Lynch Promotes Meditation on Israel Trip

David Lynch, on a five-day visit to Israel to encourage transcendental meditation, met with Israeli President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres.

"Lynch is one of the greatest directors of our generation and a giant artist on his own, and it is a great honor for the state of Israel to host you and listen to you," Peres said Monday. "The whole of Israel recognizes your work and is proud to host you."

The 61-year-old director, who has received Oscar nominations for "The Elephant Man" "Blue Velvet" and "Mullholland Dr.," is visiting Israel to encourage transcendental meditation as a new approach to eliminating violence in schools and creating a peaceful world.

"Real peace is not just the absence of war, but the absence of all suffering, all negativity," Lynch said at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem. "Change comes from within. From the first meditation, boom, you're there."

Lynch has been meditating for more than 30 years.

He started the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace to promote transcendental meditation as a way to aid students in violence-ridden schools and bring about world harmony.

With meditation, Lynch said, the "black cloud of negativity dissolves."

Meditation can aid not only schoolchildren, but also bring tranquility to troubled regions of the world, he said.

"The experienced gardener doesn't worry about the leaves. Get at (the problem) from its roots," he said. "A peace on the surface it doesn't address the seeds of war ... it's a `peace' of paper."

Lynch said if he had to choose between meditation and filmmaking, meditation would win.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

France Honors The Police, David Lynch

The Police, fresh off a reunion concert in Paris, received a French award for their contribution to the arts Monday. French Culture Minister Christine Albanel honored the rock trio of Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers as chevaliers of the Order of Arts and Letters at a Paris ceremony.

"We are very happy to be among your knights," said Sting, speaking in French. The Police are known for hits such as "Roxanne," "Message in a Bottle" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me."

They kicked off their reunion tour in late May with a performance in Vancouver, British Columbia. The band broke up in 1984 at the height of their success.

Across town, David Lynch received an upgrade to "officer" in France's Legion of Honor. The filmmaker's entry into the prestigious legion came in 2002 when he became a "knight" the first rank of five.

President Nicolas Sarkozy called Lynch, the mind behind some of Hollywood's eeriest films in recent years, "a profoundly normal guy" as he presented the award.

"What is really strange is that people think you are a very original guy," Sarkozy said. "What's crazy is life, not the perspective that you bring to life."

Lynch, 61, has received Oscar nominations for "The Elephant Man" "Blue Velvet" and "Mullholland Dr."

Charlotte Rampling and Roman Polanski attended the ceremony for Lynch at the French presidential palace.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com