The Better World Fund took part at the 79th Venice Film Festival with: Gala Dinner, Award Ceremony and Conference on “Consciousness, Health & Sustainability” on September 8^th & 9^th

It took place in Venice, during the 79th Venice Film Festival, the 2 days event with Gala Dinner, Award Ceremony and Conference: “Consciousness, Health and Sustainability,” on September 8^th & 9^th 2022 organized by Better World Fund, a Paris-based non-profit organization raising awareness on critical global issues and the Oscar winning producer, Joanna Plafsky as Chair of the event.

The Gala and Conference are also organized in partnership with the David Lynch Foundation.

On September 8^th at Scuola Grande della Misericordia in Venice

Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony held in a beautiful venue full of history with a special evocative set up for all the 300 guests. Among the participants, international attendees such as:  the famous iconic actress Catherine Deneuve who received the Golden Lion Award at this year's Festival, the artist and singer Christabell who did a special performance for all the guests, the Award-winning composer and concert pianist Georges Tomb who played the piano during dinner, the actress Madalina Ghenea (House of Gucci), the Academy Award director Barry Alexander Brown, the Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki, the former tennis player Yannik Noah.

Better World Fund Awards were assigned to:

Best Commitment: David Lynch

Best Achievement: Dr. Tony Nader  

Best Achievement in Acting: Madalina Ghenea for “House of Gucci”

Best Achievement in Cinematography: Nadine Labaki

Best Achievement in Cinematography: Alex Pritz for the documentary “The Territory”

Best Commitment: Isaia di Carlo – Guerrato

Special Award: Best Achievement to Joanna Plafsky

On September 9^th at Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel in Venice

The conferences highlighted the importance of consciousness and meditation together with the critical value of Earth’s precious resources during a series of events for thought-leaders and focus on the immediate need to change agricultural and eating practices to take better care of the planet and global health. The conference theme is in accord with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and re-united filmmakers, writers, scientists, environmentalists, activists, and business leaders to explore and provide tangible efforts to address the environment, biodiversity and climate challenges.

Mastermind: “Food, Health and Sustainability”

Better World Fund partnered with global thought-leaders to discuss the relationship between food, health, and sustainability followed by a networking event for all the attendees.

Conference: “Consciousness, Meditation and Sustainability” with Dr. Tony Nader

Dr. Nader is a Harvard- and MIT-trained medical doctor, neuroscientist, bestselling author and internationally recognized expert on consciousness, meditation, and the brain, who spoke on new scientific understandings of consciousness and the critical role of meditation, a modality of consciousness, in developing human creative potential. Dr. Nader showcased initiatives of the David Lynch Foundation and received the Better World Fund Prize for Commitment and implementation of Programs toward Creating a Healthy World.

Dr. Tony Nader is the Director of Transcendental Meditation organizations worldwide. His work includes serving as the International Medical Director of the David Lynch Foundation's Heal the Healers Now initiative, a global association of medical doctors and nurses bringing evidence-based, trauma-healing meditation techniques to frontline healthcare workers battling war, violence, and disease.

“When we have greater awareness and broader consciousness, we use higher individual and collective intelligence and become capable of solving all the problems that worry us, from climate change to poverty, from economic inequality to border disputes, without becoming mired in the bickering involved in the everyday run of politics and elections or, more importantly, resorting to war,” said Dr. Tony Nader, who is also the bestselling author of “One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness” (Penguin Random House).

Masterclass: “The Territory” Multiple award-winning National Geographic Documentary Film with Koembu Uru-eu-wau-wau

Koembu, a young Indigenous activist from National Geographic’s multiple-award-winning documentary, “The Territory”, spoke and received the Better World Fund Prize for the Best Achievement in Filmmaking. The film provides an immersive on-the-ground look at the tireless fight of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers in the Brazilian Amazon. Koembu came from Brazil to bring a personal message from the community. During his European visit, Koembu also speaks in Brussels, where the film is being shown to policymakers connected to the upcoming European Parliament debate and vote on a proposed regulation on deforestation-free products.

Information about “The Territory”

“The Territory” is a dynamic co-creation between director Alex Pritz and the Brazilian Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people. With awe-inspiring cinematography showcasing the titular landscape and richly textured sound design, the film takes audiences deep into the Uru-eu-wau-wau community and provides unprecedented access to the farmers and settlers illegally burning and cleaning protected Indigenous land. 

The trailer is available here.

Better World Fund was established in 2016 to mobilize the combined power of entertainment, technology, brands, and culture to ignite effective change for environmental protection.

“The supply issues arising from the pandemic, and the more recent tragic developments in Europe, have emphasized the need to reorganize our agricultural practices and global value chains to ensure food security for all,” said Manuel Collas de la Roche, President, and Founder of Better World Fund.

“There is an excess of talk about climate change and biodiversity loss, but the time is now to put the spotlight on more specific actionable issues. Food waste, the degradation of our land and food systems, the carbon footprint, and the tremendous impact of food on our health are slow poisons that can ruin generations. It is time to act now, together, and fast,” he added.

Joanna Plafsky Chair of the event:

“I am excited to have been the chair of the event which brought together the knowledge and consciousness of Dr. Tony Nader with the creativity of David Lynch and the organizing power of Bob Roth through the David Lynch Foundation. I’m also very happy for the award received from Better World Fund”.

Event Sponsors

ClientEarth, founded in 2008, is one of the world’s most ambitious environmental organizations. Their team of lawyers and environmental experts work across borders, systems, and structures to hold governments and companies to account for climate change, nature loss, and pollution, wielding the power of law to protect life on Earth. https://www.clientearth.org

314Cannes • Joanna Plafsky Films • Scuola Grande della Misericordia • Studio Mao • Art Daoudi • Maslina • Squair • Reviscience Labs France • Magnifica Group  • Clinique La Prairie • Marateale International Film Festival • SDB New Delhi • Luxury Magazine • Filmfestivals.com • TRIBO • Chic Icon • the University Paris Saclay • OCF • Floresta• Magnifica Consulting • MC Consulting • Guerrato S.p.A.

About Better World Fund

After the successful events during the Cannes Film Festival, Monaco, Cairo, Venice Film Festival, New York, and Dubai during the Universal Exhibition EXPO 2020 in 2022, for its 11th edition, the Better World Endowment Fund chose once more Venice to embrace new contours for decisive action by supporting meaningful projects on the following themes: Food, Health & Sustainability. From images to action, the Better World Forum is joining forces with partners to create a platform assembling filmmakers, writers, scientists, environmentalists, and project leaders to explore and activate palpable initiatives to preserve and protect ecosystems. Previous award winners and attendees include Nobel Laureates, Academy, Globe, and Grammy Awards winners such as H.S.H Prince Albert II, Sharon Stone, Forest Whitaker, Wim Wenders, Jean Michel Cousteau, Mary J. Blige, Akon and Yann Arthus-Bertrand, His Excellency DR Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi Minister of Climate and Environment U.A.E., His Excellency Simon Stiel Minister of Climate Government of Granada, Andrew Forrest Minderro Foundation Australia, Dennis Mukwege, Chief Raoni.

About the David Lynch Foundation

The David Lynch Foundation was established in 2005 by filmmaker David Lynch to bring, for free, the evidence-based, trauma-healing Transcendental Meditation technique to vulnerable at-risk populations worldwide, including frontline healthcare workers, underserved youth, veterans with PTSD, police, and firefighters, women survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Extensive published research, including studies funded by $35 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defence, has confirmed that Transcendental Meditation is highly effective for reducing stress, anxiety, depression, substance use disorder, and suicide ideation while also improving resilience, creativity, intelligence, and overall health and well-being. For more information, please visit DavidLynchFoundation.org.

About the Better World Fund partnership with the David Lynch Foundation

Better World Fund is pleased to partner with the David Lynch Foundation to support embattled healthcare workers in disease-ridden and war-torn regions whose sole mission is to save lives. Millions of workers are falling sick and leaving the profession, many are even taking their own lives—placing at risk the very foundations of the healthcare system in many countries. There is no magic bullet—no pharmaceutical pill— that can treat this stress pandemic in a healthy, scalable, cost-effective manner. But hundreds of published research studies show the simple, natural Transcendental Meditation technique can. To address this epidemic, the David Lynch Foundation’s "Heal the Healers Now" initiative is bringing the meditation technique at no cost to many thousands of frontline doctors, nurses, and other providers. But the waiting list is long, and the need is urgent. Your support of Health the Healers Now will mean that many, many thousands more workers will be able to learn this trauma-tested meditation technique right away. Your support will literally save lives. For more information, please visit HealtheHealersNow.org. Thank you.

About Joanna Plafsky

An international film producer, philanthropist and teacher of Transcendental Meditation (TM) pursuing higher consciousness her whole adult life. Joanna started Radiance Films in Los Angeles in the early 80's and then started Millenium Films which produced such films as "Sixteen Blocks" with Bruce Willis and "88 Minutes" with Al Pacino. She joined the David Lynch Foundation with Bob Roth, where she has managed for 20 years as a David Lynch Foundation (DLF) board member with Bob Roth and continues to collaborate on several projects to bring TM to schools and the less fortunate members of society. Joanna produced a series of documentaries on poverty, suffering and trauma of the disadvantaged around the world including "Saving the disposable Ones" about the young children addicts in Columbia that were transformed by meditation in a program set up by Father Megia who introduced TM into the shattered lives of these children. These early documentaries pioneered the David Lynch Foundation's DLF-TV documentary series.
Joanna then began the David Lynch School of Cinematic Arts, where students from all over the world educate themselves in cinema and screenwriting to this day.
In 2016-2017 Joanna co-executive produced "The Comedian", directed by Taylor Hackford with Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann and Danny DeVito and "The Yellow Birds" directed by Alexandre Moors with Jennifer Aniston, Tye Sheridan and Alden Ehrenreich.

 Joanna won an Oscar as an executive producer on the short film “SKIN” (2019) directed by Guy Nativ and co-produced the feature of the same name starring Jamie Bell.
With Maven Pictures' producers Trudie Styler and Celine Rattray, Joanna co-produced "The Kindergarten Teacher" (2018) starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. Served as executive producer on “Driveways” (2019) starring Brian Dennehy, “Human Capital” (2019) starring Liev Schreiber, Marissa Tomei, Peter Sarsgaad and Maya Hawke, and was co-producer of “A Mouthful of Air” (2021) starring Amanda Seyfried and Paul Giamatti. She is currently serving as an executive producer on “Slingshot” starring Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne currently in post-production. For the last 10 years Joanna has had the good fortune to participate with Dr. Tony Nader on his advanced courses for the development of consciousness around the world. Joanna is committed to establishing unity in the world and in herself

FOR MORE INFORMATION

betterworld.fund