page_title: David Wants to Fly
section_title: Synopsis
hierarchical_section_title: David Wants to Fly / Synopsis
caption_attribution_description: English: David Sieveking, film director of "David wants to fly" at "Mal sehn" movie theater, Frankfurt am Main. Deutsch: David Sieveking, Regisseur von "David wants to fly" im "Mal sehn" Kino in Ffm.
context_page_description: David Wants to Fly is a 2010 German documentary film that follows its director, Berlin-based, film school graduate David Sieveking, as he interacts with his film hero David Lynch, and explores the Transcendental Meditation movement. The film chronicles a period of time in Sieveking's life that includes his off-and-on relationship with his girlfriend as well as his travels to the United States, Holland and India. The film has received awards and honorable mentions as well as criticism.
context_section_description: In 2006, Sieveking, the German director, lead character, and narrator of the film, feels adrift after graduating from film school. At the time he is living with his girlfriend and he decides to travel to Fairfield, Iowa, to attend an event featuring David Lynch and Donovan. Afterwards, he and Pohl have an agreeable interview with Lynch about the Transcendental Meditation technique.
  Sieveking has his brain waves measured at  Maharishi University of Management and decides to explore Transcendental Meditation (TM) further.  He learns TM in Hannover, Germany,  and says it gives him tranquility. In the meantime, Pohl moves to New York City leaving Sieveking behind and he feels lonely with out her. When the Maharishi dies in February 2008, Sieveking attends the funeral ceremonies on the banks of the Ganges river where hundreds of followers, relatives and TM movement leaders are in attendance. Back in Germany, Sieveking narrates that he has received funding for his film.  He redecorates his apartment and makes arrangements with Pohl's grandmother to surprise Pohl when she returns to him. Several days after her return, Pohl leaves again for the U.S. and Sieveking travels to MERU, Holland for TM's 2008 Guru Purnima celebration and conference.  Sieveking attends a presentation on the construction of a campus in the Brahmasthan (center point) of India, designed for 8,000 pandits who will recite vedic chants. At a meeting with Tony Nader, the new TM movement leader, another movement leader expresses dissent and Sieveking is told to stop filming.  After a private meeting with Raja Emmanuel of Germany, Sieveking travels to Seelisberg Switzerland and is hosted by Raja Felix at the former headquarters of the Maharishi's World Government. Sieveking narrates that while he is enjoying his Transcendental Meditation practice, he is beginning to wonder if the organisation is a business that sells enlightenment.
  Sieveking attends a public presentation by David Lynch in Berlin during which Raja Emanuel is heckled by the crowd.  That night, Lynch and Emanuel conduct a torchlight cornerstone-laying ceremony for a planned university in Teufelsberg (Devil's Mountain).  Sieveking travels to New York to see Pohl and attend a David Lynch Foundation press conference featuring Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.  After some negotiation, Sieving is able to meet again with Lynch who addresses Sieveking's skepticism about TM's herbal business and meditation organization.  Later, Pohl argues with Sieveking on a train ride and accuses him of being "obsessed" with the TM movement and of "harassing" Lynch. After a walk on the beach they end their romantic relationship. Sieveking visits Michael Persinger, who assesses his brain wave activity during meditation and tells him about the dynamics of cults and how religious beliefs can impact important life decisions. Later, Sieveking is allowed to film a Yogic Flying competition but is refused entry to the Vedic pandit campus in Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa.
  Sieveking travels to New Mexico, USA and meets with a middle-aged man who describes his personal experiences many years earlier of working with the Maharishi as a personal assistant. Sieveking also spends time with a former TM teacher who is now a middle aged, shaman who reminisces about her intimate personal relationship with the Maharishi as a young woman. Sieveking travels to Colorado, USA to speak with a publisher and TM apostate who donated large sums of money that the donor felt were not used wisely.  According to Sieveking's narration, if he doesn't allow Lynch to see the final cut of his film, he will be sued by Lynch's lawyer.
  Sieveking travels to the pandit campus at the Bramasthan of India and after dressing up like a pandit he is given a tour of the facility and finds there are eight pandits performing vedic chanting. Sieveking attends a Hindu nighttime religious festival on the Ganges river where candles are placed on leaves and floated down the river. He travels to a Jyotir Math monastery where Swami Swaroopananda speaks critically of the Maharishi's act
caption: David Sieveking
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot SX20 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2010:05:10 17:41:28", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Padding": "[]", "Image ExifOffset": "2356", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5362", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5245", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/8", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:05:07 21:59:42", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:05:07 21:59:42", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "3", "EXIF ApertureValue": "149/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "149/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "6737/200", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1767", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2087", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "4000", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3000", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5212", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1000000/61", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1000000/61", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4206"}