AN 8-PART ANTHOLOGY FILM

THE GREATEST BEATS EVER DROPPED

8beats seeks to transcend the polarized and shallow status quo with meaningful, evocative films that invite viewers to reconnect with their humanity and recover their essential hope.

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The news cycle paralyzes and numbs us with its noise, flash, and superficiality. We argue in comment boxes from our echo chambers. We're forgetting how to be truly vulnerable with one another. But beneath all this, we believe a spiritual hunger remains to transcend it all.

8beats answers that hunger. This film anthology adapts Jesus’ most subversive teachings—the 8 Beatitudes—into raw narratives that probe what it means to be human. We want to give you immersive art that is both refreshing and thoughtful. We want to break down barriers society has built, telling multi-dimensional stories that engage human complexity and diversity rather than shy away from it. We want these films to inject empathy, start dialogue, and reassure us that, at this moment in time, hope isn’t just possible—it’s present.

We look back at ancient wisdom to move forward in radical compassion and deeper humanity.

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WHAT IS 8BEATS
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8beats is a film anthology split into 8 short films from 8 different teams.

Over 75 filmmakers, designers, and artists formed regional teams from Canada to Texas to create 8 short films that, when woven together, use ancient teachings to shed light on modern humanity. Each short film examines one of the 8 Beatitudes and portrays its themes of happiness, suffering, and the search for meaning through narratives of various genres.

The stories themselves carry a wide spectrum of themes such as despair and hope, war and peace, addiction, grief, loneliness, lust versus love, the artist’s anguish, and more.

8beats was inspired by the dialogue begun by Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski’s acclaimed ten-part anthology The Dekalog (1989), which wrestled with the Ten Commandments and their implications to man’s modern existence.

WHY THE BEATITUDES

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Widely considered some of the most inspirational and important teachings in human history, the 8 Beatitudes present a counterintuitive approach to leading a meaningful life.

When Jesus spoke these beatitudes, or “blessings,” people were shocked and challenged. He said that those who hungered for righteousness would be satisfied, that those who were oppressed would prevail. This direct and radical message of compassion subverts the “false gospels” which idolize prosperity, privilege, and power. His words gave dignity to the outcast. His words set captives free.

The Beatitudes are not moral prescriptions, but paradoxical and poetic doorways into our deepest questions and longings. What do we hope for? What do we fear? Will we ever find resolution in our deepest yearnings? The Beatitudes speak of the kind of hope that can only come out despair, the kind of joy that only comes out of suffering: a beauty that can only come out of the mess.

We want to get back to the root of what these teachings really mean. At their core, they aren’t just for religious people—they’re for all people. They’re for people who are searching for happiness, who are tired of shallow ideologies. For people who believe in the dignity in their fellow humans. For people who, against all odds, want to make change happen at this tumultuous time. The 8 Beatitudes provoke personal reflection and assure us that hate will not win.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

2. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

6. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

8. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   
   Matthew 5:3-10