give up, that we can write and rewrite our history through inspired enthusiasm and a faith in our inmost capacities.

This 28-minute short film features bodybuilding and strength legends Bill Pearl, Frank Zane, Hugo Girard, Mike Katz and Dan Lurie as well as nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis. Challenging Impossibility also features music by Explosions in the Sky and Arvo Pärt as well as appearances by Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Sting and Susan Sarandon.

The film features appearances by the “20th Century’s Best-Built Man” Bill Peal, Three-time Mr. Olympia winner Frank Zane, Nine-time Olympic Gold Medalist Carl Lewis, World’s Strongest Man Hugo Girard, Bodybuilding pioneers Dan Lurie and Mike Katz, pro judge Wayne DeMilia and biomechanics expert Dr. Allan Tencer.

Cameos by President Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, Mikhail Gorbachev, Sting and his wife Trudie and Susan Sarandon.

Featured music by Arvo Part and Explosions in the Sky.







Video Interview: Carl Lewis, Frank Zane and Sanjay Rawal on the Tribeca Red Carpet:
At the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, we spoke with Olympian Carl Lewis, multi Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia pro-bodybuilder Frank Zane, and co-director of the film, Sanjay Rawal, about the documentary “Challenging Impossibility,” which chronicles the weightlifting odyssey of the spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy.

'Challenging Impossibility' at the 2011 Tribeca... par TheTVJunkie


Video Interview of Directors Natabara Rollosson and Sanjay Rawal:
Tribeca Interview: Challenging Impossibility Directors Sanjay Rawal and Natabara Rollosson
Author: Perri Nemiroff

It’s one thing for a man or woman in his or her prime to bulk up and take part in the sport of weightlifting, but a 54-year-old spiritual teacher? That’s Sri Chinmoy for you, a man willing to push himself to the limits in order to show the world that anyone can reach their maximum potential.

Even though Chinmoy is no longer with us, his legacy certainly lives on and filmmakers Sanjay Rawal and Natabara Rollosson are doing their part to preserve his teachings as well. Their short documentary, Challenging Impossibility, uses archival footage as well as new interviews to tell the tale of how Chinmoy did the impossible, picking up an unusual hobby, excelling at it and continuing to wow and inspire the world lifting everything from weights to celebrities to elephants well into his 70s.

In honor of the film’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Rawal and Rollosson sat down to tell us all about their personal experience working with Chinmoy and celebrating his accomplishments in Challenging Impossibility as well as the potential of developing their short into a longer form piece.

Screening:

April 20-29 Tribeca
April 29 Alabama International Film Festival
May 5 Humboldt Film Festival, California
May 11 Newark Peace Education Summit
May 15 Gold Lion International Film Festival, Swaziland
May 29 Tenerife International Film Festival, Tenerife, Canary Islands
June 3 Gold Coast International Film Festival, Long Island
June 5th Lighthouse Film Festival, New Jersey (with Ocean Monk)
June 13 Breckenridge Film Festival, Colorado
June 18 Reno Film Festival
June 25 Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
June 25 Akasha Metaphysical Film Festival, Carmel, California
July 9 San Francisco Frozen Film Festival (with Ocean Monk)
July 22-29 Action on Film Festival, Pasadena, California
July 31 Manhattan Film Festival
Aug 10-14 Columbia Gorge Film Festival, Vancouver, Washington (not Canada)
Aug 18 Nevada City Film Festival
Aug 25-29 Grand Rapids Film Festival, Michigan
Sept 3-5 Central Florida Film Festival
Sep 7-11 DocuWest Film Festival, Golden, Colorado
Sept 9-16 Silent River Film Festival, Irvine, California
Sept 22 Texas International Film Festival
Sept 22-25 Clearwater Film Festival
Sept 29 Bay Street Film Festival, Ontario, Canada
October Swaziland National Film Festival
Oct 6-14 Warsaw International Film Festival
November Renderyard Film Festival, Spain