In The Beginning There Was Light
Official US-Release Poster "In The Beginning There Was Light"
Directed byP. A. Straubinger
Written byP. A. Straubinger
Produced byHelmut Grasser
StarringPrahlad Jani, Rupert Sheldrake, Amit Goswami, Brian Josephson, Jasmuheen, Zinaida Baranova, Michael Werner, Robert Jahn, Dean Radin[1]
Release dates
  • May 13, 2010 (2010-05-13) (Marché du Film)
  • September 17, 2010 (2010-09-17) (Austria)
  • October 28, 2010 (2010-10-28) (Germany)
  • April 11, 2013 (2013-04-11) (United States)
[2]
Running time
90 minutes
CountryAustria
LanguagesEnglish, German, Gujarati, Mandarin, Russian

In The Beginning There Was Light is a documentary film by Austrian director P. A. Straubinger on the subject of inedia. Straubinger visits several people who supposedly nourish themselves with "light" and tries to find possible explanations on how inedia might work. Straubinger researched inedia for ten years. This led to the film's production, which took five years. The film premiered on May 13, 2010 at the Marché du Film.[2]

Plot

P. A. Straubinger first encounters inedia in a television documentary about Nicholas of Flüe, a 15th-century ascetic who was reported to have lived 19 years without eating.[3] Later, Straubinger starts research on the internet and subsequently has the desire to meet people practising inedia. He travels through different countries and interviews people who claim to nourish themselves with light, vitality, Prana or Qi, among them Jasmuheen, Michael Werner and "Mataji" Prahlad Jani. Straubinger also consults different people from classical and alternative medicine and science and looks for explanatory models for inedia. Straubinger conveys that for him, the materialistic world view of modern science falls short.[4][5]

Straubinger's conclusion is credulous and contradicted by the available evidence. Some breatharians have submitted themselves to medical testing, including a hospital's observation of Indian mystic Prahlad Jani appearing to survive without food or water for 15 days,[6][7] and an Israeli breatharian appearing to survive for eight days on a television documentary.[8][9][10] In a handful of documented cases, individuals attempting breatharian fasting have died.[11][12][13] In other cases, people have attempted to survive on sunlight alone, only to abandon the effort after losing a large percentage of their body weight.[14]

Cultural impact

According to Straubinger, In The Beginning There Was Light polarized critics, and the controversy contributed to the film's financial success.[15]

In the German Das Erste talk show Menschen bei Maischberger and two TV-discussions on ORF in Austria, critics warned that the film could motivate people to stop eating. Straubinger responded that this would be a complete misunderstanding of his film, repeatedly stating that he does not want to motivate anybody to stop eating but he would advocate eating consciously without asserting any particular nutritional ideology. Straubinger says that the film shows cases of starvation related to the Breatharian Process communicated by the Australian author Jasmuheen, and also features proponents and experts who warn not to make dangerous self-experiments or try a breatharian lifestyle out of "spiritual ambition".[16]

In Switzerland, according to the national newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, a woman who saw the film attempted to live on sunlight alone, and died in January 2012.[17][18] The film's official website calls articles that implicate a responsibility of In The Beginning There Was Light for the woman's death a hoax, and presents as support for this claim a facsimile of an e-mail that the responsible state attorney wrote to the director in which he confirms that no third party could be made responsible for the death of the woman and an adequate causality between the film and the death could be definitely excluded.[19]

Awards and festivals

References

  1. ↑ "Am Anfang war das Licht". IMDb.
  2. 1 2 "In the Beginning There Was Light (2010)". IMDb.
  3. ↑ Heath, Pamela Rae (17 February 2011). Mind-Matter Interaction: A Review of Historical Reports, Theory and Research. McFarland. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-7864-5668-0.
  4. ↑ "Am Anfang war das Licht – jetzt auf DVD und Bluray". www.amanfangwardaslicht.at. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  5. ↑ "Am Anfang war das Licht | Film, Trailer, Kritik". www.kino-zeit.de. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  6. ↑ "Rationalists doubt claims made for 'Mataji' Prahalad Jani". DNA India. Diligent Media Corporation Ltd. 2010-05-16. Archived from the original on 2010-05-20. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  7. ↑ "Hermit Claims 70 Years Survival Without Food". WUSA 9. 2010-04-29. Archived from the original on 2010-05-05. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  8. ↑ "הפנים האמיתיות של משחקי הרעב – חלק א' [The true face of The Hunger Games – Part I". Real Faces – Full Episodes (in Hebrew). Nana10 Ltd. 2013-10-11. Archived from the original (Flash required) on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  9. ↑ "הפנים האמיתיות של משחקי הרעב – חלק א' [The true face of The Hunger Games – Part II". Real Faces – Full Episodes (in Hebrew). Nana10 Ltd. 2013-10-11. Archived from the original (Flash required) on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  10. ↑ "האדם שלא אכל ולא שתה במשך 8 ימים [Man did not eat or drink for 8 days]". IDF Radio (in Hebrew). Israel Defense Forces. 2013-10-20.
  11. ↑ "UK: Scotland Woman 'starved herself to death'". BBC. 21 September 1999. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  12. ↑ Tom Walker, Judith O'Reilly (26 September 1999). "Three deaths linked to 'living on air' cult". Sunday Times (London). {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  13. ↑ "Swiss woman dies after attempting to live on sunlight; Woman gave up food and water on spiritual journey". Associated Press. 25 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-04-28.
  14. ↑ Lacitis, Erik (2013-06-17). "Fasting woman to end attempt to 'live on light'". Seattle Times.
  15. ↑ Straubinger, P.A. "Controversy". In The Beginning There Was Light (official website). Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "Light Documentary – The Joy of Food". In the Beginning There was Light – Is it Possible to Live on Light Alone?. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  17. ↑ "Swiss woman dies after attempting to live on sunlight; Woman gave up food and water on spiritual journey". New York Daily News. Associated Press. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "Swiss woman starves to death on daylight diet". Herald Sun. Newscore. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  19. ↑ "Light Documentary – Breatharian Death". In the Beginning There was Light – Is it Possible to Live on Light Alone?. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  20. ↑ "Golden- und Austria-Tickets vergeben – Informationen – film.at". Archived from the original on 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
  21. ↑ "In the Beginning There Was Light – BIFF". arkiv.biff.no. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  22. ↑ "Liste der Filme im Programm – Filmfest München". www.filmfest-muenchen.de. Archived from the original on 2015-02-09.
  23. ↑ "Na početku bijaše svjetlo / In the beginning there was light / Am anfang war das licht – 5. Vukovar film festival – festival podunavskih zemalja". www.vukovarfilmfestival.com. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
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