Velcrow Ripper is a lot like his movies -- friendly, hopeful, full of electrifying ideas.

Ripper is an award-winning filmmaker with dozens of films and videos under his belt, including Bones of the Forest and Scared Sacred; the latter was named one of Canada's Top 10 movies of 2004, and won the 2005 Genie (Canadian Academy Award) for best feature documentary. Bones of the Forest, his 1995 environmental meditation,was co-directed with Heather Frise and won nine major film awards, including a Genie for best feature-length documentary and best of the festival at Hot Docs.

His other movies include Open Season and In The Company of Fear; he's also the award-winning sound designer on such films as The Corporation and Eve and the Fire Horse. Busy guy.

Ripper's newest movie, Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action, was shown here last weekduring the Hot Docs! documentary film festival, wowing audiences with its investigation of how we are connected to each other and to this planet.

Ripper's film takes us around the world, and he talks to philosophers, wise men,politicians, human-rights activists and environmentalists. The film's message of hope and change is delivered via magnificent visuals.

"On the deepest level, the film is about bringing together the head and the heart. I've been a spiritual seeker my whole life, but I've had a tendency to think of spirituality as something out there, or upthere," says the filmmaker, gesturing in the usual celestial direction."And in my own life I'm realizing more and more that spirituality is down here on earth, in every interaction, in the way we move through this life we have, this one precious life. It's not about something later on, or someplace else. It's right here in this moment, in every breath."

-Liz Braun, Toronto Sun