USM's Freedom to Choose short film is available for viewing
here.University of Santa Monica Freedom to Choose Documentary Receives Award for Excellence in Filmmaking
"As I watch the many volunteers walk through the prison
gym, I prayed that we would find a common ground."
- Inmate, Valley State Prison for Women
(Los Angeles) --- The University of Santa Monica's full-length documentary, Freedom to Choose, has been chosen to receive the Aloha Accolade Award for Excellence in Filmmaking at the 2009 Honolulu International Film Festival.
The Aloha Accolade Award for Excellence in Filmmaking chooses the very best of several hundreds of films submitted from over 30 countries around the world. Judges choose films demonstrating superior and standout filmmaking.
The Freedom to Choose documentary shares the story of the Freedom to Choose Workshop that was provided to over 160 inmates at the Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, CA. Forty-six volunteer graduates from USM's M.A. Program in Spiritual Psychology traveled to this maximum security women's prison (one of the largest in the world) to bring the principles and experiential practices of Spiritual Psychology to the inmates.
"We didn't know if the film would truly translate what this experience was like for the graduates who volunteered to go to the prison as well as the inmates. You have to understand that even doing the Freedom to Choose Workshop in the prison was a huge experiment, let alone bringing in a camera crew and a director to make the film.
"We didn't know how receptive the women in the prison environment
would be to these concepts - the very same concepts being brought forward
in the USM's Master's Degree Program in Spiritual Psychology. And as it
turned out, women in prison are just human, and as divine, as people who
are not in prison. It seems as though whether one is in prison or not
makes very little difference."
- Dr. H. Ronald Hulnick, President, University of Santa Monica
"This film was a labor of love, and we are thrilled to receive this award. The University's mission is communicating the principles and practices of Spiritual Psychology worldwide through the process of Soul-centered education. The film does a beautiful job of sharing the most foundational tools and skills taught in USM's Graduate Program, and it also highlights the universality of the human experience — whether living in prison literally or just figuratively.
"For most of us growing up in this culture, we don't clearly
distinguish between who we are as a person and the behavior or choices
that we have made. I think part of the power of what goes on in the Freedom
to Choose Workshop, and in the Graduate Program at USM, is that this distinction
is clarified. Who you are as a person is different from the choices you
have made and it's different from the behavior in which you have engaged.
And you can learn to love and accept yourself, you can learn to love and
accept your choices, and you can also learn to make different choices."
- Dr. Mary R. Hulnick, Chief Academic Officer, University of Santa Monica
The University would like to thank all the women at the Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, CA, who had the courage to participate in USM's Freedom to Choose Workshop, the graduate volunteers who have participated in this service project, and University faculty members and Directors of the Freedom to Choose Prison Project, Drs. David and Bonnie Paul.
USM also appreciates and acknowledges two key graduates who put enormous time and energy into this film - Director and Producer Kirk Souder '06 and Producer Scott Mednick '97, who also serves on USM's Board of Directors.
This compelling documentary illustrates how the tools and skills taught in the Graduate Program at USM can have a positive impact on anyone regardless of situation, circumstance, or environment. You are invited to view the short film today on our website and to share it with others.
