Celebrating the power of stillness with Stella McCartney and David Lynch

“When you dive within, the Self is there and true happiness is there," according to filmmaker David Lynch. "There’s a pure, huge, unbounded ocean of it. It’s bliss-physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual happiness that starts growing from within."

To celebrate transcendental meditation, stillness and the magic of filmmaking the zen Twin Peaks creator has collaborated with Stella McCartney on a short film, “Curtains Up.” The subtly surreal film was made by LA-based creative Studio Tête-à-Tête to support the David Lynch foundation and features an eclectic ensemble cast of creative talent including Ashton Sanders, Sasha Lane, Lola Kirke and Tommy Dorfman, Børns, Immad Wasif and Petra Cortright (and a rare appearance from Lynch himself).

David has been practicing TM everyday since the early 70s and this cinematic project explores the technique to which he attributes his success “through the pairing of cutting edge computer generated imagery, projected film, and narration from Lynch, inspired by his book Catching the Big Fish.”

A follower and advocate of TM and the work of the David Lynch Foundation, Stella McCartney also features in a cameo in “Curtains Up”, appearing in states of meditation in their own natural space. “Transcendental Meditation is very much a personal sense of space and clarity for me,” McCartney says. “It is one of the most liberating things that I can do to find clarity, mindfulness and wellbeing.  It is an incredible concept, for humanity that allows you be a better person, be more productive, more thoughtful and more calm.  I believe in it so much that collaborating with David Lynch Foundation in this film was a natural step.  I’m a huge admirer of David, he’s an icon and a genius.  He has such a dark calmness in everything that he does, his talent is just undeniable and I think that he’s made a true mark in the world of cinema and also in the world of mindfulness.”

Watch the full film on Nowness here.

Narrator
David Lynch
Directed by
Austin Lynch
Produced by
Case Simmons
Director of Photography
Colin Patrick Smith
Composer
Philip Nicolai Flindt
Sound Design
Philip Nicolai Flindt, Adrian Aurelius, Ballad
Music
‘Movin’ On’ (Instrumental) Written and Performed by David Lynch and Dean Hurley
Text
Emma Firth