Frederick Marx's Warrior Films Marks 20th Year of Inspiring Social Change Through Compelling Storytelling

Acclaimed filmmaker and author Frederick Marx has been telling powerful, creative, and change-oriented stories over the past 20 years through his production house, Warrior Films

Oakland, California--(Newsfile Corp. - June 27, 2023) - Warrior Films, a California-based production house founded by Oscar-and Emmy-nominated filmmaker and author Frederick Marx, is celebrating its 20th anniversary of providing thought-provoking films that seek to inspire social change.

Warrior Films was officially incorporated on July 8, 2003, springing up amid massive social upheaval in the US. The country was reeling from the instability caused by the 9-11 attacks and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and Marx saw that the US and the rest of the world was in crisis, and that something had to be done to strengthen people's sense of community and rebuild trust among citizens.

Marx wrote in Warrior Films' founding statement in 2003: "We live in dangerous times. We ask ourselves who or what is going to change things for the better. I ask myself that. And the answer that comes back loud and clear for me is I have to. I have to take the lead, to play my part, in making this world a better place. And it's going to take the energy and passion and commitment of a warrior to do it."

At the time, Marx worried he was being too dramatic. But now, 20 years later, he says that he may have understated things.

"The key theme of my life has been rites of passage. Over the past 20 years, all of the films I've made and the books I've written tie into that. My mission stays the same, which is that every teen on the planet gets mentored and initiated into mature adulthood. That part hasn't changed and, in fact, seems more urgent now than ever," he says.

Marx's work also deals with other rights of passage, not just from adolescence to adulthood.

Journey From Zanskar, a film about two Buddhist monks' mission to help poor children from their village gain access to education and preserve their Tibetan culture, served as a personal rite of passage for Marx. The film, which featured the Dalai Lama and was narrated by Richard Gere, followed the monks as they guided the children on an arduous trek across the Himalayas so they could attend Buddhist schools or monasteries.

"This film allowed me to engage in and address the other pillar of support of my life, which is Buddhism. When we first visited the monastery in Zanskar in 2004, I made a commitment to the monks that I would complete this film, come hell or high water, because I want to do my small part to support them and their fine efforts to build a school that teaches children the Tibetan language, culture, and history alongside all of the modern Western subjects, keeping their way of life alive."

Marx and Warrior Films are currently working on a film titled It's Your Wonderful Life!, which explores the idea of life-honoring ceremonies, which celebrate a person's life before it ends. A deeply personal film, it covers the events preceding the death of Marx's wife, Tracy Seeley, in July 2016 due to breast cancer. The film seeks to inspire people to hold a final rite of passage for their loved ones, as they move from life to death, and acknowledge that passage by celebrating and honoring them.

Following Seeley's death, Marx wrote his first book, At Death Do Us Part, which opened a doorway to a new avenue of self-expression as an author. He says writing the book was his rite of passage into eldership, and he wrote two more books soon after that. Rites to a Good Life is somewhat a thesis of Marx's work, explaining the importance of rites of passage to society, while his latest book Turds of Wisdom is a humorous collection of essays spanning Marx's life and relationship with Buddhism.

"Looking back on almost 50 years of my filmmaking career, my most successful art has been very social change-oriented. I want to tell stories that are human-scaled, depicting how people face all kinds of challenges to achieve fulfillment in their lives. My work with Warrior Films turns those stories into vehicles of inspiration for others, hopefully motivating them to make similar kinds of changes in their lives," Marx says.

Media Contact:
Name: Frederick Marx
Email: frederick@warriorfilms.org

Source: The Newsdesk

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