501:. In 1967 Meher Baba was near the end of his life and in strict seclusion. Through the help of numerous contacts with people he met in his travels who had met Baba in the 60s, including Irwin Luck, Rick Chapman, and Robert Dreyfuss, Van Gasteren was at last able to reach Baba's secretary and arrange a meeting. Van Gasteren told Baba, "The appearance of the Avatar in my film is more than functional, it is necessary, to give all the other happenings and sequences the final and right dimension." The terms were that the shooting could only take place on 20 September 1967, during a short period when Baba would be coming out of seclusion for three hours in order to wash the feet of seven lepers, the last of such an occasion in Baba's life. Van Gasteren was told that if he was there on time, he could film and interview Baba. Van Gasteren arrived in
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313:. In the two skillfully interwoven interviews, a flower-bedecked Leary boasts that people come to his estate to find God through LSD, while the grieving parents puzzle over what went wrong with their son, who had been so healthy and virtuous. These conversations only leave Louis with more questions. He then goes to India to question the spiritual master
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As the film opens, a ninety-year-old Louis van
Gasteren—a documentary filmmaker and artist famed in the Netherlands—is seated in a video editing suite, watching scenes of himself in the 1960s, a time when "anything was possible." He reflects on how much he has changed, and that he is that same person
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Vimeo.com called the film "a journey in spiritual and geographical terms" and
Realtofilm.nl wrote, "The film not only gives a peak into a fascinating era, it is a highly original autobiographical portrait." Some reviews were negative. Yara Plasman of Filmtotaal.nl described the film as "a veritable
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In his editing room at ninety years old, Louis van
Gasteren at last reveals the heart-breaking event that blocked him from completing the film in the ensuing decades. But now, he says, after more than forty years, he finally found the courage to do it. With this we see him jump from an airplane and
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From the time of these encounters, the style and pace of the film quicken. Interspersed with shots of his enchanting baby daughter as she takes her first steps and grows into childhood, Van
Gasteren turns his attention to his art, to meeting artists, intellectuals, and scientists of the ’60s in the
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In 1964 van
Gasteren decided to film all his movements, both outward and inner. He narrates early in the film, "I wanted to make a film about my memories, my observations and experiences. As a filmmaker, I can make that visible." Explaining his idea to his wife in the film, he says, "I want to show
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He begins to be more critical of his assumptions about life and what he was told in his youth, and conducts a series of experiments to test them. Next he questions what he really sees, how many different angles and dimensions man can perceive, and whether life is simply one big illusion. To answer
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was the cinematographer on the principal scenes of the film, including scenes in New York, Vancouver, San
Francisco, Timothy Leary in Millbrook, and Meher Baba in India. Additional cameramen during the very long shooting period included Milek Knebel, Theo Hogers, Roeland Kerbosch, Olof Smit, Bert
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At the end of the film we see Louis drive down a road and reach a dead end where a mountain of rubble has collapsed into the road. He steps out of the car in silence and faces the mountainous obstacle. It seems to symbolize that he had come to a halting place in the film's story, or a terminus in
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At last Louis travels to the
Spanish seaside and seems to resolve the loss of his mother by rescuing a man-sized living turtle being sold at market. Together with his children, Louis rows the gasping turtle out into the harbor and releases it back into the sea, to the joy of the whole family. The
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First asserting that his own experience of God is continuous, Meher Baba explains that the upliftment produced by drugs is only temporary and thus not a true realization of
Divinity; in the end, drugs lead only to madness, delusion, and hypocrisy. After one more disillusioning scene in Millbrook,
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and soundman Peter
Brugman, and was shown around the location in preparation for the following day's shoot and met Baba. The following day, 20 September, the crew filmed forty minutes of film footage of Baba and the surrounding area, including the interview seen in the film. About half of this
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Shortly afterward, it is reported that a young
American has died from jumping out a window while tripping on LSD, apparently believing he could fly like a bird. Troubled by this, Louis travels to a U.S. military base in Germany to talk to the boy's parents, as well as to
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on the occasion of Van Gasteren's 90th birthday, 20 November 2012. Louis van Gasteren was present at the opening and afterwards was interviewed by journalist Raymond van den Boogaard. On 30 November there was a public interview with the author by television critic
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Filming stalled in 1969. After two attempts to complete the film in the 70s and 80s, a final attempt to edit the film was begun in 2009 by filmmaker and editor Ilja Lammers who began to gather and assemble the material. The 35mm film was digitized by
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everything, because every observation I make fits in with that. Look Jacq, every step I take (he takes a deliberate step forward in the room) – also inwards (points to his chest) – everything I am involved in (gestures at the objects in the room)."
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Louis closes the door on drugs. He tells us that he stopped using LSD after it became illegal, but adds that had it not been for LSD, he would surely have taken his own life, just as his mother and grandfather did.
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and life as such cannot be tied down. You are in them, yet always off the mark." What this means is never entirely clear, but what we see is that from this point forward Louis becomes a sincere seeker of truth.
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From there Louis begins to recall his own youthful memories. His father, Louis van Gasteren, Sr., was a famous actor, and his mother, Elise Menagé Challa, was a singer who gave up the concert stage to promote
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The film takes a turn of style as Van Gasteren begins to act, playing himself as a good-timer who cheats on his wife with casual encounters. In the course of his travels he runs into an Italian journalist in
212:. The film is a retrospective of events in the director's life from 1964 to 1969, filmed by him in that period and reflected on from his vantage point over 40 years later at the age of 90. It is also
284:). Not knowing the language, they find the expression hilarious, and repeat it wherever they go. But later, when alone, the expression begins to haunt Louis. It becomes a personal catchphrase. "What
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and EYE Film Institute and the film was finished in 2012, 48 years after principal photography began. The film premiered at EYE on Van Gasteren's 90th birthday. Gasteren was present at the opening.
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and traveled rural Spain to learn the songs of the peasants. We learn that his mother died by suicide a few months after his father's death, and thoughts of his parents are with him every day.
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We then go back to 1964. Van Gasteren is touring a carnival with his second wife, Jacqueline, their baby girl Mardou, and two older children from his first marriage. The family rides the
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about how his music expresses his protest against the lack of communication in our world. And to the accompaniment of live jazz and slides of his art, Louis recites his own
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The film winds up being a journey of a man in search of truth, seeking to shed lies and illusions, as well as reconcile his relationships with human beings.
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hotch-potch/jumble of various images, sometimes spontaneous while at other times obviously enacted, with or without a clear storyline . . ."
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The film is in Dutch and English, with small amounts of French, Italian, Serbian, and Spanish. Available with Dutch or English subtitles.
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The credits roll over a shot of Louis in the 1960s gazing out the window of a train, where he first began to ponder the word "nema," as "
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began in 1964 in the Netherlands and lasted five years as Louis raised money as he went. Filming eventually covered ten countries.
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introduces an exhibition of New Style painting in Toronto, broadcast on television. Louis talks to jazz composer
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The film crisscrosses the globe. Countries the film is shot in include the Netherlands, Switzerland, England,
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Spijkerman, Louis van Gasteren, and Kester Dixon (for final filming in 2012).
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at precisely 9:00 A.M. on 19 September, accompanied by cameraman
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Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age
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that phase of his life. In 1969 Louis stopped making the film.
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711:Seventy Fourth Family Letter, 1 September 1967,
528:in 2010. Completion financing was received from
429:Luigi de Santis (Italian journalist) as himself
288:expresses is good will and a great incapacity.
514:footage was released in the 1997 documentary,
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276:on a lark, but are told by the travel agent,
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736:EYE Film Netherlands - Nema Aviona Za Zagreb
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612:Louis van Gasteren Official Site (English)
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715:, Mani S. Irani, Sheriar Foundation, 1976
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1170:Documentary films about visual artists
297:these questions, he experiments with
272:. The two decide to book a flight to
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1150:Films directed by Louis van Gasteren
369:descend to earth with a parachute.
357:camera shifts to a café in which a
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410:as the woman in the Zurich airport
317:about LSD and the search for God.
280:("There is no plane to Zagreb" in
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1190:Cultural depictions of Meher Baba
435:as the travel agency receptionist
1110:Bhau Kalchuri: Meher Baba's Lion
392:as himself and Professor Cerillo
526:EYE Film Institute Netherlands
456:EYE Film Institute Netherlands
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1175:Documentary films about drugs
800:at Netherlands Film Festival
725:Ilja Lammers at Linkedin.com
351:Not knowing what my mind is.
1081:Meher Baba Newsreel Footage
932:Sufism Reoriented Sanctuary
309:, to meet the LSD-advocate
202:There Is No Plane to Zagreb
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481:Principal photography for
144:20 November 2012
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741:28 December 2013 at the
639:28 December 2013 at the
505:on 17 September, and at
426:as the cuckold's mother.
1165:Dutch documentary films
1145:Dutch independent films
552:Belgrado Alfonso Chozas
346:. . . I make up my mind
1185:2012 independent films
1180:2012 documentary films
927:Meher Spiritual Center
882:
767:Official Facebook page
1117:Nema aviona za Zagreb
1103:The Theme of Creation
1031:Don't Worry, Be Happy
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798:Nema aviona za Zagreb
785:Nema aviona za Zagreb
773:Nema aviona za Zagreb
530:Netherlands Film Fund
499:Nema aviona za Zagreb
454:finally premiered at
452:Nema aviona za Zagreb
278:Nema aviona za Zagreb
197:Nema aviona za Zagreb
24:Nema aviona za Zagreb
1160:Self-reflexive films
374:Really and Sincerely
987:Encountered masters
600:No Plane for Zabreb
424:Totti Truman Taylor
341:poetry in English.
307:Millbrook, New York
1004:Sai Baba of Shirdi
948:Norina Matchabelli
941:Associated figures
889:Terms and concepts
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787:(Official Trailer)
390:Louis van Gasteren
233:, France, Canada,
210:Louis van Gasteren
51:Louis van Gasteren
42:Louis van Gasteren
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675:"Filmtotaal"
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161:Running time
137:Release date
99:llja Lammers
67:Joke Meerman
59:Joke Meerman
15:
1073:Filmography
963:Quentin Tod
862:(1962 poem)
854:(1955 book)
602:, 2012 film
581:Mal Waldron
511:Jan de Bont
487:Jan de Bont
439:Mal Waldron
335:Mal Waldron
214:Jan de Bont
174:Netherlands
108:Mal Waldron
90:Jan de Bont
64:Produced by
38:Directed by
1140:2012 films
1134:Categories
851:God Speaks
836:Meher Baba
587:References
549:Lena Balaz
495:Meher Baba
477:Production
441:as himself
404:as himself
398:as himself
396:Meher Baba
315:Meher Baba
231:Yugoslavia
165:82 minutes
148:2012-11-20
115:Production
80:Meher Baba
48:Written by
1054:With Love
922:Meherabad
685:25 August
652:Vimeo.com
556:The Doors
507:Meherazad
446:Reception
376:" by the
262:Communism
180:Languages
96:Edited by
739:Archived
637:Archived
634:EYE film
561:Bee Gees
378:Bee Gees
359:flamenco
282:Croatian
270:Belgrade
254:carousel
208:film by
104:Music by
72:Starring
906:Mandali
792:YouTube
418:cuckold
380:plays.
188:English
170:Country
146: (
117:company
1120:(2012)
1112:(2006)
1106:(2005)
1098:(2003)
1092:(1969)
1084:(1932)
1023:Albums
503:Bombay
274:Zagreb
539:Music
463:from
206:Dutch
184:Dutch
1046:I Am
901:Mast
778:IMDb
687:2013
497:for
483:Nema
384:Cast
339:Beat
327:Opel
290:Nema
286:Nema
244:Plot
790:on
776:at
299:LSD
1136::
520:.
469:.
222:.
1033:"
1029:"
828:e
821:t
814:v
689:.
420:.
200:(
150:)
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