THE VISION
New York Spirit inspires a worldwide audience to recognize unity in the heart of diverse self expression. The film travels through all five boroughs of New York City and presents an unbiased display of multiple cultural, religious and spiritual disciplines. New York Spirit is about how individual New Yorkers choose to connect to a higher truth and meaning in everyday life.

New York Spirit depicts a composite day in New York through 90 minutes of rich and colorful images of New Yorkers practicing the diverse ways that they choose to connect to God or Spirit. New York Spirit is not an analytical or educational documentary; instead it is a journey through which the audience shares in the experience of its subjects without narration or explanation. The striking visual imagery, shot in High Definition Television (HDTV), will be accompanied by a symphony of relevant and uplifting music. The soundtrack will be recorded and mixed fully in 5.1 digital surround sound to accentuate the experiential nature of the film.

New York Spirit presents prayer in silence, prayer in movement, prayer in song or in speech and prayer in work. New York Spirit will reveal worship of the heart, hands, mind, feet, voice and body in all types of distinct New York locations.

THE MISSION
New York Spirit is a prayer, an affirmation for a positive future for our entire world.

This film celebrates the spiritual heart of New York City which is a paradigm for a new global future. It is a missive of peace. Cultures are integrating all over the world and unfortunately we hear about it only when there are problems. We don’t hear how integration brilliantly enhances communities. People fear that mingling with other cultures means the destruction of their own heritage. In New York, conflict is the exception not the rule.

New York Spirit director Muriel Stockdale remembers a scene that helped crystallize the vision for this film in her mind:

“The really great thing is that here we can worship in anyway we choose. Within a week after 9/11, I saw an Islamic devotee place his prayer rug in the middle of a busy sidewalk on Broadway and bow toward Mecca. This man experienced religious freedom her in New York at a time when others around the country were afraid and experiencing reprisals.”

New York Spirit is a feast for the soul that reveals how individuals personally celebrate their heritage with utter freedom of cultural or personal self-expression and spiritual love. Everyday we see individuals taking time to honor their own spirit. It is our great secret here in NYC that on just about every block there is a temple, a church, a mosque, an ashram or another place of worship. New York homes are filled with sacred images and statues, altars, pujas, and shrines from all sorts of disciplines. Millions of prayers are chanted everyday.

It is our dream that our future holds consciousness for all people where self-expression, color, race, creed, adornment and all the trappings of the physical form do not separate hearts. We love the variety of cultures that co-exist here in this great City. We love the different colors, sounds, and symbols that define the different expressions and celebrations of spirit. Harmony generally prevails among our hundreds of different faiths here in New York City. This harmony is New York Spirit.