AWAKE – The Life of Yogananda

OMTimes:  What was the most challenging thing about making this film?

Paola & Lisa: There were a lot of challenges! It’s not easy to make a film about a saint. We’re storytellers, and good narrative usually requires conflict, struggle, and a protagonist with human flaws. We searched for skeletons in Yogananda’s ‘closet,’ and while we found certain provocative allegations along the way, there was nothing to back them up. As we dug deeper into his life, however, we discovered that he faced major obstacles, many of which the public was unaware.

The quintessential “fish out of water,” Yogananda came to the strange land of America in 1920 to disseminate an ancient teaching that had parallels to the Einsteinian physics of the times. Indeed, these yoga meditation teachings would be seen as essential tools for human beings to survive the atomic age. Despite being recognized as a “spiritual genius,” Yogananda would face severe criticism and even racism in the deep South, from those who felt threatened by him and his message. Persecution, betrayals by students and close friends, and even financial ruin ensued. He was continuously tested. But Yogananda rose like a Phoenix through the ashes of his demise, not only to regain his own purpose in life, but to inspire others to do the same through his example. There were times, however, when Yogananda wanted to run off and be a hermit in a Himalayan cave…which is how we felt sometimes as we approached the challenge of digging through hundreds of files and reels of archival material, and studying the voluminous spiritual teachings Yogananda left behind, distilling them to something understandable (first to us, and then to an audience). At times, we downright wrestled with it.  It took us quite awhile to digest and internalize these concepts, and to figure out how to convey them in a cinematic way.